Power Shift

Congress convened today, Dems took power and Nancy Pelosi became the first woman in the history of the United States to be elected Speaker of the House. It’s this last fact that really registers as a power shift with me. There has never been, in 200 plus years of American history, a woman in this position of political power. In the mix of powers and duties, the Speaker holds sway over the committee process, is the authoritative voice of her party when opposite that of the Prez AND happens to be second in line for succession to the presidency if our Dear Leader and Cohort should be unable to fulfill their responsibilities (hmmm). Standing in the face of unending war and a looming multi-faceted national crisis, a woman at the podium is refreshingly appropriate. Yes, I guess I am succumbing to a kind of sexism because I think her ascension is significant simply because she’s a woman.

In a piece by Alice Walker, “All Praises To The Pause” , she cites John Perkins* relating the very distinct role woman play in the indigenous Amazonian Swa society. Men are considered to have a destructive nature and woman a nurturing and conserving nature. The woman’s role is not only caring for the kids, home, animals, garden but most importantly, she tells the men when enough is enough.

"It is the woman who says: Stop. We have enough firewood and canoes, don’t cut down any more trees. Stop. We have enough meat; don’t kill any more animals. Stop. This war is stupid and using up too many of our resources. Stop. Perkins says that when the Swa are brought to this culture they observe that it is almost completely masculine. That the men have cut down so many trees and built so many excessively tall buildings that the forest itself is dying; they have built roads without end and killed animals without number. When, ask the Swa, are the women going to say Stop?”

In modern Western society, I don’t think the lines are so clearly drawn between men and woman. For one thing, distinct gender roles are a thing of the past and another thing: I just know too many wise nurturing men (and witnessed warmongering power hunger in women a la Margaret Thatcher) to rationalize our troubles as a gender issue. Realistically, it’s a Masculine/Feminine duality and an issue of Balance. We need some pendulum-swinging after too many centuries of the masculine modus. We are standing on an edge, waiting to see whether “Speaker Pelosi” can capably steer the ship away from the precipice of war, corruption and business as usual and turn us just a little closer toward compassion, collaboration and maybe even healing.

Yes, the world is so ready for a feminine perspective.

*This is the same John Perkins who wrote Confessions of an Economic Hit Man (a sobering read). Now he writes about the indigenous Amazon people, shamanism and shape-shifting. Picture: "Mother Power" painting by me.