Time to End the Dominator Society

[This essay was originally published at UBRON on Sunday August 23, 2009.]


I believe the future will still consist of male and female things. BUT, we will learn that it is the destructive aspects of both things that brings down the dignity of both genders. History has been patriarchical for most of its duration. Most of us assume this. This is not necessarily a strict rule. Here are some infrequent examples of true female leadership...





1. Lady Six Sky was de facto ruler of Naranjo; also known as Lady Wac Chanil Ahau, Lady of Dos Pilas and Lady of Tikal, and reigned over the Mayan Empire (682-741 CE). Her raid against Tikal is credited with being the turning point in Mayan history, for the worse (unfortunately). However, in her time she was basically seen as a God (dess). She did things that the MEN of the empire appreciated as powerful; she made war. She ruled armies. But once the men starting
fighting, it brought down the empire.





Glyph for Lady Six Sky






2. Suiko, Empress Suiko, Empress Suiko-Tenno, was Empress of Japan (592-628 CE). As the first empress of Japan, she ushered in a time of peace, introducing the priestly Buddhism to the common people. She built temples all over Japan. She solidified the land distribution scheme of ancient Japan and reinforced the buraeucracy, ensuring a tighter political unity. But it is her Buddhism for which she is best known. She even gave one of the chief priests nearly co-power. Unfortunately, he betrayed her trust and went on to become Emperor, himself. She did things that the MEN of Japan appreciated as powerful, she organized government and fostered religion. Japan had a more successful run, as we know today, than did the Mayans. It is interesting to note that in Japan, literature was considered a woman's pursuit. So women became EXTREMELY good writers. I've read some pieces that are said to lose their perfection of subtly-layered meanings in the translation to English. But still they are exquisite.

Empress Suiko






3. Cleopatra VII (69–30 BCE) Pharoh of Egypt was a powerful queen. She did things that the Egyptian MEN as well as one very famous man, Mark Antony, saw as powerful. She was a master diplomat and sudductress (kind of mixing them together). And although she is known for her charm, looks-wise she was not what we would consider a "beautiful" woman. She did not look much like Elizabeth Taylor...





Cleopatra VII


She may have had a little peach fuzz on the upper lip. Nevertheless, she led a navy, and technically an army against the most powerful military force on earth at the time; the Roman Empire. So she also had--what is traditionally envyed by MEN--ambition.





4. Joan of Arc (ca. 1412–1431 CE), one of my personal heroines,...





Joan of Arc


...was one of the most amazing women in all of history. She did everything that a great leader does. Born a peasant girl, she went on to lead the armies of France to several key victories in the Hundred Years War. She was guided "by God," and stood her ground even against the most evil that the inquisition could hand out. For this loyalty to God, the poor girl (for she was only about 19) was burned at the stake by those bastards... MEN. Always keep that image in your mind when speaking of Christainity as a religion of peace and tolerance. Today France honors her as the great PERSON she was. Oh, and the Catholics finally let her go to heaven, after murdering her.





These were great women leaders, and there were HOSTS of other great women leaders in history too.

Today in a more enlightened world, where women vote (none of the women above would have been able to vote), where their ordeal in childbirth is finally appreciated to the point where they have been given power over their own bodies...Go figure!...women and MEN are deciding that the approach to a progressive society include not only a woman's touch, but also powerful things that are not typically considered male-oriented. ;)

Frankly, a matriarchal society would lead to inbred female corruption eventually, just as men have set the human boat sailing off in the wrong direction many times.

Perhaps it is not the maleness or femaleness that we need to over come but the negative aspects that gender-specific idealism has formed into so-called "tradition."

It is our human (ANIMAL) need to dominate others that has been most appreciated in history. Men do it one way, and (as we've seen) women can do it the same way or in their own way. The future is filled with cooperative and respectful understanding. Slowly the men of the boys of the new generation are being reformed away from the need to dominate others.

Women, who now are exploring the relatively new possibilities of running their own lives, need to stand back occassionally and make sure that that aren't just doing things "that men do" (historically) in order to gain repect from their sisters as well as their brothers. We need women to remember that the true power we have (even politically) is that of being fair to the ones we govern.

Even if it is just in the family or at a job, humans (male, female and other), must learn to be merciful and thus be eligible to receive mercy, to be modest and therefore appreciate the humility of others when we see it, to be well-informed about all sides of an argument, besides our own side ;) and thus be free from the blindness of intolerant prejudice, to find friends who need help and to devote our lives to helping them--not avoiding them because it makes us uncomfortable, to pray for others every day and thus recieve the answers to the prayers others.

Let's end the dominator society. Let's work together to dominate over evil (male or female), to conquer and kill it wherever it might creep into our world. To hold hands together as partners, gay, straight and bi. We exist on a tiny drop of mist in the heart of the black vaccuum of space. We ARE dependent on each other. Even today we are called by the spirit inside us to cooperate.

We need to stop seperating people into groups. Stop building walls, fences, borders. Stop pigeonholing. Stop defining others, before we even understand ourselves. Stop acting without intention. Start enjoying every moment. It has been called the "felt presence of immediate experience" [Terence McKenna]. Build, love, hold, kiss, meet peoples eyes when we speak to them, make love, have sex, expand the mind, show kindness to God's other creatures, be a responsible parent, hold down a job, pursue art and music, appreciate the natural world and learn about it, serve and be loyal to friends, forgive, ask for forgiveness, use power by refusing to abuse it, and worship the Father who gave us ALL the opportunity to someday join Him in Paradise--where we will always have each other.

It is the everlasting NOW that reigns supreme over the past and the future. It is all about experiencing the moment, we are judged not so much by what we did in the past, nor what we seek to do in the future, but how we deal with the ever-passing of the NOW.