THE SOURCE OF ALL SUFFERING IS DESIRE…
February 8th, 2006
Via the Dancing One comes this post from Less People, Less Idiots asking: where the ladies went? I have a lot of problems when people use labels like ladies and gentlemen because those terms are subject to culturual lenses. I like the points that Reverand Billy Bob Gusher makes, but I don’t like the semantic route he takes to make it.
Here’s his lede:
(Gisher trots up to the podium and taps the mike)
Gisher: First I”d like to ask you all where the ladies went? You people looked confused, so I guess I better explain. To me a lady is a woman who speaks her mind and stands up for her rights and the rights of other women. To me a lady does not need a man in her life, she may want one, but she does not need one.
(Crowd says amen)
Gisher: All you really need to survive is air, water, and food. You do not need men. It”s OK to want them, but you do not need them to survive. If you feel that you do need them, I will tell you right now, YOU HAVE SOME SERIOUS PROBLEMS YOU NEED TO DEAL WITH!
(Crowd says amen)
Gisher: In my book, a lady is a woman who knows she is a woman and is proud of not only her womanliness, she is proud of her mind and her accomplishments. She doesn”t just rely on her body to get her where she”s going in life.
(Crowd says amen)
Gisher: A woman who just relies on her body to get things done, ISN”T THAT CALLED A PROSTITUTE?
I think that my Grandmother Hess would agree with much of what Gisher has to say. She wasn’t all that political, but she could be rabid on the issue of voting rights. She turned 21, then the voting age for men, in 1912. This was the same year that President Teddy Roosevelt’s Progressive Party made women’s sufferage part of it’s platform It would be another seven years before she, and her sisters, finally won the right to vote.
I don’t think she ever got as upset as when some younger woman would tell her that she wasn’t voting because her husband took care of that.
My Soundtrack: It’s How You Feel by Lab Partners on WOXY.
Mr Hess,
‘Tis yours truly – a.k.a. ‘The Dancing One’ (LOL how would you know – have you ever seen me dance? and, is that like Dancin Bear *shudders*)
While I can see what you are saying about the semantics – I feel the good Reverend makes some very important and (I feel at least) relevant points when it comes to women – how they act – how they feel about equality and how in some ways we’ve all been guilty (society that is) of dropping the ball.
All my best – we should go dancing on graves sometime soon
C -
Amen! And your grandmother sounds like a right-on woman.
first of all thanks for lifting the post. this may surprise you, but I spend a lot of time grimacing from some of the tactics that I employ. sadly though, we have reached a point where we no longer communicate with each other, we shout at each other. I have discovered that the only way to slip grains of truth into very narrow slits, is to come at things from a different way, anyway other than straight up. if you approach people straight up, the only people that will listen, will be the choir. I already have the choir, it’s the other people I want to reach. so you’re not alone. I prefer straight honest forward discourse, but I will go to the point of sickening myself, to attempt to reach those that do not have the easy ear. frequently this makes me provocative, although many outside the choir, and even some within the choir, would say at times I’m offensive. if I get somebody to think about it, I guess I don’t mind being offensive.
addendum: I will be putting up a link to your site now on my blog roll. is my hope, that I shall receive one back, but I am putting up the link in honor of posting the story. I would advise you to come to my site and look for the dust bunnies section on my sidebar, in particular “Jew Dis Jew Dat” you may find it amusing, possibly even honest.
Shalom Colette,
That’s true, you’re absolutely right. The good reverand’s points are most valid.
B’shalom,
Jeff
p.s. i’m only two degrees separated from dancing bear, he (cosmo gus allegretti) is my father’s fraternity brother.
Shalom Yellow,
How very true.
B’shalom,
Jeff
Shalom Rev.,
You’re most welcome.
I’ll make a point of stopping in to check out Jew Dis, Jew Dat.
B’shalom,
Jeff
Can’t the same speach be said taking out “ladies” and “men” and inserting “humans”?
All groups have issues, weather its your sex, your religion, your race or your social status.
Keep your own house in order and then you can worry about the people you let into it. If the people who want in don’t have themselves in order, shut the door.
Shalom Tad,
That’s true you’re absolutely right. If one waits until the house is in order, however, nothing will ever be done.
Sometimes we need to engage the world in less than desirable conditions. Life is what happens while we’re making other plans.
B’shalom,
Jeff