et aliae

 

Doing OK today. My back feels a bit stiff, but the pain isn't too bad. I slept well, and got good rest. So yay! As far as my appetite goes, I'm still not able to eat much, but I'm able to have food other  than Ensure. I'm working on it, and I'm doing my best to increase my intake. Jerry would enjoy it if I shared more of my leftovers with him. It doesn't work, though. Don and I are trying to cope with the challenges of weakness and aging, doing things like being able to bend over to get water and food to Jerry. Sigh. This getting old and being sick is not for the faint of heart! Nor is it something enjoyable, but the alternative is inconceivable!

I learned this morning that one of my aunts was hospitalized on Thursday after not being able to eat for several days. She's due to have a procedure to treat a condition that was discovered since she was hospitalized. I'll ask those of you who believe to pray for her full and speedy recovery, please. For the rest, please keep her in your thoughts. I will update you when I have details. Thanks.

I was half-listening to a news broadcast today, when I realized something. I may be overreacting, but... anyway, you decide. The news item referred to a shooting incident of 3 persons-"2 men and a female." That seems odd and somewhat dehumanizing. I mean, we refer to male and female animals. Why is it that the news talks about men- adult male humans -and females? Aren't we also adult humans? Wouldn't it be "men and women" ? Or "males and females"? I know that it seems minor, but it appears to me to be a way of removing our humanity. It's not just this, either. Articles refer to men ( "males") by their last names-I'm told that it's a sense of formality and respect- but women are referred to by their given names-in much the same way as children are. I don't believe that it's deliberate, but it's definitely ingrained into the process. It's an unconscious way of reinforcing a lower status on a woman.

Perhaps my journalist and sociologist friends can enlighten -and correct- me as needed. Am I misreading an innocent thing, or is this along the same differential as asking a woman, "How do you balance work and home?" while not asking men that.  We’re not yet at parity, even if we're gradually moving in that direction.  I strongly support and encourage independence. It was drilled into me from my childhood that a woman must have and manage her own money. She must know how to pay bills, how much money comes in and goes out, etc, even if she has the most supportive husband. A partnership means that neither person is superior to the other- that there isn't someone "in charge" of the relationship.  For the record, "feminist" is not a swear word, and equity is not the end of civilization. Perhaps if we lost our fear of change, and actually lived up to what we preached, equity would be nearer.

Ok, I'm stepping down from my soapbox now... let's try demonstrating that we respect people equally, and not use micro-aggressions against others. I'd like a world where we are not limited by societal expectations. Is that too much to ask?