Kuo 1 Han-Yuan Kuo Wells English IV, Per 1 25 February 2012 Adam versus Eve Not so very long

ago, the women of the United States of America began demanding equality and began the battle on sexism in America. This battle began even further before in England and in France; a battle that has been raging throughout history with a different conclusion on each individual battlefront. Touching upon an age old conflict such as this can bring out the best and/or worst in many. Since before recorded history, men have been place above women in society. It was not until much more recent history that women began to rise up in, for lack of a better word, mutiny. If by any means the members of the female gender believe they can pose a better captain than men, they must first prove themselves worthy of such a position. Physical prowess, the test of time, the standing of history, the natural order of nature, all support the current status of men in not just society but in our world. When it comes down to stick versus stick, there is no doubt men hold the bigger weapon. Men have held the physical advantage over women since before the advent of language. According to Al Wallace of The Chronicle, tests have been conducted on one hundred randomly selected men and women with men receiving the higher scores. This has been a constant in human society, further proof can be seen the in the organization of athletics. Men and women compete with others of the same gender; rarely will an official tournament contain co-ed events. The statistics of such competitions also show the difference in athletic ability between males and females. As such, men are stronger than women.

Kuo 2 In terms of leadership, men will not lose out either. Males have always held prominent positions in society, positions of higher status than females. Even in France, one of the first modern nations to grant equality to women have had only two prominent female leaders in their entire history; Joan Darc (Joan of Ark) the female martyr, a saint who lead the French to many victories, and Genevieve, who defended France from the invading Huns. Men have been leaders of others since humanity began. Commanding authority and respect from others has been a trait many males share. Of course that is not to say every man is a leader, only a select some are fit to be. Rarely will one be able to name more than a handful of prominent female leaders while on the other hand, many can name a vast amount of male leaders. One might cry sexism but facts will remain facts. Stereotypes exist for a reason, in that they are generally true. Such has been the way in the society, and is even more obvious in a society of leaders. Ever since time began, men have also had higher social standing in comparison to women. An example can be found in the Native American Tribes and their respective cultures. In the Dene tribe, women were the first to go hungry during a famine. The term At the mercy of their husbands was a way of life. The women of the Sioux had to always walk at least 5 feet behind men and did all the harvesting of food except for wild rice. The Puebloan, Tanoan, and Hopi tribe also had political systems dominated by men. Recalling a quote from my middle school history teacher if you were a woman, you were born in the hut, you grew up in the hut, and you died in the hut. As cruel as it may sound, it is quite the accurate representation of Native American life for women. Even in the prehistoric period of the Neanderthal, males did all the hunting and held distinct authority over children and females. Of course one could also look towards the ever clichd story of Adam and Eve, where god created woman from the rib of a man; an argument that

Kuo 3 is commonly made but without a doubt holds tremendous impact to the ever continuing battle of the sexes. Looking for further proof regarding societal standing, it is not only evident in the human community, but also in animal communities. The strongest example would be a pride of lions with one alpha male dominating all the females within the group. The male would be able to mate with all females, subjugate them to his rule, and continue to do so until another male proved to be stronger and was able to overthrow the original male. This can be found to be true from schools of ocean dwelling fish to packs of plain roaming horses, and even the sky soaring birds. Males hold positions of authority and power over females in many animal communities. Irrefutable evidence can be found through time, history, and space of the male prowess. Yet women still demand equality. Such demands, urged by the female community to be met, are none other than selfish requests. Women have been demanding equality, and even after having legally obtained such rights still cry out injustice. Domestic violence and rape have always victimized women; playing the weakness card only when it is advantageous to women, a cowardly act in the face of a biased problem. Women being raped or beaten have made newspapers, television, books, and movies everywhere. This poses one question; what about the men? As Cathy Young wrote in the magazine Reason under here article titles Mens Rights, Men are also common victims of rape and domestic violence, and yet do we hear of such things on television? Do we read of weaker men being beaten by women? Do we see women raping men? No. Yet women continually cry out and cower behind weakness. Personally, I believe that when women cry for equality, they do not know what they are asking for. Let women compete in the Olympics with men, let women play

Kuo 4 professional football with men, let women get beat by men and call it a fight and not domestic violence. What I believe women demand is not equality, but special treatment. Some women may argue that they do have the strength to fulfill positions of leadership as some have done before. Joan of Arc, Genevieve, and Mulan are the most prominent examples. However, in the case of Mulan, she was only able to do so by passing herself of as a man; unlike in the movie; she did not only do it for a short training period. Mulan had to pass herself off ass a man for a period measured in years before being found to be a woman. Genevieve was able to assume such a position due her being the wife of the king at that time. Only as the most respected woman in France was she able to command authority and drive off the Huns. Joan of Arc was able to perform as she did by claiming divine guidance, which at the time was a very powerful and bold claim; only leading a few victories during the hundred years war before being captured, tried in England, and burned at the stake at a tender age of nineteen. She was only declared a martyr twenty-five years after her death. Only by lying or already being in positions of power were Joan of Arc, Genevieve, and Mulan able to stake their name in history as women. Women must stand the testament to time and rise up in society without biased and self righteous demands; society will not accept a simple legislation of equality until women can prove men wrong with their own strength through time and effort. Until women themselves rise up to men as equals, instead of clamoring for a handhold in which to climb. til that time comes, Men will continue to rule and hold standing in society; as it has been for ages of history, and the passing of time.

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Works Cited . Gender Roles in the First Nations and Native American Tribes. Wikipedia. Wikimedia, 15 01 2012. web. 23 Jan 2012. Gascoigne, Bamber. History of France HistoryWorld.com From 2001, ongoing, www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=abo3 Wallace, Al. Are Men Stronger than Women?. The Chronicle for the Higher Education. The Chronicle, 23 10 2006. Web. 23 Jan 2012. Young, Cathy. Mens Rights. Reason. 23 11 2009: 1. Web. 23 Jan. 2012. <http://reason.com/archives/2009/11/23/mens-rights>.