Crazed and Fearful

They're not 'independent'. Oftentimes, they're not even really 'lesbians'. They're afraid; more than anything else, they're afraid. But they're not the possessed victims of some wild, unreasonable terror; actually, their fear is very rational. As rational as the fear and respect for authority that is trained into a child by the use of corporal punishment; you see, they're afraid of being hurt.

What it all comes down to is simple conditioning: when you experience enough trauma, you shy away from whatever you deem to be the source of that trauma. Even animals learn to stay away from sources of discomfort and pain; it's an integral part of survival. So if a man hurts a woman... and then another man hurts that same woman... and then another man hurts that same woman... eventually, that woman will come to associate hurt and suffering with all men.

To men like myself, who strive to be the antithesis to all the hurt and suffering, this association is undoubtedly unfair... but still not irrational. You don't have to get cut by every knife in the kitchen to learn to avoid sharp objects; just get cut deep enough once. After that, you could even go into someone else's kitchen, and still know to be wary of the sharp objects in there. The real tragedy lies in the fact that the knives in the kitchen were never meant to cut anyone in the first place; they were created to serve.

And so were men. Men were never put here to hurt women. Yet, how do you convince a woman of this when hurt at the hands of men is all that she's ever known? Does it really matter what was "meant" to happen if it's not actually happening?...

...It does matter! Because having the knowledge of what was meant to happen is what keeps hope alive and keeps standards high. See, when a woman knows that men were created to serve--- to be kind and courteous and loving and faithful--- then that's the kind of man that that woman will seek out. And she won't settle for anything less; surrender only comes in the face of hopelessness. Unfortunately, the fear that has been engendered in our society causes women to lower their expectations of men--- many times, to abandon their hope in men altogether.

It's a devastating type of fear, because it's a fear that works toward the unraveling of society itself; the family is the cornerstone of society, and the abandonment of the male-female relationship--- the relationship that naturally enables and facilitates procreation--- is, if not literally, symbolically representative of the abandonment of the institution of family itself. What's more tragic is that, unfortunately, this fear is almost justified; it's a fear that, if one were to simply observe the world around her, one would always find some reason to cling to.

And a fear like this may only be undone only with a special kind of courage.

"Women are CRAZY..." I hear the fellas say that a lot. Me, I don't like to call it 'crazy'; I call it the normal, human, rational reaction to crazy circumstances. Truth be told, if anybody's crazy, it's the people [like me] who look at the insanity of it all and say, "...This actually makes perfect sense, when you really think about it." If you can find reason in and comfortably navigate the world at its most crazed... does that not make you crazy too? Or when good sense and reason no longer apply, is it not more reasonable to become unreasonable? An upside down book is no good unless one of two things happens: either the book gets flipped rightside-up, or you get on a handstand and read it as it is. Like you're crazy.

...Makes ya think, right. And, as an educator, that's all I'm really here for :-/