I was listening to Dazed and Confused by Led Zepplin on the way downtown today when the line The soul of woman was created below made me think twice. Now I have always kinda liked this lyric because, quite frankly, it makes us ladies sound pretty bad ass. But today it struck me that maybe it wasn’t quite as cool as I thought.
I consider myself a feminist, and while I might sleep through certain parts of my life, once my passion gets fired up it’s hard to calm it down. (Sort of an "If your’re not outraged, you’re not paying attention" kinda thing.) So I’m walking down the block thinking of the story of Pandora’s box and Eve in the garden of Eden and I’m getting righteously pissed off! The feeling is familiar and almost comfortable. The first time I heard the myth of Pandora I was 11 -- I freaked out at my fifth grade teacher for reading us such a sexist story!
Women have made great strides in the last century to be sure, but there is a fundamental view that hasn’t changed. My friend says it’s because the world tends to see things in black-or-white, yes-or-no terms. The madonna or the whore. The great double-standard. How can this be changed? Can it be? I know I fall into the trap as often as the next person and I’m supposed to believe in equal treatment for both sexes.
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