Women hold the key

Dear editor:

Women hold the key to every culture. There is no exception unless there is a culture that includes no women. Women always have the first opportunity to influence the cultures in which they live, because they have the first main contacts with babies through breast-feeding and communication, and thus, teaching. Though exceptions to this occur, I am considering only what usually occurs.

Three kinds of cultures exist simultaneously. There are family cultures, which include a small number of members; local cultures, as neighborhoods (including gangs); and societywide cultures, that can range from the cultures of states to an entire country. In all cases, women have the greatest influence, but too often they have no idea that this is the case. Political cultures seem dominated by men. When women take a "back seat," what seems to be, becomes temporarily what is.

A woman easily can greatly sway her family culture. Humor sometimes expresses what is true: "When mama ain't happy, nobody's happy." A woman can teach her very young children what is permissible and what is right; what isn't right and what must never be. Young children are so often reared (or, sometimes, neglected) by young women who haven't realized their responsibilities and don't know their own influencing abilities, and were just children being reared (or neglected) a few years ago. They tend to deal with their children like they were treated, though sometimes they insist upon a few changes. They teach their culture to their children. If just one woman were to teach a very different culture, that culture would be learned, and parts of it would be followed. (Every individual forms and propagates his/her own personal culture.)

Some cultures include a propensity to quick and often angry responses, where self-control and the understanding of others aren't viewed as virtues, but as weaknesses. Some cultures greatly accent propriety: proper responses and wise self-control in difficult and dangerous circumstances. How quickly one cultural form can evolve into an opposing cultural form! A culture that used to be known for formality, self-control, strictness, high standards and surviving well in hardship, can "evolve" into a culture known for sloppiness, quick and angry responses, moral looseness, low standards (by which I mean not seeking benefit to and for others) and propagating hardship among its own! Yet, if one woman determines to begin to turn that culture around, starting with her own newborn children, she can and will succeed. As she succeeds within her own home and environment, she can show other women to do the same, with the same results.

Every great leader had a mother. Whether that mother guided with wisdom or total neglect, every great leader was greatly influenced by that woman entrusted with the care of the future leader. No matter how terrible the environment, a woman has the power to shape the culture of the next leaders.

Consider any "violent" culture. The young women will be the most neglected; they are the very ones who could turn the culture.

James Wilson

Hot Springs

Editorial on 05/03/2015

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