I Am Wo-MAN. Here Me Roar!!

Eh, this morning I felt like I got sucked into a worm hole of bedazzling / divisive /traumatic confusion.

As I exited my loft, an entire 2-bock radius was sectioned off for a “Woman’s March.”

Hell, I just wanted to hit up my favorite Breakfast Burrito food truck.

On my way, I had to weave in and out of a line of short-haired (mostly), pink-hat- wearing ladies (some men even) holding signs.

> One said, “We’ll Fight Back — No Matter What!”

( Monkey head-scratch on that one )

> One said, “A Female For President, Please. We’ve Never Had One”

( Yeah, no shit. But damned who is best qualified. Let’s just, please ensure it’s a female next time )

> One said, (and this is the one I decided to stop and engage with):

“I am wo-MAN. I’ll never be free!”

ME: Can you indulge me?

HER: [ Cautious stare ]

ME: I think I could try and take a stab [wrong choice of word] at what your sign is trying to say.. but, I’m very curious as to what YOU say the underlying meaning is.

HER: Well, duh.. don’t you SEE it? How can we ever detach from patriarchy when even the noun identifying us is tied into the word ‘MAN!’ As in wo-MAN!

ME: [ Cautious stare ] You saying ‘Whoa Maaan!’ or “wum-man?”

HER: The last one. I mean, really… think about it; even our dictionaries include the noun form of the word Fe-MALE [she emphasized MALE]. Man, male.. crap, it’s eveeerrrrywhere!

ME: That’s a damn crying-shame, I suppose. ’Cause, histrionically pink is normally seen as a “‘Fe-MALE” color” — the very color of the beanie hat you’re wearing. So, there’s the adjective I think you’re looking for.[ sly smile ]

HER: [ soft, reluctant giggle ]

ME: K, appreciate humoring me, entertaining my question. Nice to meet ya. Gottta split now.

HER: (under her breath as I’m walking away): Asshole!

I yi yi — Is there any wonder I wrote a post last month titled D-I-S-T-R-A-C-T-I-O-N ;;)

IOW, the more we can shame, blame, vilify, find an ‘enemy’ outside us — or not truly forgiven the ones that have acted in disgrace or through abusive behavior — the easier is it to avoid the ever-consistent truth that in some fabulous, creepy way… we’re all somehow connected, and part of each other’s world, anyway.

So, might as well deal with it instead of continuing to tilt at windmills.

Most of the signs at the march were fueled by an extreme feminine imperative that simply just doesn’t have any interest in equilibrating through a view that is inclusive.

It’s pure public-emoting; passive demonizing and, in the end, mostly an unconscious distraction to self-awareness and acceptance that the ever-elusive quest for equality (not a thing in a world fueled by duality) and “rights” never get worked-thru in a quid pro quo kinda way when gender (and/or a mutually-exclusive discussion about it) is the core problem (i.e, us vs them).

My 2 cents about it!

P.S. Often, I find the best way to dig a layer or two deep (for reasoning motives, intentions, objective) is to have my tongue in my cheek and ask a question about something that I’m not quite sure the meaning of.

Seeking out the absurd does indeed have its benefits…