{"id":4171,"date":"2013-07-13T01:53:56","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:53:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=4171"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:53:56","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:53:56","slug":"16-the-problem-of-women-vol-12-on-education-volume-12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/02-works-of-the-mother\/01-cwmce\/12-on-education-volume-12\/16-the-problem-of-women-vol-12-on-education-volume-12","title":{"rendered":"-16_The-Problem-of-Women.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n


\n\u00a0<\/font><\/span>The Problem
\nof Woman <\/font><\/span><\/i><\/b> <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\nI<\/font><\/span> wish
\nto speak to you about the problem of woman, a problem as old as mankind in
\nappearance, but infinitely older in origin. For if we want to find the law that
\ngoverns and solves it, we must go back to the origin of the universe, even
\nbeyond the creation.<\/span><\/p>\n

Some of the most ancient traditions, perhaps even the most
\nancient, ascribed the cause of the creation of the universe to the will of a
\nSupreme Absolute to manifest by his own self-objectification; and the first act
\nof this objectification was said to be the emanation of the creative
\nConsciousness. Now, these ancient traditions usually speak of the Absolute in
\nthe masculine gender and of the Consciousness in the feminine, thus making this
\nprimordial gesture the origin of the differentiation between man and woman and
\nat the same time giving a kind of priority to the masculine over the feminine.
\nIn fact, although they are one, identical and coexistent before the
\nmanifestation, the masculine took the original decision and emanated the
\nfeminine to carry it out, which amounts to saying that while there is no
\ncreation without the feminine, neither is there any feminine manifestation
\nwithout the previous decision of the masculine.<\/span><\/p>\n

We could certainly ask whether this explanation is not a little
\ntoo human. But, to tell the truth, all the explanations that men can give must
\nalways necessarily be human, at least in their formulation. For, in their
\nspiritual ascent towards the Unknowable and Unthinkable, certain exceptional
\nindividuals have been able to transcend human nature and identify themselves
\nwith the object of their seeking in a sublime and, in a way, unformulable
\nexperience. But as soon as they sought to share the benefit of their discovery
\nwith others, they had to formulate it, and in order to be comprehensible their
\nformula had, of necessity, to be human and symbolic.<\/span><\/p>\n

We could also ask whether these experiences and their  <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 102<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

disclosure are responsible for the sense of superiority which man
\nnearly always feels towards woman, or whether, on the contrary, it is this
\nwidespread sense of superiority that is responsible for the form given to the
\nexperiences. <\/span><\/p>\n

In any case, the indisputable fact remains: man feels superior and
\nwants to dominate, woman feels oppressed and revolts, openly or secretly; and
\nthe eternal quarrel between the sexes is perpetuated from age to age, identical
\nin essence, innumerable in its forms and hues. <\/span><\/p>\n

Of course man throws the whole blame on woman, just as woman
\nthrows the entire blame on man. In truth the blame should be equally
\ndistributed between the two and neither can boast of being superior to the
\nother. Moreover, until this notion of superiority and inferiority is
\neliminated, nothing and no one can put an end to the misunderstanding that
\ndivides the human species into two opposite camps, and the problem will not be
\nsolved. <\/span><\/p>\n

So many things have been said and written on this problem, it has
\nbeen approached from so many angles, that a whole volume would not be enough to
\nexpound all its aspects. Generally speaking, the theories are excellent, or, in
\nany case, all have their own virtues; but the practice has proved less
\nsuccessful and I do not know whether from the point of view of realisation we
\nhave made any headway since the Stone Age. For in their mutual relationships,
\nman and woman are at once rather despotic masters and somewhat pitiable slaves
\nto each other.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, slaves; for so long as one has desires, preferences and
\nattachments, one is a slave of these things and of the people on whom one is
\ndependent for their satisfaction. <\/span><\/p>\n

Thus woman is enslaved to man because of the attraction she feels
\nfor the male and his strength, because of the desire for a home and the
\nsecurity it brings, and lastly because of the attachment to motherhood. Man too
\non his side is enslaved to woman, because of his possessiveness, his thirst for
\npower and domination, because of his desire for sexual relations and  <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 103<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

because of his attachment to the little comforts and conveniences
\nof married life. <\/span><\/p>\n

