[...] if i had listened to modern media/entertainment growing up i would have believed that men and women are entirely different, or somehow at odds. i was lucky to be good friends with my brother and my father as a girl and because of this given the opportunity early on to understand that some of the greatest conversations and inevitably friendships of my life would be with men. most poignantly with the one i married.
friendship, the ability to relate, connect and empathize with another human being as human being instead of the social role they are supposed to play is cornerstone of healing the future. growing up i remember clearly the stereotypes media/entertainment focused on for men. and yes, some men emulated those roles as many women emulate the 'female' version of those roles. but really when you sit down and talk to most people without the facade, without the expectation or the role playing - we are human beings having a human experience here. we have happiness, suffering, sweetness, harshness, balance and imbalance and we all want to know peace. the differences are vast. the similarities are vast. the specifics are fascinating. the variations are endless.
in our century we are watching a rebalancing. look at history and see the vast imbalance created by socially constructed roles for the genders. that women and girls were historically marginalized into socially/politically impotent roles and still are in the world is to see a critical source of suffering in the world. when we heal what happened with women and girls, we heal the world. that is exactly what we are watching now and it is thanks to the good men and women before us that makes this possible. men and women, unified.
