The expression ' the Dog beneath the skin' which I used in my post 'Women : on the march' was borrowed from the name of a play written by the poets Auden and Isherwood though I gave it a meaning all my own. In the play it was a dog's skin that was used by a missing baronet Sir Francis Crewe as a disguise to move around as a dog and watch the people whom he found out to be mean, hypocritical and vulgar creatures - under their apparently sophisticated skins.The dog I was referring to is an animal and as dogs are, may be quite lovable and loyal and in fact a thoroughbred, but not being much of a dog lover myself, I was restricting it to its other characteristics which Pavlov so successfully used in his 'conditioned reflex' experiment. It is a creature of habit. And if one has been conditioned for ages into such a habit - in fact from the beginning of agricultural society- it may not be easy to grow out of the same inspite of all the refinement that even a liberal education provides.
So the idea of the second sex and male prominence continue to persist even in these days of gender equality which is pronounced from all public platforms. At home, in the workplace and on the streets.
At home, it can and does often lead to marital friction. It would not be fair to put all the blame on the male attitude though on the increasing instances of marital discord or divorces that are taking place these days ; women marching ahead are sometimes marching too much ahead. After all as someone remarked on my last post " it's the dog in question,who runs the risk of being starved to death these days. " She has a point. A woman too, financially independent and her own 'woman' so to say, is often too assertive about her own demand and personal freedom to allow the necessary space for adjustment which is essential in any relationship, more so an intimate one.
It is possibly the pompous male ego which led to the term ' male chauvinistic pig ' to describe the attitude of some males of our species. It would be most unfortunate if there is a role reversal and the female equivalents go on increasing in this feminist era.
So the idea of the second sex and male prominence continue to persist even in these days of gender equality which is pronounced from all public platforms. At home, in the workplace and on the streets.
At home, it can and does often lead to marital friction. It would not be fair to put all the blame on the male attitude though on the increasing instances of marital discord or divorces that are taking place these days ; women marching ahead are sometimes marching too much ahead. After all as someone remarked on my last post " it's the dog in question,who runs the risk of being starved to death these days. " She has a point. A woman too, financially independent and her own 'woman' so to say, is often too assertive about her own demand and personal freedom to allow the necessary space for adjustment which is essential in any relationship, more so an intimate one.
It is possibly the pompous male ego which led to the term ' male chauvinistic pig ' to describe the attitude of some males of our species. It would be most unfortunate if there is a role reversal and the female equivalents go on increasing in this feminist era.
Interesting write-up. Made me think of how people manage conflicts and why conflicts happen, not just in marriage but in general between two people, between two countries and I find that dog beneath the skin maybe the primary reason and showing the dog beneath the skin maynot be a bad idea in managing conflicts and establishing peace.
ReplyDeleteI think the dog is beneath every skin both male or female. Its just that earlier the male dog used to be bigger and stronger and now both are the same size. In order to reduce conflicts and problems I think the trick is to remind the other dog that you are there and of the same size and same ferocity. The same analogy applies to two countries trying to coexist without war. A muscle/weapon is more useful to show than really use them. Whenever the dogs are unequal, exploitation happens. We all love peace and tranquility but if we introspect we love power more. Its a concept very similar to socialism visa-vi capitalism. Socialism is very difficult to implement and that has been proven. Its all to do with the dog you mention, the urge to exploit and use, because that has been hard wired into our genes by nature for a purpose which is to make the strongest survive and create a better gene pool. I feel we are yet to evolve as social creatures, maybe if we survive another million years we might evolve (according to Darwin) to live socially in peace without showing our dogs.
Very good thinking and very well expressed. It gives me more to think about and I will.
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