A Christmas Message 2015: Age of Woman, Age of Hope

For those who believe in the teachings of the Bible, we are living the history of bringing back the Adam and Eve, who died at the dawn of human history after eating of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. For those who believe in the theory of evolution, humans are reaching the point of liberation—first, of man; and now, of woman.

But regardless of how you look at history, the outcome is the same: This is the age of woman. After man found his liberation through the past several centuries, woman is finding her liberation in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The age of woman has begun.

Three Areas

We can see the liberation of woman in three areas: equality, empowerment, and responsibility. In terms of equality, it has become clear that women have exactly the same qualities as men: a stomach, a brain, and a heart. Women have shown their talents in wars, in science, and in the arts.

The shape of things is ternary.

In terms of empowerment, women have gone from the initial steps of acquiring the right to vote to the level where they perform the functions of mayors, governors, presidents, legislators, and judges. Any ceilings that may restrain their growth turn out to be glass ceilings, which sooner or later get shattered.

But it is in the area of responsibility that I believe women need to achieve much more growth. This is an area in which there has been too much confusion. As individuals, women and men are, of course, equal: They both have a stomach (the will), a brain (the intellect), and a heart (the emotions). But when women and men come together to create a family, they have different functions and responsibilities. Certain functions come from biological differences; other functions come from culture and tradition.

In the family or any other social unit or organization, there are three functions to be performed. Following the pattern of the human body, these are the functions of the stomach, brain, and heart. When people come together to create an organization, those three functions will be there. People must then voluntarily agree to perform those functions. We see this ternary pattern everywhere we look.

Various Examples of Ternary Functions

An economy has production, distribution, and consumption.

In an economy, for instance, we see the three functions of production (stomach), distribution (heart), and consumption (brain). In government, we see the three functions of legislative (stomach), the executive (brain), and the judiciary (heart). The Constitution of the United States has three parts: the Preamble (the stomach), the articles (brain), and the amendments (heart). In nature, we have plants (stomach), animals (heart), and humans (brain). In the world, we have three regions: Asia/Oceania (stomach), Europe/North America (brain), and Africa/South America (heart).

The examples go on and on. In a business organization, we have the workers (stomach), management (brain), and human resources (heart). In a computer, we have the three components of motherboard (stomach), a central processing unit (brain), and devices (heart). In writing, we have three steps for the writing process: purpose-setting (stomach), writing (brain), and revising (heart). In sociology, we have three major perspectives: functionalism (stomach), conflict perspective (brain), and symbolic interactionism (heart). In Shakespearean literature, we see three types genres: tragedy (stomach), history (brain), and comedy (heart).

In other words, once you start viewing things from the ternary point of view of stomach/brain/heart, it is like turning on the lights in a dark room. All of a sudden, things make sense, things fall into place.

In the family, likewise, there are three functions: the function of the stomach (the father), the function of the brain (the children), and the function of the heart (the mother). When a child is born, a mother is born as well. With the mother, comes the heart. What kind of roles does the heart play?

Functions of the Heart: Nourish, Heal, Teach

Women nourish, heal, and teach.

The heart nourishes; the heart heals; the heart teaches. In society, likewise, the major functions of distribution of wealth, healthcare, and education are function of the heart. Of course, both men and women have a heart, but women are especially suited to fulfill the functions of distribution of wealth, healthcare, and education.

But throughout history, women have been suppressed, disempowered, and pushed to the back. Therefore, the functions of distribution of wealth, healthcare, and education have been underserved. These are precisely the social areas in which our society is mostly lacking. We have a crisis in the distribution of wealth, a crisis in healthcare, and a crisis in education.

Consider, for instance, the inequality that exists in the distribution of wealth in the world. A healthy human body would never treat its parts the way the world treats people. Some have huge superabundance; others do not have what they need to live well.

Consider the crisis in healthcare. A great deal of wealth is spent in healthcare, and yet, people do not have the care that they need. As time goes on, healthcare costs escalate.

Consider, also, the crisis in education. Huge amounts of wealth are spent in education, but we do not have the results we wish to have. Educational policies change with changing political power, and people do not obtain the education they want.

This Christmas, if we could wish for something that really makes a difference in the world, it would be the appearance of true women. After being suppressed for so many generations, women have today the opportunity to shine, to express themselves to the fullest, to fulfill their destiny. This is especially true in the three areas in which the world is hurting most: distribution of wealth, healthcare, and education. And remember: Not until woman has assumed her rightful position in the world will man be able to find complete liberation. Thus, the age of woman is the age of peace and prosperity.

Merry Christmas, and may the age of woman find its complete flowering in 2016.

Paulo-Juarez Pereira
Ypsilanti, Michigan, USA
Christmas Day, December 25, 2015

Photo Credit:

Gauguin, “Three Tahitian Women.” Art Gallery ErgsArt – by ErgSap. Source http://bit.ly/1IudIVz. Public Domain.

Pyramid. Author: Robb Hannawacker. Source: http://bit.ly/1OdpJim. Public Domain.

Wome and Tropical Fruit. Author: PROBioversity International. Source: http://bit.ly/1RKnYLW. Creative Commons License: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

A factory. Author: UNIDO. Source: http://bit.ly/1Or1L5j. Creative Commons License: Attribution-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-ND 2.0).