Would there be an Easter without women?
It can't be a holiday without some reflection on how women make it happen. Easter, the baby sister of the major holidays, is one with a manageable number of tasks but let's face it...there wouldn't be an Easter without us.
First of all, it was women who figured out the whole resurrection thing in the first place wasn't it? Do we really think men would have had the foresight and caring to return to a grave in contemplative silence and with the idea of further caring for the remains of someone they loved? Doubt it. Would men have raised the alert or just talked among themselves and kept it quiet. I'm thinking we owe alot to these women (gee, isn't that other big Christian holiday in December pretty much based on a woman who didn't need a man to make that one happen either?).
But on a much more frivolous note, let's take a moment to celebrate the Mom's...oops, I mean the bunnies...who are making it all happen this weekend. Let's look at it in terms of total time commitment. Certainly something everyone knows is a scarce world resource these days.
1. Dealing with the family drama over where to have Easter dinner (even if it's his family and not yours)...1-2 hours.
2. Deciding on the menu and who's bringing what...1-2 hours
3. Buying outfits for everyone for Spring and/or Easter Sunday...4-8 hours
4. Buying the food...1 hour
4. Prepping the Easter eggs for coloring and actually coloring them...2 hours
5. Explaining the Easter story to the kids...1 hour at least three times...total 3 hours, add an hour for explaining why their friend next door who is Muslim isn't hunting eggs with them. (Add an extra hour for texting to your girlfriend to see if you got it right.)
6. Cleaning for the guests to come. Even if it's not at your house you feel like the house should be cleaned for the holiday...2 hours
7. Figuring out what to have in the Easter baskets, buying the stuff, trying to make it look cool...4 hours.
8. Sending cards to elderly aunts...30 minutes, but hey we're counting it because it's so cool you thought of that.
9. Easter Sunday churching, cooking, cleaning up, socializing with people you only see on holidays...8 hours (at least)
10. Actually focusing on what Easter might mean to you...10 minutes before you fall asleep.
OK Easter bunnies, congratulate yourselves. Somehow this week you found at least thirty hours of extra time just so everyone could say they had a happy Easter. Take five minutes and pat yourself on the back. If no one said thank you to you today, I will. You're the best bunnies I know!
So...Easter reminds us that Womenzwerk is never done. Does anyone really think men could keep holidays going without us?
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Womenzwerk at the Zoo
Something tells me it's all happening at the zoo...
Is Womenzwerk a primal instinct?
I think Simon and Garfunkel had it right in the sixties with their song about the zoo, quoted above. On a family trip to the zoo, I looked in the mirror of women's existence and it wasn't pretty.
It was one of the first warmish days of Spring so the animals were all very active and outdoors. The otters were entertaining the crowd, the tiger was pacing and making eye contact and the monkeys were fighting over cauliflower in between rounds of "tag" around their space. But it was the bears that told the real story of life at the zoo. When we arrived the female brown bear was lounging on a log, soaking up the sun and looking very content. No doubt she had just put the kids to bed, finished catching dinner for her family and was finally getting some must needed moments to herself. As we watched, the male bear came up and booted her off the log with his paw, forcing her to move to another part of their area. She looked at him with what was certainly a bear glare and started to move away. Then, just to add insult to injury, he hoisted his right leg up in the air while seated and proceeded to fondle his bear man parts while God and all the visitors watched him. The female, now truly disgusted, moved down into a completely different area as far from him as she could get. This hit way too close to home.
I ask you, is this not typical of what we human animals go through on a regular basis? Which just leads me to wonder if the relationship between men and women, and the itch to be in charge and do all of the things we do as women is really a primal instinct. Maybe we just know in our bones that men will push their weight around but in the end, they will simply sit and scratch themselves while we take care of all the little things that need doing each day. Now, nothing against the men of this world, but clearly the Womenzwerk we do is holding society together and it seems we are hardwired to do it.
I have to say, later in the day the lions seemed to echo the lesson. The zoo volunteer told us that the females were really in charge of everything, but they let the male think he was king and let him sleep in the prime spot in the enclosure. If we are really hardwired to do it all and men are really hardwired to do what comes naturally, it puts Womenzwerk in a whole new light somehow. Is it somehow better to know that we might be doing this because we simply can't biologically function any differently? Or does it mean we're really living in our lowest, basic natures when we play these roles? Can we change? Do we want to?
So what do you think? Is Womenzwerk primal instinct or environmental pressure?
Is Womenzwerk a primal instinct?
I think Simon and Garfunkel had it right in the sixties with their song about the zoo, quoted above. On a family trip to the zoo, I looked in the mirror of women's existence and it wasn't pretty.
It was one of the first warmish days of Spring so the animals were all very active and outdoors. The otters were entertaining the crowd, the tiger was pacing and making eye contact and the monkeys were fighting over cauliflower in between rounds of "tag" around their space. But it was the bears that told the real story of life at the zoo. When we arrived the female brown bear was lounging on a log, soaking up the sun and looking very content. No doubt she had just put the kids to bed, finished catching dinner for her family and was finally getting some must needed moments to herself. As we watched, the male bear came up and booted her off the log with his paw, forcing her to move to another part of their area. She looked at him with what was certainly a bear glare and started to move away. Then, just to add insult to injury, he hoisted his right leg up in the air while seated and proceeded to fondle his bear man parts while God and all the visitors watched him. The female, now truly disgusted, moved down into a completely different area as far from him as she could get. This hit way too close to home.
I ask you, is this not typical of what we human animals go through on a regular basis? Which just leads me to wonder if the relationship between men and women, and the itch to be in charge and do all of the things we do as women is really a primal instinct. Maybe we just know in our bones that men will push their weight around but in the end, they will simply sit and scratch themselves while we take care of all the little things that need doing each day. Now, nothing against the men of this world, but clearly the Womenzwerk we do is holding society together and it seems we are hardwired to do it.
I have to say, later in the day the lions seemed to echo the lesson. The zoo volunteer told us that the females were really in charge of everything, but they let the male think he was king and let him sleep in the prime spot in the enclosure. If we are really hardwired to do it all and men are really hardwired to do what comes naturally, it puts Womenzwerk in a whole new light somehow. Is it somehow better to know that we might be doing this because we simply can't biologically function any differently? Or does it mean we're really living in our lowest, basic natures when we play these roles? Can we change? Do we want to?
So what do you think? Is Womenzwerk primal instinct or environmental pressure?
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