Boy Abby, you scratched some long buried attitudes in the dark cellar
of my mind.
The world today may be a mess, but at least it seems to be in a state
of flux...and could go in the direction of becoming a better place in
which to live.
But back when my life standards were being formed, what a black and
white world it was. Not only Racially, but attitudinal. And it
seemed to me, looking back, that so much of what I believed was simply
absorbed without my being aware of it. Taboo subjects like Sex,
formed volumes of information and misinformation
without my knowing where it came from. My feelings about "Queer"
people came from Outer Space, because no one ever discussed the
subject. And of course, what I thought I knew about blindness was
absorbed by osmosis, and was mostly a jumble of misinformation and
misconceptions and old wives tales...maybe a few old husbands stories,
too.
Of course I grew up during WW II, and our American Propaganda machine
ground out very negative images of "Japs" and "Krouts". Still, it was
only a few years until I realized that I was still reacting to make
believe images.
And of course, this was still the age of a man being, "Master of his
domain". Fortunately I was raised in an "equal opportunity" family.
My parents proclaimed that there were no such things as boy's jobs and
girl's jobs. There was, however, children's work. My two sisters and
I did lots of the support jobs, like setting the table, clearing and
washing the dishes, putting them away and sweeping the floor and
taking out the trash. My parents took the job of supervising. Dad
was responsible for having the kindling and coal laid out for the
morning fire, while mother prepared the meals, rose up early to build
the cook stove fire, and along with our help, to do the never ending
laundry. Mother also did the shopping and did the "deep" cleaning.
She also went to business college and then on to a job. While a great
amount of the day to day work fell on mother, dad also took classes in
order to move up the economic ladder.
As a visually impaired boy, I was cut no slack. In fact, I never
thought of myself as having a disability...just heavy bifocals.
Anyway, it was the age of the Macho Male, and I bought into the whole
mystique. Young men "took" a wife unto himself. Women were still
seen. without actually saying it, to be the property of their
husbands.
A great deal has changed, but we can't afford to lose hard gained
ground. Women are being pushed down by the White Male Masters, and
unless women fight back, it means hard times ahead once again.
Carl Jarvis
On 5/23/19, abby <aevincent@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I hope this isn't true for young women. I was raised to accept that my
destiny depends on attachment to men. I needed to find a man to marry and
support me if I'd be a good wife. My job I get to "fall back on" depends
on being submissive to a male boss. Even Oberlin, the first college to
admit women, didn't totally disabuse me of this idea. I got my first job
before I got a husband. When I had a miscarriage, my now ex was angry that
I didn't "give him a son ". That did it! .
Abby
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Thursday, May 23, 2019 9:04 AM
To: blind-democracy <blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [blind-democracy] repost
I responded to Roger's post, but was informed that my message was not
delivered. Sorry if this is a repeat, but I really have strong feelings
over the whole anti abortion attack on women's rights.
Carl Jarvis
*******
Not since the Pilgrims set up shop on the Shores of the "New World", has
there been such an all white male takeover. What I can't get my head around
is how many women either support, or allow, this total control over their
lives by their self-appointed White Masters.
The power to confuse and misdirect by our All White Male Oligarchy is
evident in its ability to herd the American People away from the life
threatening issues of today, and set up phony Straw Men.
Where is the passion condemning the ruthless murder of hundreds of thousands
of people around the world, supported by our drones, bombs, and financial
support? If the life of a fetus is so important, why isn't the life of a
young soldier who is gunned down fighting a senseless war? Are we really
going to mill about mindlessly while children...entire families...starve to
death because of our uncaring disdain?
This morning I heard a woman weeping over the death of her young son,
following a bombing, because she could not move to try and help him.
She lay, unable to move, while he cried and begged her to help him.
He died during the night.
And people can ignore that, and fight for the life of an unborn fetus?
If it were my body, I'd know which one I would protect.
Carl Jarvis
