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The apprehension of children – boys – in antiquity
Feminists try, and succeeded, to indoctrinate virtually all of society into believing
that women were being oppressed as far back as antiquity. The truth, however, as is
usual with just about all of what feminists claim, is totally different. It was
women who lived in luxury, and boys and men who were being most brutally oppressed.
To a considerable extent, that is still true today, more so for married women than for
those who wish to be "equal" and go it alone.
That is undisputedly on the record, but, given that today's education curriculum is being
rigorously controlled and censored by the feminist totalitarian regime, that is not being
taught anymore in our schools.
It is as if about thirty years ago somebody marked all of the universities, colleges and
schools in the developed nations where women's studies are being taught with the legend:
"Here there be lies".
Here now is some of the
truth:
The position of the Spartans, surrounded by numerous
enemies, whom they held in subjection by the sword alone, compelled them to be a nation of
soldiers. Lycurgus[*] determined that they should be nothing
else; and the great object of his whole system was to cultivate a martial spirit, and to
give them a training which would make them invincible in battle. To accomplish this the
education of a Spartan was placed under the control of the state from his earliest
boyhood. Every child after birth was exhibited to public view, and, if deemed deformed and
weakly, was exposed to perish on Mount Taygetus. At the age of seven he was taken from his
mother's care, and handed over to the public classes. He was not only taught gymnastic
games and military exercises but he was also subjected to severe bodily discipline, and
was compelled to submit to hardships and suffering without repining or complaint. One of
the tests to which he was subjected was a cruel scourging at the altar of Artemis (Diana),
until his blood gushed forth and covered the altar of the goddess. It was inflicted
publicly before the eyes of his parents and in the presence of the whole city; and many
Spartan youths were known to have died under the lash without uttering a complaining
murmur.
No means were neglected to prepare them for the hardships and stratagems of war. They were
obliged to wear the same garment winter and summer, and to endure hunger and thirst, heat
and cold. They were purposely allowed an insufficient quantity of food, but were permitted
to make up the deficiency by hunting in the woods and mountains of Laconia. They were even
encouraged to steal whatever they could; but if they were caught in the fact, they were
severely punished for their want of dexterity. Plutarch tells us of a boy, who, having
stolen a fox, and hid it under his garment, chose rather to let it tear out his very
bowels than be detected in the theft.
The literary education of a Spartan youth was of a most restricted kind. He was taught to
despise literature as unworthy of a warrior, while the study of eloquence and philosophy,
which were cultivated at Athens with such extraordinary success, was regarded at Sparta
with contempt. Long speeches were a Spartan's abhorrence, and he was trained to express
himself with sententious brevity.
A Spartan was not considered to have reached the full age of manhood till he had completed
his thirtieth year. He was then allowed to marry, to take part in the public assembly, and
was eligible to the offices of the state. But he still continued under the public
discipline, and was not permitted even to reside and take his meals with his wife. It was
not till he had reached his sixtieth year that he was released from the public discipline
and from military service. A Smaller History of Greece
by William Smith |
*According to legend, the constitution of Sparta (the
so-called 'Great Rhetra') was the work of Lycurgus [9th century B.C.]; actually it was the
result of centuries of development. It provided for kings, the 'Council of Elders' (Gerousia)
and the assembly of the army. After the admission of Amyclea into the Spartan League
of Settlements, the Lacedaemonian state was established; later the
constitution was reformed through the creation of the board of ephors [five ephors], which
limited royal power to control of the army.
Sparta was founded in about 900 B.C.. It fought two major wars,
the 1st Messenian War (a war of conquest, 740-720 B.C.) and the 2nd Messenian War (a war
to fight a revolt by the Messenians, 660-640 B.C.). As Aristotle explains in
Politics, one of the consequence[s] of the long-lasting
absences of Spartan men was that the Spartan women acquired total independence from and
domination over their men.
The consequences of the 2nd Messenian War were: unscrupulous oppression of
the Helots (the peasants - who had no rights and received no education but nevertheless
had to provide military service); isolation of the Spartan people from the outside world
(iron bars were used as domestic currency); cultural decay (according to Aristotle, that
was due to women's licentious behaviour; they could not be brought under control), and
rule by minority: the 9,000 Spartiates as full citizens.
