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Holding Power, Withholding Sex
By marciahopple on 2009-01-02 15:36:18
If women had been the dominant sex in most societies over the history of human kind, would we have world peace?
During the holidays I saw this funny but hard to prove variation on the story of the three wise men following the star when Jesus was born:
Three wise women would have:
e Asked for directions
e Arrived on time
¢ Helped deliver the baby
© Cleaned the stable
e Made a casserole
¢ Brought practical gifts
e and there would be Peace on Earth
My question about the possible peace dividend, had women been the leaders, is part of my thinking right now about women such as Hillary Clinton as
US secretary of state and Tsipi Livni as potential prime minister in Israel. I wish I felt confident that they can bring a more peaceful perspective to
international relations than past leaders have. I search my mind and the news and the thinking of others for effective ways to make that perspective
uppermost in the minds of women leaders. I want to help stir up huge support for any leader who will act on the premise that non-violence can end the
vicious cycle, that someone has to be the first to say peace at any cost. We have tried hard to urge the men in leadership positions, as well as Hillary
Clinton as a Senator, to choose negotiation and non-violence over war, but without much success so far.
[also try to think how ordinary women in everyday life can effectively oppose war and nurture peaceful problem solving. I consider the story of the
grandmothers for peace who went to the recruiting station in Times Square to sign up for service in place of the younger generation. It generated waves
of publicity and spawned many grannies for peace groups around the country, including members of Women Against War. But I understand that some
80,000 men and women signed up as recruits in 2008. Are there that many grannies and grandpas willing to clog the system until the leaders will listen?
As for upsetting the system, there is the story Lysistrata (Attic Greek: ?????2?2?? Lysistraté, Doric Greek: ?????????? Lysistrata), loosely translated to
"she who disbands armies.") As described by Wikipedia, Lysistrata, a Greek old comedy written in 411 BC by Aristophanes, tells the story of the title
character devising a plan to end the war Athens is embroiled in by convincing all the women of Greece to refrain from sex with their husbands until they
come to a peace agreement. Lysistrata and her band of followers take over the Acropolis to cut off funding for the war and eventually succeed in getting
the opposing armies to declare peace. This play offered social commentary on the current state of Athens as it struggled with Sparta for control of Greece
in the Peloponnesian War.
Women have more power than ever, and have always had the power to upset the system, especially when working together. Let’s complement the
growing influence of women in government with some influence like Lysistrata’s, from the women on the street.
