I often say there is little to say that hasn't already been said. The challenge lies in presenting those same thoughts in a new or novel way. I guess that is why there are so many forms of writing. I dabble in poetry from time to time in an attempt to explain my emotions. That is what poetry is all about to me. I would say most of my attempts deal with sentiment. I am a sentimental person, although I was taught it wasn't manly to be so. Men are to be stoic and pragmatic. That is how to succeed in life. The women can deal with the trivial and emotional things. Roles were well defined in the generation preceding my own. But sometime in the fifties or sixties there was a cultural revolution. At least that is what the scholars say. It began as a political movement. From there it snowballed into something quite different, just disguised as a political organization. This new group protested the Miss America contest by throwing what they considered symbols of feminine oppression into trash cans. These items were, bras, pots, pans, makeup and cleaning equipment. At one point the group proposed an all female society. That was when the Lesbian thing really took hold. It was now acceptable and proper to be a lesbian. Strangely the women were struggling for a new identity, and they wanted to be like men ! Well at least they wanted to be treated like men in the workforce. That struggle continues to this day. It has expanded however to include all manner of " ism's " We have so many now we have to use an acronym. LGBTQ ! The first four are self explanatory and the q is for questioning or gasp, some say queer. That group is for people that don't know what the heck they are or want to be. Guess there are just too many choices. When I was young there really were only two choices, straight or homosexual. There was normal sexual behavior and aberrant sexual behavior.
At the same time the women were being liberated the men began to be emasculated. They grew their hair long and became sensitive. Mostly the men just wanted the " free " love part. Yeah, I'm a cool dude and sensitive to your needs baby. They began to act like women ! They took off their work boots and put on sandals. A portion of my generation began to tune in and drop out. Their interests were in expanding their minds and getting high. Everything was cool and groovy man. They even called their girlfriends their " old ladies " and that was hip. Yup, the liberated women liked it too. Now we could all live together, get high, have sex with whoever and whenever, it was all good. That was until they figured out life doesn't really work that way. Disillusioned the hippies faded away and became liberals. Problem is those same hippies taught the next generation all about escaping reality and provided the means to do so. It was the enlightenment of a new generation. Go to college, get a paper declaring your superior intellect, and demand a high paying job. All you had to do was participate, pay the tuition, hang in there and you get a degree. Whether that degree was useful or not doesn't matter, you've got a degree.
The problem with that was twofold however. Not only was their degrees not in demand, but you had twice as many applicants. The ladies were getting those degrees as well and expecting to enter the workforce on equal footing with the menfolk's. Didn't happen. The unrest grew proportionately. Hey, we all have degrees we are smarter than everyone else. This isn't fair. The women are mostly men now and the men women how can this be ? Damn chauvinists and feminists ! It was those traditional roles that got us into this mess. What we need now is a " unisexual society. "
So, here we are in 2017. I'm watching the second generation after my own. That's the grandkids. I can't help but shake my head and think what a confusing mess these kids are in. One of the first things I learned was there are boys and girls. Now these kids today are given a whole lot more information about all that, at a much earlier age. They are also being told they can choose. Is it any wonder they are confused ? I'm guessing that is why the Q was added to the list of possibilities. I'm not convinced this is something we should be validating. Is gender really a choice ? Not in my world. You are what you are. If you choose an alternate lifestyle it doesn't change your gender. Surgery doesn't change your gender. If you believe you are the opposite sex you are still the same gender. Acting in a fashion contrary to that is called an aberration. Gender identity issues fall into that category, aberrant behavior. Whether that behavior is right or wrong is a personal choice, your gender is not.
You know the bathroom issue ? How do they label those facilities ? They call them gender neutral. Interesting choice of terms isn't it ? If something is neutral it is not helping or supporting anything. You could say it is undecided. It has no strong identity. Is that what we are trying to achieve here ? Just don't make a decision at all. Interesting that we are telling our children they can choose their gender if they want to, but choose not to as well, just remain neutral. And by remaining neutral I get to force my choice upon you ! And then I get accused of being passive/aggressive by these liberal minded folks. It's all very confusing to me. One thing I'm not confused about is gender though. Learned it early on and the lesson stuck. I wasn't given a choice. Truth is that hasn't changed a bit since the dawn of man. Maybe one day you will get to choose the gender of your children, okay we sorta can right now, but I mean before conception. So when that is a reality will those children get to choose also ? How will you feel about that ?
At the same time the women were being liberated the men began to be emasculated. They grew their hair long and became sensitive. Mostly the men just wanted the " free " love part. Yeah, I'm a cool dude and sensitive to your needs baby. They began to act like women ! They took off their work boots and put on sandals. A portion of my generation began to tune in and drop out. Their interests were in expanding their minds and getting high. Everything was cool and groovy man. They even called their girlfriends their " old ladies " and that was hip. Yup, the liberated women liked it too. Now we could all live together, get high, have sex with whoever and whenever, it was all good. That was until they figured out life doesn't really work that way. Disillusioned the hippies faded away and became liberals. Problem is those same hippies taught the next generation all about escaping reality and provided the means to do so. It was the enlightenment of a new generation. Go to college, get a paper declaring your superior intellect, and demand a high paying job. All you had to do was participate, pay the tuition, hang in there and you get a degree. Whether that degree was useful or not doesn't matter, you've got a degree.
The problem with that was twofold however. Not only was their degrees not in demand, but you had twice as many applicants. The ladies were getting those degrees as well and expecting to enter the workforce on equal footing with the menfolk's. Didn't happen. The unrest grew proportionately. Hey, we all have degrees we are smarter than everyone else. This isn't fair. The women are mostly men now and the men women how can this be ? Damn chauvinists and feminists ! It was those traditional roles that got us into this mess. What we need now is a " unisexual society. "
So, here we are in 2017. I'm watching the second generation after my own. That's the grandkids. I can't help but shake my head and think what a confusing mess these kids are in. One of the first things I learned was there are boys and girls. Now these kids today are given a whole lot more information about all that, at a much earlier age. They are also being told they can choose. Is it any wonder they are confused ? I'm guessing that is why the Q was added to the list of possibilities. I'm not convinced this is something we should be validating. Is gender really a choice ? Not in my world. You are what you are. If you choose an alternate lifestyle it doesn't change your gender. Surgery doesn't change your gender. If you believe you are the opposite sex you are still the same gender. Acting in a fashion contrary to that is called an aberration. Gender identity issues fall into that category, aberrant behavior. Whether that behavior is right or wrong is a personal choice, your gender is not.
You know the bathroom issue ? How do they label those facilities ? They call them gender neutral. Interesting choice of terms isn't it ? If something is neutral it is not helping or supporting anything. You could say it is undecided. It has no strong identity. Is that what we are trying to achieve here ? Just don't make a decision at all. Interesting that we are telling our children they can choose their gender if they want to, but choose not to as well, just remain neutral. And by remaining neutral I get to force my choice upon you ! And then I get accused of being passive/aggressive by these liberal minded folks. It's all very confusing to me. One thing I'm not confused about is gender though. Learned it early on and the lesson stuck. I wasn't given a choice. Truth is that hasn't changed a bit since the dawn of man. Maybe one day you will get to choose the gender of your children, okay we sorta can right now, but I mean before conception. So when that is a reality will those children get to choose also ? How will you feel about that ?
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