I’m a creative, experienced, multi-purpose artist and art director
who can take projects start to finish in a variety of styles.

Good designs sell –
my designs sell out!

Saturday, June 29, 2013

"Equality"

My brother and I drank tea together while Rachel Maddow exposed nefarious things far right Republicans are doing to make women barefoot and pregnant.  The topic of relationships between men and women and power was a natural result, and Rachel got muted while Bro and I bemoaned our past and present states of love and lovelessness.

It seems to me that every female needs a brother and every male needs a sister.  Otherwise, how are we supposed to decipher the idiocy of the other gender?  It’s not like you can actually have that kind of honesty with your lover.  He/she thinks stuff that will never be fully understood without a sibling’s explanation.

Bro wanted to know why women ask him questions if they really don’t want to actually know the answer.  Explanation: women are asking leading questions to see what you're going to say.  They want to know if you are serious, reliable, or other desirable traits.  They aren't fact collecting the way men collect facts.  It's a major area for misunderstanding and answering "wrong".

For my part, I told Bro about my ex complaining I “emasculated” him by renovating a house.  My ex overpaid for it, needed to sell it, and we agreed to remodel the attic to get a better price.  Since he was the lazy, that meant I remodeled the house, but in so doing made him feel bad.  Bro’s explanation?  My ex was inferior stock and needed to be weaned from our potential gene pool.  I should be glad I gained useful skills.

I’m not really sure how this helps me in future dating other than being pretty clear that every man in my life needs to know how to use a hammer, but at least it provides me with an achievable goal, and it does give me some insight into the male mind.

The fact is that men and women are different.  I like pink.  I feel like the world tells me I’m not supposed to like pink anymore because that makes me weak, and I don’t understand why anyone else would care about my color preferences.  If men liked pink too, that would make too much pink in the world.  It’s better that they pick something else, so combined, our world becomes more colorful and wonderful.

I’ve always liked the yin/yang symbol.  Separate but equal, two halves of the whole, swimming around each other like matched fish.  Together, they radiate the energy of a sun, which is enough to power a solar system.  It’s the ideal of what relationships and our world can be.

As for politics, the old guys are going to figure out someday that women aren’t going to give up shoes or contraceptives.

9 comments:

  1. Men and women are brain wired so completely differently Linda...we both need to try to understand how the other thinks..if we did there would be an awful lot less intolerance out there. I also have a brother and growing up with him made me aware of male thinking from my earliest years....it's a healthy mix. Your bro sound like a fun house mate. Happy Sunday to you both x

    ReplyDelete
  2. Reading this helps me to appreciate my brothers all the more! I'd like to think I taught them a thing or two too :). Nice appropriate illustration, once again!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Siblings of the opposite gender is indeed nice to have, sisters in my case. But I am not sure it can bridge the gap between the two genders. I don't think the gap is a natural thing, but it exists through cultural heritage. I think we would help bridge the gap if we actually took the chance to talk with each other and being honest with each other - even between couples. And I agree with you, female and male are like yin yang. Only complete with both parts in there.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Maybe if society let us be who we really are completely we might find out it's a lot easier to understand the other gender better? It's been interesting to have my brother as a housemate lately because we haven't spent this much time together in decades. I figure it's a learning opportunity. Thanks for the comments!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Yuck, pink. Just when I wanted to stop posting with IF, they keep picking such great themes like Equality. My husband and I got into an argument this weekend because he never looks at my art or acknowledges it. But he got mad when I pointed that out because he cares on the "inside" He just doesn't show it. Sigh.

    ReplyDelete
  6. It's pretty obvious that men and women are different. I don't know why everyone is still so surprised by that.

    Another terrific illustration, LH.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I agree with Joe, but will add that women vary and so do men. For example, I don't find anything wrong with the enjoyment of shopping and cooking, but I get so bored by the numerous comments from men implying that I also must enjoy shopping and cooking, which mostly, I don't. I do talk more than my husband though. :)

    I think this period of time with your brother is great. We will be forever learning, and how nice it is that you and bro can learn from each other. No pressure!

    Your illustration is so vivid! I like how the boy has a little girl within and vice versa; but all encircled within the blue and the yellow which reminds me of the sun and the ocean - things that give life. At least that's what I see. :) I'm also reminded of the sperm and the egg.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I like the idea of the egg and sperm in the yin yang symbol. So appropriate. I hate shopping even though I'm female and would like if guys quit thinking those kinds of comments are funny. My brother is the one who's been doing more shopping lately, and I really appreciate that. He even bought me chocolate. Nice brother. Why haven't other men figured some of these things out?

    Sharon, I feel like thwacking your husband on the head for you -- but maybe because I've had men like that in my life too, like the guy who told me he shouldn't have to tell me he loved me. The fact that he was around should be evidence enough. Yeah, but could you tell me once a year? So he did -- with a rather pained expression, exactly once a year :)

    Thanks for the comments!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Oh my gosh, if I had a nickel for every time I wrote a long comment but with the wrong gmail login and lost the whole thing... I'd have a bag full, I suppose.

    I had a lot of male friends to make up for the fact that I don't talk to my brother much, so that worked out. And I suspect your ex may have had an overly macho dad in addition to low self-esteem, which often leads to the scenario you described! But I can tell you that there are plenty of men who are not handy with a hammer, but who are plenty happy with women who know how to fix stuff! :)

    As for pink, I'm sure you've heard the old story about how pink was the "boy color" up until the 20s (or so?) because it was a lighter version of red, a supposedly masculine color. And then it got changed. (You can find more info under "Pink" at Wikipedia.)

    So, let's all like whatever the heck we want. I used to be a bit pink-averse but now I am happy to include many shades in my art supply collection!

    So cool the way some of the illustration looks like torn paper!

    ReplyDelete