[Source: Atlas of World History, Volume One, p. 53, Penguin]
- The women of Sparta lived a life of luxury and total freedom, of which they
excessively and unreasonably took advantage and thereby ultimately caused the decline of
Sparta. Aristotle, in Politics, said this
about the women of Sparta:
Again, the license of the Lacedaemonian women defeats
the intention of the Spartan constitution, and is adverse to the happiness of the state.
For, a husband and wife being each a part of every family, the state may be considered as
about equally divided into men and women; and, therefore, in those states in which the
condition of the women is bad, half the city may be regarded as having no laws.
And this is what has actually happened at Sparta; the legislator wanted to make the
whole state hardy and temperate, and he has carried out his intention in the case of the
men, but he has neglected the women, who live in every sort of intemperance and luxury.
The consequence is that in such a state wealth is too highly valued, especially if the
citizens fall under the dominion of their wives, after the manner of most warlike races,
except the Celts and a few others who openly approve of male loves. The old mythologer
would seem to have been right in uniting Ares and Aphrodite, for all warlike races are
prone to the love either of men or of women. This was exemplified among the Spartans in
the days of their greatness; many things were managed by their
women. But what difference does it make whether women rule, or the rulers are ruled by
women? The result is the same. Even in regard to courage, which is of no use in daily
life, and is needed only in war, the influence of the Lacedaemonian women has been most
mischievous.
The evil showed itself in the Theban invasion, when, unlike the women of other cities,
they were utterly useless and caused more confusion than the enemy.
This license of the Lacedaemonian women existed from the earliest times, and was only what
might be expected. For, during the wars of the Lacedaemonians, first against the Argives,
and afterwards against the Arcadians and Messenians, the men were long away from home,
and, on the return of peace, they gave themselves into the legislator's hand, already
prepared by the discipline of a soldier's life (in which there are many elements of
virtue), to receive his enactments. But, when Lycurgus, as tradition says, wanted to bring
the women under his laws, they resisted, and he gave up the attempt.
These then are the causes of what then happened, and this defect in the constitution is
clearly to be attributed to them. We are not, however, considering what is or is not to be
excused, but what is right or wrong, and the disorder of the women, as I have already
said, not only gives an air of indecorum to the constitution considered in itself, but
tends in a measure to foster avarice.
Politics,
by Aristotle, (350 B.C.)
Translated By Benjamin Jowett |
___________
See also the
role of women in Sparta, according to Wikipedia.org
My mother (deceased 1973) — the queen of her family — enjoyed the full benefits that the
"patriarchy" catering to her bestowed upon her, including a life that was much
longer than my father's. She knew quite a bit about history, far more than I ever
learned in an education system that already during my time began to rewrite and to curtail
what we were being taught (first by the Nazi Regime, then by the Allied Forces,
subsequently through increasingly liberal trends in Academe). She would have
summarized Aristotle's lament about the destruction of Sparta by the women from within
into nothing more than, "When the cat's away the mice will play."
Indeed, "But what difference does it make whether women rule, or the rulers are
ruled by women?" —Aristotle (Politics)
Sure enough, my mother had a comparable saying: "Men may believe that they rule
the roost, but who rules the roosters?" and she, like her sisters, like her mother
before her and like all women of their generation – as did the women of generations
before and after – ruled with an iron hand, and she proudly sent off her three oldest
sons into war to fight for home and country, just like her husband was made to do in the
First World War, just like it is any peasant's (or Helot's) job to grow food.
Were my mother and the mothers of my peers feminists? Not by a long shot.
My mother and other women like her were much too smart for
that. Why should they have given up any of the privileges they enjoyed, for nothing
more than to be equal with the men of her time, the Helots of the Spartan times or the men of
today? However, I have seen few women who gave their husbands and their sons greater
respect than did my mother. Unlike today's feminists, she never abused her power.
She not only loved the men in her family, but — unlike the
experience of many feminists today — she was loved by them in return.
