I’ve recently run across a video called “Dear Women,” put out by a group called Conscious Men. The video is embedded below.
I should say now that I appreciate the sentiment of the video. I really do. Women have been systematically excluded from positions of power and been sexually exploited for…ever. That said, I fear that Conscious Men are idealizing women, and this is a mistake.
The video goes on and on about our (i.e. women’s) “intuitive sense” and “profound capacity…
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It isn’t any better, in my opinion, when people dress up sexism in pretty language. It comes off as another way to refuse to see that women are simply female human beings. No better, no worse. It is just another limited gender role, it sounds like a new age-y version of the fairer/weaker sex to me.
First, let me say I appreciate the sentiment as well. I do my best to be conscious of what evils men and women have done each other in the past, and learn from it. There is nothing that can be ‘made up for’ now, in this moment.
Now for some skeptical questions..
Why does this make you uncomfortable to be worshiped? Do you recoil from all spirituality because some have abused it (i.e. organized religion)? Examining this may be a way to be a more conscious human.
From what I’ve seen so far, there is something extremely interesting going on with the eye contact and facial expressions of these men. There is some new age-y fuzzy vagueness, and I think our challenge as skeptics is to come to our own truth.
i’m uncomfortable with being worshiped because, well, i’m not a goddess! nor am i inherently special simply because i’m female. to say that women should be worshiped is untenable. it creates a standard that is impossible to live up to. it is one thing to acknowledge that women have a unique point of view – or a unique set of views – based on our individual experiences. i think that is true. but it is quite another to be lifted up above men, just because i have a uterus. i want respect because i am a human being.
@technomagik
There are lots of ways to answer this, but for me as a feminist, I’ll say that it makes me uncomfortable because it is yet another role to cast women in. Consciously or unconsciously when you force women into the role of the Worshipped there are expectations that they remain in the boundaries of that role.
Other things come into play, too, like an expectation of gratitude. You worship me, shouldn’t I be grateful for your worship, shouldn’t I show it somehow?
Putting someone on a pedestal seems like a gift, a loving gesture, until you understand that it actually lays a burdon on them to live up to the standard of the pedestal.
I don’t speak for all women, but in general I’d say we do not want to be your goddesses. We want a level playing field on which to explore and live up to our potentials. That’s it.
Plus, I hear you can’t get pizza delivery all the way up on that pedestal. :P
I’m not so sure they they were talking pedestal, as much as level playing field??????
Is it just me or does the guy on the left look kind of like an evil wizard?
The whole point of being a skeptic is to live in reality. If you want an authentic relationship, it has to be based on reality too. You can have a fantasy relationship built on something else.
Charlie Sheen has relationships with his “goddesses” based on something. If you want to be a “goddess” for someone like Charlie Sheen, good luck with that.
Life it too short for me to pretend to be something different than I am. If reality isn’t good enough for someone, no fantasy I can make up is going to be good enough either.
I don’t want a goddess who stays with me because I worship her. I want a real woman who wants to be with me because I want to be with her and because we can be authentic with each other. If it doesn’t work for both of us, it doesn’t work for me.
Women are loving, smart, powerful, beautiful, and worth so much more than most are given credit for.
They are also a pain in the ass and irrational sometimes, it comes with being human. Refusing to acknowledge the good as well as the bad does a disservice to everyone involved.
It is not a compliment, is is the removal of humanness. It is, in a word, bullshit.
Love you all, ladies. :)
The part I found the worst was the separation of masculine and feminine energy. Very wooey. It is difficult to imagine anything good coming from such a vague premise.
Also, when you are wronged, an apology from people who haven’t wronged you isn’t constructive. If my brother hits me an apology from my mother doesn’t improve my lot much nor does it diminish the chance that my brother will hit me again.
I recognized a lot of the language used in this film. I play/use and game/meditation aid called Journey to Wild Divine. Among the soft, low, calm talking heads that pop up from time to time are Deepak Chopra. As nearly as I can tell the philosophy behind the program and this video are very similar. (By the by the program is excellent if you can ignore the woo.)
You know, sometimes it would be nice to just be human.
Oh, and yeah. “Feminine energy”? I think we can safely say this is woo territory.
Gotta love the backhanded slap about how men devalued “feelings” in “favor of a view dominated by data and logic”. Ladies are so much better at ignoring data and logic I suppose.
BTW, where’s the part of the video about the spaceship disguised as a comet coming to take us away from all of this? Did they edit that out?
Wow. Just.. wow. That is one of the most sexist things I’ve ever seen but so backwards to the expected. That’s mind blowing.
I particularly like the bits where they blame men for all the problems in the world and then burden women with fixing them all. “So we screwed up, but since you’re so in-tune with nature would you mind fixing all of our socio-economic and environmental problems.”
I sort of got the impression that they weren’t so much looking for equality as salvation.
Salvation and sex.
Did anyone else notice at the end that they seemed to be really keen to get into intimate relationships with no boundaries?
I’m dreading standing behind a podium at TAM. I don’t want to have to be on a pedestal behind a podium at TAM.
PRESSURE!
@Elyse: I’m dreading standing behind a podium at TAM. I don’t want to have to be on a pedestal behind a podium at TAM.
I have a simple suggestion to alleviate this anxiety. Stand on the podium at TAM. Yeah, baby!
I admit I could only get through about two minutes of the video (nearly lost my eyeballs when they tried to roll out of my head).
As to the worship question, I don’t want to be the center of anybody’s universe. That’s probably why cats appeal to me so much. I adore my partner, and he adores me–we accept each other’s faults. Neither of us is on any pedestal, and that’s the way I want it.
Creepy!
If a bunch of women were all staring at me like that, I would RUN as fast as I could and yell for help. No matter how reassuring their words or how soothing the voices.