Part of being a woman in this world is the extra effort you have to exert in order to be taken seriously. You have to make yourself twice as valid, and twice as smart as the men around you. Once, I read a feminist joke that it's a good thing this isn't too difficult.

There seems to be some grand and long standing conspiracy to belittle things that women do. It started with female goddesses being stamped out of "acceptable" religion, to the feminist movement being useless. When we get emotional or angry over something the men in our lives do, they think it's because we have PMS and will get over it eventually if they just leave us alone.  Even our periods are now thought to be obsolete and unimportant, as was said in an article a friend showed me saying a pill has been invented to stop the menstrual flow. The Greeks had even invented a word, hysteria, meaning a woman's womb ("hyster") had possessed her and driven her crazy. The only solution, of course, was for her to lie with a man. They even believed that in reproduction, a woman's body was simply the farming land, the man's seed was the real contributing factor.

It seems that men have gone a long way to make themselves feel superior, and I have come to conclusion that they are only compensating for their own insecurity. You see, in the process of procreation, the only thing men are needed for is one tiny little sperm. Some women nowadays do not feel required to get married or find a relationship, but instead seek  a sperm donor when they feel ready to have a child. On the other hand, men cannot do the same. Not only is a woman's egg needed, but her body as well. For nine months (well technically a petri dish could be used, but that's much much more expensive than most people could afford, and not nearly as easy to come by as sperm doning) she must carry this child within her, the child's survival depends on her good judgment of nourishment and so on. For this reason, I've always though women possessed a unique intelligence, the intelligence and insight it takes to care for and sustain another human life, the intelligence to be responsible for a life.

Once again, it comes down to men being put off by these life giving powers women have. There's nothing usual about that, if I were a man I'd be put off by them too. But it seems a bit unfair since 97 percent of the population believes in some form of higher life, one would think men should respect that women were chosen for these gifts and not try to oppress them. For centuries men have been claiming they are smarter sex, the stronger sex, the better sex. But one has to wonder, if men are so much better, so much smarter, so superior, why were they not chosen for bring forth life of their own bodies? Why were they not chosen to have the responsibility for one?

I'm not a man hater, and I don't think I'm better than a man, I'm not a lesbian either. What I want from the world, and from men, is some appreciation. The penis is the most venerated object in our society, yet it can't feed a baby, and if it bleeds for a week one would run to the emergency room in terror. Just because I don't have a penis doesn't make me any less of a person. Just because I don't have a penis doesn't mean I should accept less wages than you, be your co-dependent, obey you, and not expect you to listen when I speak. Just because I like to do "girlie" things like write poetry and stories, doesn't mean I don't have the brains to build a computer if I so desired. Just because I don't have a penis doesn't mean I need you to program my VCR. Just because I have a menstrual cycle doesn't mean my tears are the result of some imbalance of progesterone and can be stopped with more Vitamin A. Just because I have a menstrual cycle doesn't mean I will cry. Just because I don't have a penis that doesn't give you the right to say I'm not as close to Jesus and therefore can't be a priest because I'm not circumcised.