There is a story in the Bible about Susanna and the Elders. Susanna was a beautiful woman. The Elders were lustful old men who wanted Susanna to “lie with them” in a closed garden because they claimed to be in love with her. She refused. The old men then threatened to accuse her of “lying with” a strange young man who had been too strong for them to apprehend. Belief in the Elders’ lies would have meant death for Susanna by stoning. That was the penalty for women taken in adultery – but not for men. Susanna was saved by the prophet Daniel who exposed the falsehoods of the Elders. This story tells us more about the frailty of men than about the frailty of women.
When news accounts tell us that the most powerful Arabian ally of the United States, Saudi Arabia, gives free university education to both men and women, but that women are not to walk abroad without a male escort and a head covering, I feel anger. In my head, I hear the words of Susanna’s story.
When President Obama went to visit Saudi Arabia, his wife went with him. Every Saudi personage who greeted the president passed by his attractive and accomplished wife as though she were not even there. I was pleased to see that Michelle Obama had gone among this den of Islamic feudalism with her head uncovered – and her husband’s approval.
My admiration of women began even before I understood anything about human anatomy and procreation. When I was five, a girl who was also five lived nearby. Of Irish ancestry, she had dark Spanish eyes. It was an irresistible combination. I admired her because she was beautiful, far more pleasant to look at than the grimy little boys who were my usual companions.
The next woman whom I admired (for a lifetime) was my primary school teacher. She also was of Irish ancestry. Across the chasm of 80 years, my ears still remember the laughter bubbling up in her voice. She taught me to sing Christmas Carols. She taught me that my natural preference for academic learning, music and art was as important as the successes of bigger, stronger boys on the playing fields. In later years, I sang to the accompaniment of more than one superb female instrumentalist. Their skills on their chosen instruments were always superior to my fumbling efforts on the piano.
As my boyhood learning progressed, I discovered that a man can create a new human life in a moment, but a woman takes nine months to complete the process. This made me admire women even more.
I have come to believe that the exemplar of what a woman should be was very close to me. My maternal grandmother was a woman of her time. That is to say, she had no formal education, because the customs of the time dictated that it was not necessary to educate girls of the lower classes. (I have no photograph of Granny when she was young. I don’t know whether she was pretty then.) Her maiden name, Chipchace, was shared with hundreds of others, men and women who, through generations, served the needs and appetites of the Norman lord of Chipchace Castle. This was an association that gave her a distilled wisdom that had never been written anywhere except in retentive memories.
She taught herself to read, but otherwise had no formal learning. Yet, when better-educated members of her extended family had problems, they always took them to Granny. When I picked mushrooms, I took them to Granny, She identified the poisonous ones. She was equally adept in identifying poisonous people.
Her recreation was to create, out of the pictures in her mind, beautifully designed crocheted works of art. (I have a trunk full of them.) She was a superb artist, although she never claimed to be one. Her skills in house and garden were unparalleled, but what I remember best is how she spoke with her beautiful eyes. Often, when I was a boy, those eyes said to me, “Are you in pain? Are you unhappy? Can I comfort you?” I have since seen those same questions in the eyes of other women.
These are my firm beliefs: No religion or offshoot of religion anywhere in the world should deny women the same opportunities, the same status in their chosen fields, and the same financial rewards as those which are enjoyed by men. Nor should any custom or any law anywhere in the world keep women in an inferior position to men.
I remember my grandmother’s expressive eyes.