That is why no law can liberate women unless they liberate
\nthemselves; likewise, men too, in spite of all their habits of domination, will
\ncease to be slaves only when they have freed themselves from all inner
\nenslavement. <\/span><\/p>\n

And this state of veiled struggle, often unavowed but always
\npresent in the subconscient even in the best cases, seems unavoidable, unless
\nhuman beings rise above their ordinary consciousness to identify themselves
\nwith the perfect consciousness and unite with the Supreme Reality. For as soon
\nas one attains this higher consciousness one realises that the difference
\nbetween man and woman reduces itself to a purely physical difference. <\/span><\/p>\n

As a matter of fact, there may have been on earth in the beginning
\na pure masculine type and a pure feminine type, each with its own special and
\nclearly differentiated characteristics; but in course of time, the inevitable
\nmixture, heredity, all the sons that looked like their mothers, all the
\ndaughters that looked like their fathers, social progress, similar occupations all
\nthis has made it impossible today to discover one of these pure types: all men
\nare feminine in many respects and all women are masculine in many traits,
\nespecially in modern societies. But unfortunately, because of the physical
\nappearance, the habit of quarrelling is perpetuated, perhaps even aggravated by
\na spirit of rivalry.<\/span><\/p>\n

In their best moments, both man and woman can forget their
\ndifference of sex, but it reappears at the slightest provocation; the woman
\nfeels she is a woman, the man knows he is a man and the quarrel is revived
\nindefinitely in one form or another, open or veiled, and perhaps all the more
\nbitter the less it is admitted. And one wonders whether it will not be so until
\nthere are no longer any men or women, but living souls expressing their
\nidentical origin in sexless bodies. <\/span><\/p>\n

For one dreams of a world in which all these oppositions will at
\nlast disappear and where a being will be able to live and  <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 104<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

prosper who will be the harmonious synthesis of all that is best
\nin the human race, uniting conception and execution, vision and creation in one
\nsingle consciousness and action. <\/span><\/p>\n

Until such a happy and radical solution is reached, <\/span>India<\/span> remains, on this point as on many others, the land of violent and
\nconflicting contrasts, which can nevertheless be resolved by a very wide and
\ncomprehensive synthesis. <\/span><\/p>\n

Indeed, is it not in <\/span>India<\/span> that we find the most intense adoration, the most complete
\nveneration of the Supreme Mother, creatrix of the universe, conqueror of all
\nenemies, mother of all the gods and all the worlds, dispenser of all boons? <\/span><\/p>\n

And is it not in India too that we find the most radical
\ncondemnation, the uttermost contempt for the feminine principle, Prakriti,
\nMaya, corrupting illusion, cause of every fall and every misery, Nature that
\ndeceives and defiles and lures away from the Divine? <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>The whole life of <\/span>India<\/span> is shot through with this contradiction; she suffers from it in
\nboth mind and heart. Everywhere feminine deities are erected on her altars; the
\nchildren of <\/span>India<\/span> await salvation and liberation from their Mother Durga. And yet
\nis it not one of her children who said that the Avatar would never incarnate in
\nthe body of a woman, because no right-minded Hindu would recognise him!
\nFortunately, the Divine is not affected by such a narrow sectarian spirit or
\nmoved by such petty considerations. And when it pleases him to manifest in a
\nterrestrial body, he cares very little whether or not he is recognised by men.
\nBesides, in all his incarnations, he seems always to have preferred children
\nand simple hearts to the learned.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>In any case, until the
\nmanifestation of a new conception and consciousness compels Nature to create a
\nnew species which would no longer have to yield to the necessity of animal
\nprocreation and thus be under the obligation of dividing into two complementary
\nsexes, the best that can be done for the progress of the present human race is
\nto treat both sexes on a footing of perfect equality, to give them the same
\neducation and training  <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 105<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

and to teach them to find, through a constant contact with a
\nDivine Reality that is above all sexual differentiation, the source of all
\npossibilities and harmonies. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>And it may be that <\/span>India<\/span>, the land of contrasts, will also be the land of new
\nrealisations, even as she was the cradle of their conception. <\/span> <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Bulletin<\/span>,<\/span><\/i> April 1955<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 106<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n


\n <\/font><\/a><\/b><\/p>\n

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