[Oe List ...] Fwd: for anyone, once more

[wangzhimu2031 at aol.com]

Thanks, Paul and Marianna Bailey.  Here's where the 7 went:



She
 
"Ze" has entered my vocabulary.  Ze will not eliminate "he","she", and "it"; just adds to it.  It might even delight my Tejas-Mejicano campesinoswho will mistake my use of zee language. Ze does not matter.
 
So I wrote in a previous column.  "She", however, does matter.
 
It is no longer as repeated as often as it used to, but the old Chinesesaying, oft-quoted by Mao Zedong and Deng Xiao Peng, was nu ren neng dingban bian tian, “womenhold half of the sky.”  China has goneback to being unapologetically patriarchal. The systemic reasons are deep, not the least of which is the universalpattern of naming a child after the father’s ancestral beginnings rather thancombining the gifts of the mother and father’s names.
 
In myUniversity classes, I printed my whole name on the board, Jaime Ravelo Vergara,to indicate how my father and mother’s last names are my surnames.  When I was in Spain once, I was called SeñorRavelo.  My name over there was formallywritten as Jaime Vergara y Ravelo.  
 
The name inSpain was actually the way Filipino names were made during the Spanish period, stilltrue in many Hispanic countries.  TheEuropean practice included both mother and father’s surname when naming achild.  It varied on whether the fatheror mother’s came first or second.  Insome English influenced countries, the middle name is the mother’s maidensurname.  I some places, like many partsof the United States, the mother’s surname has been dropped.  The latter has always been the case inChina.  The only time a mother’s nameshows up is when a combined child’s given name includes that of themother.  The father’s surname is thestandard unchanging one.
 
My children follow the practice of having the mother’ssurname carried as the child’s middle name. However, in some places where the mother is the primary care giver, achild’s surname often takes after the mother, like those of single mothers, or divorcedmothers who have sole custody of the children who reverts back to her maidenname, and renames everyone with her surname. 
 
Some boutique practices have entered American practice likefamilies where the boys take on the father’s surname, and the girls, themother’s, or vice-versa.  In some, myriadof combinations apply.  The hyphenatedfamily name has become common for wives and children.
 
The family’s surname after a marriage is also changing.  In previous times, the universal practice wasfor the man’s surname to be adopted, and only after a divorce does the womanhave the option to revert back to her maiden name.  There are actually eight States in the Unionthat allows man to change into their wives names in marriage withoutpetitioning the court for the normal process of name change.  I once adapted to my Chinese wife’s surnamesince the Chinese female always retains her maiden name after marriage.  My gesture was not appreciated!
 
But if patriarchy is deeply embedded in many cultures to thedetriment of female roles, certain conservative elements of Islamic countrieshave now dredged certain Koranic provisions that dictate how a woman behavesmodestly in public.  Sharia laws are veryexplicit about how women are to behave in manners and looks, but the literalismnow being applied by Islam’s fundamentalists used to dog biblical fundamentalistas well.  That kind of literalism is hardto dispel as many sections of religious fundamentalism adopt their favoredrestrictions and impose them on their members as provisions of inerrant scripturallaw.  Judaism and Christianity havevariations of the same theme.  In thecurrent Afghanistan-Pakistan talks where the Taliban is involved, seriousconsideration of Sharia Law as it applies to women is actively on the table.  Gang rape in India has exposed a commontravesty.
 
“A rose by any other name” served Shakespeare’s audienceswell, and was cute with Romeo and Juliet, but no longer.   A rose by any other name is a fluke.  She wants her name in goldenletters in the annals of history, just as much as he does, and has as muchequal right to it as anyone.  Noaffirmative action required, just the right to be SHE!
 
There were seven revolutions I’ve joined in my life: 1)youth and emotive exuberance, 2) minorities and their civil rights, 3) ThirdWorld’s independence from imperial and colonial designs, 4) university vs. multiversitywithout a cognitive overview, 5) global business against protectionism andentrenched patrimony, 6) the rise of local men and women, and 7) women’srightful place in humanity’s leveled field.
 
We shall overcome chorusis still playing.



-----Original Message-----
From: Paul <pschrijnen at aol.com>
To: wangzhimu2031 <wangzhimu2031 at aol.com>
Cc: oe <oe at lists.wedgeblade.net>
Sent: Mon, Feb 17, 2014 6:57 pm
Subject: Re: [Oe List ...] Fwd: for anyone, once more



Amen indeed!   


Paul

Sent from my iPhone

On 17 Feb 2014, at 09:26, wangzhimu2031 at aol.com wrote:



1. Youth
2. Minorities
3. Third World
4. University
5. Women
6. Global business
7. Local human


Will someone say, Amen!



-----Original Message-----
From: wangzhimu2031 <wangzhimu2031 at aol.com>
To: oe <oe at lists.wedgeblade.net>
Sent: Mon, Feb 17, 2014 5:19 pm
Subject: for anyone


A quickie.  Am losing my mind's cognitive capacities and I am ten years younger than Bill Salmon.  Anyway, I am trying to recall 7 revolutions we named in the 70s.  I have so far:


1. Youth
2. Minorities
3. Third World
4. University
5. Women
6. Global business?
7. ?????  Help.


Jaime



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