It is very common for us to hear people joking about how men and women do certain things. I reckon everyone has already heard someone talking about women's abilities to drive or men's abilities with feelings. What some people don't know is that there is a biological explanation to these differences: their brains. Although saying it might seem a little sexist, men really tend to be better at math than women. Nevertheless, women tend to be better at language skills. This might be cleared by the fact that men use more of the gray matter in the brain, while women use more of the white. By analyzing the brains we can justify other gender differences, such as spatial abilities and human relationships. Men excel in the first, while women are better in the second. One interesting fact is that these structural differences are not related to intelligence itself, as men and women score the same in intelligence tests. Human evolution developed two different brains to deal with the same situations, so let's not think that one is better than the other, but that they were supposed to be different, and that's what is great about human intelligence.
These two different ways of thinking is what caused the divorce of Sleeping Beauty and Prince Charming. One of them thought that women were incapable of doing anything but taking care of the house and the children, but the other disagreed and believed that women should work and get involved in business and political affairs for they are just as competent as men, having a rather feminist point of view.
Surprisingly, the roles in this discussion weren’t the ones we would normally expect. The one to defend feminist ideas wasn’t Aurora, as we would suppose, but Philip. He just couldn’t stand the princess’ behavior, and her passiveness through life and the political problems the castle faced. He expected her to have opinions, and to help him and the counselors reach agreements and decide what’s best for the castle and its subjects.
The princess, on the other hand, held a very quiet and discrete posture towards men, and believed that she was in no position to question what men say and specially to engage in real conversations with them. She thought that the same way she slept her way to being rescued, she would ‘sleep’ to spare men of her inferior arguments and beliefs, because, although she had been educated, women just aren’t fit for certain activities and conversations.
After the divorce, Aurora went back to live with her parents, in their castle, and wanted to take her son, Prince William, with her. But the young prince decided to stay with his father, because he just didn’t want to be raised by such an ignorant person with beliefs that seemed to have been learned a few centuries ago.
Sleeping Beauty said that, as a divorced woman, she shouldn’t get married again, and for the rest of her life she would just read love stories (she didn’t think she was fit to reading anything but that) and take care of her parents, that were getting older and older. With the death of her father, King Stefan, she refused to become the queen, saying that only a man can rule a country, and that queens should exist just to make the kings happier and to make it easier on them. So her son, Prince William, became King William, and decided not to get married out of fear of having a wife like his mother.
Prince Philip had got married to a plebeian, and had had three more kids with her. They ruled their country and were the first government to come up with rules in favor of the equality of gender in all aspects, followed by his son, King William.
They led most of their lives apart, but when King Philip’s wife died, Aurora came to the funeral, and stayed visiting for the week. The old sparks just came back to life, and they realized they had been stupid to get a divorce instead of trying to make it work. They figured that different ways of thinking weren’t enough to end a marriage and that they would try to make it work now, even if just for the last part of their lives.
With a scream, Sleeping Beauty woke up, realizing it had all just been a dream and that none of that had really happened. She came to her senses, realizing how stupid she had been all along and that she just wouldn’t risk losing her marriage anymore. The very next day she started the WPA - Women in Politics Association.
No comments:
Post a Comment