There can be no lasting mutual love without lasting mutual respect.
See also:
What Are Boys Good For?
What does a teenage girl learn to give to a
boy? Let's look at a thirteen-page spread in Teen-the Christmas 1984
issue. Approximately seventy presents are mentioned, with an average price
of about thirty dollars (over two thousand dollars' [close to US$5,000 in
2007 dollars — F4L] worth of presents). Only one is for a male-pajamas
for a baby boy. As with Ms., no presents for boyfriends.
There are several teenage boys shown in the
pictures. One admires a girl while she admires herself in the mirror;
another is towing a girl's brand-new car. The same use of men as in
Self.
Is the girl in the Teen spread helping
the boy who has attached her car to a tow truck? No. She drapes herself over
the tow truck. And how does she learn to handle a stressful situation? The
caption explains: "If a stressful situation causes complexion concerns, keep
skin under control with Noxzema Acne 12. And pass the time in an
easy-to-wear wardrobe!"
All twelve days of Christmas run the same
pattern: "Keep tabs on your weight," "File your nails ... ," "Massage your
hands," "Massage your feet," "Turn heads in your direction by keeping lips
lusciously lubricated .... " What does he get? Nothing is mentioned but her
beauty. What lessons does he learn? Admire and rescue. [Emphasis
by F4L] In Teen. In Ms.
In Self.
Do teenage boys' magazines show a girl towing
his brand-new car, while he drapes himself over her tow truck and
worries about his acne? Hardly.
In men's magazines there are only a few gifts
for men to buy women. Remember the principle of the De Beers transfer. She
chooses the diamond and chooses among the men her beauty power can attract
to buy it. Which is why his ads are for how to become successful enough to
buy whatever she chooses; hers are to become beautiful enough to be able to
make the choice of both the gift and the man to buy the gift. Men's
magazines do not feature many gifts for women because men are expected to do
the buying after consulting the women, not the magazine, and to concentrate
their energies on making the money.
WHY MEN
ARE THE WAY THEY ARE, By Warren Farrell, p 34-35
Once they become men (or perhaps even sooner), men
(or boys) begin to catch on. For example:
Why is changing a light bulb always a guy's job? Because women have more
important things to do - like making men feel useful and important by giving
them things to do, like changing light bulbs.
How many divorced men does it take to change a light bulb? None. They never
get the house anyway.
— Edmonton Journal,
2007 08 28, p. B2, Venting
(more at
edmontonjournal.com Online Extras - Venting)
It will take quite some time yet, however, before a majority of
society gets Warren Farrell's message expressed in the following.
One of the fascinating
parts about men is our tendency to subject ourselves to war, physical abuse,
and psychological abuse and call it "power." The ability to be totally out
of control while continuing to view ourselves as the ones with the power can
have certain advantages to a woman. As expressed in this poem:
One-Night Stand
He bought me
drinks all evening
in response to just a wink
Then accepted my invitation to
repair my kitchen sink
Then I brought him into beddy-bye
to get a little sex
Then couldn't help but smile
when he called it conquest!
WHY MEN
ARE THE WAY THEY ARE, By Warren Farrell, p.
289
Men's problem is that
women's "powerlessness" has been amply addressed throughout the history of
evolution, intensively so since the advent of radical feminism, but that men's
powerlessness received little or no attention. Instead, men curry women's favors
by given women gifts, even the gift of men's lives.
While in the past men were enticed to live up to the social duties
imposed upon them with promises that they would be paid back for that through
society paying them appreciation, honour and respect, today
— thanks to decades of feminist slandering of men, intended to "increase"
the social value of women — men are being vilified for being men, and not much else matters.
Back to Index for Issues Relating to Child Apprehensions
 The White Rose
Thoughts are Free
__________________
Posted 2002 11 02
Updates:
2002 11 06 (added a link to a discussion of a children's book
that gained world-wide popularity, and aFootnote)
2006 03 04 (added link to Feminism for Male College
Students)
2007 07 29 (added entry for WHY MEN ARE THE
WAY THEY ARE) |
