Unreasonable Perceptions

ostrich

George Bernard Shaw was the filthy old misogynist who said:

“The reasonable man adapts himself to the conditions that surround him… The unreasonable man adapts surrounding conditions to himself… All progress depends on the unreasonable man”

Naturally this only relates to men;  the unreasonable woman is derided as premenstrual and is told that what she thinks, feels or believes isn’t real, has no validity. Go away, do not pass Go, your views do not represent progress.

But the counter quote to the above is from Rosanne Barr:

“Women complain about PMS, but I think of it as the only time of the month when I can be myself.”

and surely this is the truth. The time of the month that most totally defines a woman’s femininity is the time that men are most afraid of her. They confuse femininity with passivity, with compliance, with selflessness. They don’t recognise the raised voice, the impatience, the anger, the harsh words, my God – the opinions! “You’re hysterical”, we’re told. But at that time of the month, we are free to think the otherwise unthinkable – that partners are selfish, that children are spoilt, that parents are demanding. Hush, little woman. Lock yourself away until these thoughts pass.

“When she bleeds the smells I know change colour. There is iron in her soul on those days. She smells like a gun.”

Jeanette Winterson, Written on the Body

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