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 campesinos
who 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 Chinese
saying, oft-quoted by Mao Zedong and Deng Xiao Peng, was nu ren neng ding
ban bian tian, “women
hold half of the sky.” China has gone
back to being unapologetically patriarchal.
The systemic reasons are deep, not the least of which is the universal
pattern of naming a child after the father’s ancestral beginnings rather than
combining the gifts of the mother and father’s names.
In my
University 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 Señor
Ravelo. My name over there was formally
written as Jaime Vergara y Ravelo.
The name in
Spain was actually the way Filipino names were made during the Spanish period, still
true in many Hispanic countries. The
European practice included both mother and father’s surname when naming a
child. It varied on whether the father
or mother’s came first or second. In
some English influenced countries, the middle name is the mother’s maiden
surname. I some places, like many parts
of the United States, the mother’s surname has been dropped. The latter has always been the case in
China. The only time a mother’s name
shows up is when a combined child’s given name includes that of the
mother. The father’s surname is the
standard unchanging one.
My children follow the practice of having the mother’s
surname carried as the child’s middle name.
However, in some places where the mother is the primary care giver, a
child’s surname often takes after the mother, like those of single mothers, or divorced
mothers who have sole custody of the children who reverts back to her maiden
name, and renames everyone with her surname.
Some boutique practices have entered American practice like
families where the boys take on the father’s surname, and the girls, the
mother’s, or vice-versa. In some, myriad
of combinations apply. The hyphenated
family name has become common for wives and children.
The family’s surname after a marriage is also changing. In previous times, the universal practice was
for the man’s surname to be adopted, and only after a divorce does the woman
have the option to revert back to her maiden name. There are actually eight States in the Union
that allows man to change into their wives names in marriage without
petitioning the court for the normal process of name change. I once adapted to my Chinese wife’s surname
since 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 the
detriment of female roles, certain conservative elements of Islamic countries
have now dredged certain Koranic provisions that dictate how a woman behaves
modestly in public. Sharia laws are very
explicit about how women are to behave in manners and looks, but the literalism
now being applied by Islam’s fundamentalists used to dog biblical fundamentalist
as well. That kind of literalism is hard
to dispel as many sections of religious fundamentalism adopt their favored
restrictions and impose them on their members as provisions of inerrant scriptural
law. Judaism and Christianity have
variations of the same theme. In the
current Afghanistan-Pakistan talks where the Taliban is involved, serious
consideration of Sharia Law as it applies to women is actively on the table. Gang rape in India has exposed a common
travesty.
“A rose by any other name” served Shakespeare’s audiences
well, and was cute with Romeo and Juliet, but no longer. A rose by any other name is a fluke. She wants her name in golden
letters in the annals of history, just as much as he does, and has as much
equal right to it as anyone. No
affirmative 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) Third
World’s independence from imperial and colonial designs, 4) university vs. multiversity
without a cognitive overview, 5) global business against protectionism and
entrenched patrimony, 6) the rise of local men and women, and 7) women’s
rightful place in humanity’s leveled field.
We shall overcome chorus
is still playing.
-----Original Message-----
From: Paul <pschrijnen@aol.com>
To: wangzhimu2031 <wangzhimu2031@aol.com>
Cc: oe <oe@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
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@aol.com>
To: oe <
oe@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