WHISTLING WOMEN . . .

 

  Can you whistle ?  It is a skill in which i have limited ability, especially if it is "musical".  Do you know any 'whistling' sayings ? Gloria Freeland, a retired journalism professor in Kansas, writes a weekly column, Kansas Snapshots (www.kansassnapshots.com).  This week's offering, "Just Put Your Lips Together", noted several sayings about the art of  whistling  that have become commonplace in our lingo. . .  among them "Whistling past the cemetery", "whistling in the dark", "Whistle stop" towns, etc. 

  Then there is another expression, erroneously said to be Biblical in origin, whose "message" is demeaning and worse to women: "a whistling woman and a crowing hen are neither fit for God nor man".  That British version morphed into the equally offensive American version "a whistling woman and a crowing hen never come to a very good end".

  So, what is the deal about a 'crowing hen"?

  A  hen crows to establish her place in the pecking order to establish her dominance and territory . . . like a rooster.  In effect, to claim equality with the male. The expression, not so subtle, however, tells the female to "BE SILENT", in other words, don't 'whistle', stay 'in your second class place'.

  Have you heard this riddle, still confounding to many but hopefully fewer than not so long ago? In a surgical unit where a young man has been  brought for emergency surgery, the surgeon exclaimed "I cannot perform this operation; this is my son !" The young man is the surgeon's son but the surgeon is not the lad's father." 'How can this be ?' has stumped many who could not  fathom the reality of a woman surgeon

  Historic and contemporary manifestations of the inequality are everywhere in our society. President Jimmy Carter instituted Women's History Month as 'a national recognition of the vital role women have played throughout history" (re an online site).  

   This past week Judge Katanji Brown Jackson endured shameful questioning and behavior from members of the Senate Judiciary Committee.  While there have been and are  female Supreme Court Justices, the first one was Sandra Day O'Connor who was appointed by President Reagan in 1981 (!) .  Judge Jackson's  treatment was doubly scandalous, being a Black woman.  Yeah, I know that there was a LOT of partisan political posturing going on (primarily, but not exclusively by males) but as Joseph Welch asked Senator McCarthy in 1954' "Have you no sense of decency, sir?". 

      Judge Jackson is more than "qualified" to "whistle". She already belongs in the "Choir" of some outstanding  "whistlers", including just a few of the names in the news recently:  Madeleine Albright, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Maya Angelou, Billy Jean King, Mary the Mother  of Jesus, and they are joined by untold numbers of sisters who know the spirit of Helen Reddy's song "I am Woman" when she sang, "[I've] a long way to go until my brother understands."

     Satchel

   

       

"Everything's the same now that it's changed . . ."

  "It's hard to maintain a consistent world view when the world itself is always changing . . . " Rachel Held Evans wrote that in Faith Unraveled.  She died on May 4, 2019, at the age of thirty-seven, having written extensively about her journey from a staunchly conservative evangelical to an Episcopal 'liberal'.  Beyond any religious framing, Bob Dylan had foretold impermanence in his iconic "The times they are a'changing".  By contrast, there is the aphorism, "Plus ca change, plus ca dure". If my French is correct, that translates somewhat like, "The more things change, the more they stay the same".  

   Post-World War II rulers in the Soviet Union and now Russia have intervened to impose their hegemony (sometimes through the Communist  party of various countries) in Hungary, Czechoslovakia (1948 and 1968), Crimea, and now Ukraine. This latest violence marks an assault on an independent, autonomous country, raising international anxiety to its highest level since perhaps the Cuban Missile Crisis. 

   Few persons would now likely profess the optimism found in  the self (and perhaps by extension, societal) assertion that "in every day in every way, I'm getting better and better".  Yet, some among us thought, believed, hoped that barbarism was at least receding.  Accountability is missing in much human behavior.  The outcome of the fighting in Ukraine likely will have sooner and later implications.

  In the meantime, compassion has frequently been a response to human suffering.  While there are scammers roaming around in times of turmoil, many legitimate  organizations and groups are attempting to respond to the toll of human anguish in Ukraine.  If you would like a suggestion , the United Methodist Committee On Relief provides humanitarian assistance to the Ukrainian people in the wake of the Russian invasion of their country.  One hundred percent (100%)  of contributions go to direct assistance to Ukranians.  According to their official site, gifts to support  relief can be made in either of these ways:

   .Online at  https://umcmission.org/advance-project/982450  

    .Toll free telephone : 888-252-6174

    .By check with "Advance # 982450-Ukraine" written on the meme line and mailed to   Global Ministries/UMCOR, GPO, PO Box9068, New York, NY 10087-9068

    Be generous !

              Satchel