The woman must obey, and find a depth for her surface. Woman’s soul is all surface, a mobile, stormy film on shallow water. Man’s soul, however, is deep, its torrent thunders in subterranean caverns: woman feels his strength, but does not understand it.
~Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra
This is perhaps the most controversial passage in Thus Spoke Zarathustra. Of course, in modern society it is politically correct to view man and woman as one and the same - as equals. So everything that any of the philosophers had to say about women is looked upon as an agenda to perpetuate a patriarchal society.
But is it true? I agree that men and women are equals, but are they the same? We can all agree that our physical bodies are mostly the same, yet there are some striking differences. Our bodies complement each other. Is it so much of a stretch to imagine that our minds are likewise complementary? Equal yes, but not the same.
Nietzsche says that a woman needs to find a depth for her surface, but is it not also true than a man must find a surface for his depth? And why is it immediately assumed that "shallow" is a bad thing?
The entire statement is also a generality. There are men who could be described as having a stormy surface, and there are women that have a great depth. We all know men that are more feminine in their behaviors, and women that are more masculine. In Carl Jung's terminology, we all possess both anima and animus, but which one dominates?
What Next?
0 comments:
Post a Comment
Do you agree with this idea? Perhaps you like the idea but you disagree with my interpretation? Let your voice be heard.