>A woman does NOT need balls in order to fight back

They were really intrigued today when during an informative meeting (we were celebrating a colleague’s birthday) I said “When I was a little girl I wished I were a boy”. I don’t remember the context of that conversation exactly. We must have been speaking about our childhood and how it was back then. My colleagues, mostly men, started laughing, probably thinking of all kind of sexual jokes. It was indeed a funny and intriguing statement. How come? “Well yes”, I said, “back then it was cool to be a boy than a girl, especially that I all my neighbors were boys”.
And I also realize that for long time I thought it was not only cool but also a lot better to be a boy.
– Boys had freedom to shout as long as they wanted while girls were reduced to silence, because it was not pretty for a girl to be shouting.
– Boys were allowed to say what there was on their mind and speak up, while girls were supposed to shut up and bear
– Boys could have run as much as they wanted, getting dirty while running and falling, while girls were supposed to be good, stay pretty and be clean
– Boys could have played with swords, be adventurous, climb on trees, while girls were supposed to stay still, keep the clothes clean and play with their dolls
When I grew older, boys were still better than girls:
– Boys could have stayed out and play until really late, while girls were supposed to come home earlier as it was dangerous for them to be out
– Boys could have worn anything they wanted, while girls were supposed to look pretty at all times in order to be accepted
– Boys were admired for what they were saying, while girls were admired for how they were looking
– Boys were entitled to be angry and to show it, while girls were supposed to say nothing and hide their anger. In the worse case, girls could have cried.
– Boys were fit and strong, while girls were weak and needed protection
– Boys could have shown proudly the hair on their body, while girls were supposed to go through extremely painful processes in order to depilate
– Boys were all the times present at the sports class while sometimes girls were supposed to excuse themselves timidly, half-voiced and ashamed because it was that time of the month and the pains were too big to endure
– Boys could have had girlfriends, while girls if seen walking on the street next to a boy would have been called sluts by their fathers and beaten really hard.
– Later on during the teenage, the boy who had many girlfriends would have been called a “Don Juan”, a “Casanova”. He would have been admired for his masculinity. Vice versa, the teenage girl that had many boyfriends would have been called a slut, a “station” where many men’s “buses would stop by”.
– Boys had freedom to decide, while girls were supposed to listen by a man who once was a boy
– The men who once were boys could have commanded and treated as slaves the women who once were girls
– Man could have slammed the door while leaving home after a quarrel with his wife. Wife would have stayed home, all in tears, with the kids
– Man was supposed to order, to be in charge, to rule while woman was supposed to listen, to obey, to be ruled
– Man had freedom while woman was in chains
I wonder in how many cultures and societies this approach is still a way of life?
Look around and you’ll see that the woman has been transformed into a thing, an object good only for the appearances. In Berlusconi’s Italy especially, the woman is just wanted to be a beautiful doll to show around. In Romania, in order to succeed, it is still common to believe that as a woman you have to be beautiful, find a rich guy, seduce him, have his baby and you’re set for life. He’ll take care of you and provide for you. I wonder who fed this believes?
In Saudi Arabia, a woman has been arrested only because she campaigned against the women’s interdiction to drive. (TV5))