My dear daughter,
Yesterday we have learned that fear and ignorance are a dangerous combination.
There are too many ignorant and frightened people in this country, so here I am studying Mathematics, Python programming, Data Science, German and French, trying to land a good job abroad (possibly in Europe, because we have Italian citizenship), so you can grow up in a place with better education, where people respect women’s rights, and where a more equal income distribution will provide you a safer environment.
I hate to break this to you so soon: this world still is a terrible place for women. Which is why we will raise you to be independent, empowered and strong: to be your own girl. I think you already display the characteristics of a powerful woman. I am a proud father.
Some countries are better than others, like Iceland, Finland, Ireland and Norway. We’re gonna try those. Who knows?
Some anthropologists claim the first societies in the middle east were matriarchal, because of the importance of agriculture, which was mainly women’s responsibility. Men were hunters. Agriculture allowed for the first cities. Clans were also established around a matriarch because it is always easier to know your mother than your father.
It seems to be the same among groups of lions.
Supposedly, some men, lacking political power, were not satisfied. Males usually have more physical prowess, at least among large primates, because we have evolved to hunt, to protect the group against outsiders and to compete between other males for fertile females. So these men they used their superior strength (sadly, it was a decisive factor back then), and… took control. The emergence of the notion of property might have had something to do with it. Men would have invented the idea of property to take possession of what would otherwise belong to the whole clan, such as land, animals and other females.
That would relegate women to thousands of years of servitude in almost every western society. Religion played a key role by emphasizing women’s alleged inferiority. In that time, it encompassed physical, intellectual and emotional inferiority. You will find traces of this ideology in semantics. Words like hysteria, which were used by pseudo-doctors or early psychologists to describe mental unbalance, used to refer to the womb. The three large Abrahamic religions – Judaism, Christianism and Islamism – make a pillar of downplaying women’s position in society.
Times began to “a-change” after the Industrial Revolution. It was important for the rising capitalism to place women in the consumer market. With it came the suffragist movement at the beginning of the 20th century and ever louder claims of independency and inclusion in the job market.
You still have to deal with heavy anachronisms, such as receiving a lower income than men performing the same work (in most countries), harassment of all kind, being looked down, underestimated, being discriminated in the job market due to the possibility of having to take extended maternity leaves, having to prove every day that you can get “a men’s” job done while still having to raise kids and take care of the house. Often without the help of a partner, either because he/she doesn’t exist or is unwilling to help due to a retrograde worldview where domestic chores wouldn’t be a man’s responsibility.
Worst of all, there is widespread physical violence against woman. Statistically, most of it is perpetrated by familiars and companions. All cowards, lesser-men. Sadly it is so common in this country there is even a special crime described in the law for cases of homicide against women, which is femicide (“feminicídio” in Portuguese). There is also a special set of laws for crimes against women, collectively reffered as Maria da Penha’s law. It refers to many types of violence, ranging from physical to emotional, punctual or frequent. This legal text aims to offer the victims special protection. But since it is mostly a cultural issue, the law can’t stop this kind of violence by itself. And we’re still very far from changing this culture. Sometimes there are major setbacks, like in the recent electoral period.
The truth is women are perfectly capable to outperform men in any activity, job, field of study or duty. Evolution has even left women better equipped to handle a vast range of responsibilities. You can better perceive details and nuances, you can recognize emotions more easily, which is vital to working in groups to accomplish any task. You have a unique approach to problem solving which few men can replicate. You are more prone to settle any issues without retorting to violence, which is what the world needs so desperately right now.
Always remember this: there is nothing in this world you cannot do, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Make sure other women learn this lesson and that you help each other out.
Love,
Dad
Aspergers Dad 