Body politick
History is not necessarily the whole story
By Ellen Snortland 02/18/2010
Frederick Douglass — freed slave, abolitionist and feminist — said “Power concedes nothing without demand. It never did and it never will.” The subjugation of women will not end until women demand their rights, and/or enough men join them in partnership because they, too, see the horrible cost of male domination to both sexes.
Upon reading one of the best books I’ve ever read, “Sacred Pleasure: Sex, Myth, and the Politics of the Body — New Paths to Power and Love,” by Dr. Riane Eisler, I couldn’t help but be reminded of Douglass’ quote about power. As a naïve young woman at the beginning of the women’s liberation resurgence in the late 1960s and early ’70s, I thought everyone, including men, would be as outraged as I was to discover just how much the human rights deck is stacked against women and girls. I was heartbroken at how few progressive men could or would see their own privilege, or “concede” power. Men of all colors who I love to this day could not — or would not — see their own position of entitlement because they were born male. To complicate matters even further, some of the worst sexists were female!
In one of the most thorough examinations of gender politics I’ve read to date, Eisler takes on the sexual politics of male vs. female, domination vs. partnership cultures, since the beginning of human history. While the following synopsis is simplistic, and you need to read the book to get the breadth and depth of our gender legacies, basically a dominator culture worships strong, warlike deities, priests and warriors, cruelty, wealth accumulation for its own sake, and dominion over all living things, including other humans. Anything that’s considered to be of woman (including gay) is “less than” that which is male. Women and girls are denigrated, seen as chattel and denied basic human rights.
On the other side of the coin are the partnership cultures, which recognize the feminine not only as human but as sacred or worthy of worship. Females are not seen as “less than” but as partners; that is, equal and essential to life. Obviously, there are exceptions in both models of culture. In traditional patriarchies there are loving husbands and fathers who manage to see the humanity in their women-folk. By the same token, partnership-oriented cultures will have some violent or dominating individuals, including females. The partnership cultures tend to share wealth rather than practice greed, again with exceptions.
February is Black History Month and March is Women’s History Month, and Eisler is a good reading choice to commemorate both events because her work in generating a cultural transformation theory is relevant to all forms of discrimination, whether based on white or male supremacy, classism, heterosexism or misogyny. Eisler became famous because of her bestselling “The Chalice and the Blade,” which should be required reading for anyone who thinks they know a lot about history.
If you want a fantastic contemporary example of dominator vs. partnership modalities, see James Cameron’s “Avatar.” The mercenary, murderous, greedy culture that invades the planet Pandora for the mining of the mineral “unobtainium” is a classic dominator society, while the Na’vi culture is a prime example of a partnership culture. Considered “savage” by the dominators, they venerate the “mother,” have respect for all living things, honor a sacred marriage and have equal respect for both genders. No wonder so many right-wing fundamentalist commentators hate “Avatar.” The Na’vi do not accumulate anything just for the sake of material gain.
Practicing models of the partnership approach, Kevin and Hannah Salwen are a father-daughter writing team who captured the values of partnership in their new book, “The Power of Half: One Family’s Decision to Stop Taking and Start Giving Back.” It is an account of the Salwens’ life-altering decision to sell their home and give the proceeds to the Hunger Project, a partnership-oriented nonprofit; their actions paid off in personal freedom and happiness.
Here’s a heads-up in February for two partnership-oriented events in March: first, the Salwens will be at Vroman’s in early March. And second, I’m happy to tell you that Riane Eisler will be back in Pasadena for Women’s History Month. I’m telling you about this now because last year, people were so eager to see Eisler that the appearance sold out.
The late, great historian Howard Zinn, much like Frederick Douglass, was a champion for the unwritten and voiceless people in history. Regardless of how you celebrate Black and Women’s History months, just remember that history — as most of us learned it — is not necessarily the whole story. Most history is written by the historians of the dominators.
Meet “Power of Half” co-authors Hannah and Kevin Salwen at 5 p.m. March 6 at Vroman’s Bookstore, 695 E. Colorado Blvd. Pasadena. Call (626) 449-5320.
Celebrate “Women of the World” honorees Dr. Riane Eisler, Dr. Shilpa Sayana and Whitney Kroenke Burdiit from 3 to 6 p.m. March 13. Tickets are $35 ($15 for students). For information and tickets, call (818) 243-2322 or buy tickets online at 5050Leadership.org. Proceeds benefit the United Nations Association and 50-50 Leadership.
Ellen teaches a writing workshop in Altadena. Visit her at snortland.com.
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