Our Society

By Warren Wesley

You know, everybody in the world has dreams and hopes for the future. People hope that someday there will be less violence and despair in the world, whereas some others just plain don't care. This seems to apply to the martial arts as well.

Lately, I have seen more online articles, as well as books being published about women in martial arts, talking about the struggles they are dealing with in trying to gain recognition for their efforts in martial arts. Most guys seem to think that while they love women, they still have this sexist attitude that women should not engage in certain activities, should be a homemaker, etc. Well, I disagree wholeheartedly. And I'm a guy! lol. What I'm saying is that there needs to be many more women training in the martial arts than there are right now. I personally feel more at ease with women in the class because female students are easier to work with and don't carry an ego around with them all the time. Most men complain about and are uncomfortable with an aggressive, take charge woman. Especially, if she is a black belt in martial arts.

Today's women are stepping out and letting it be known that, "Hey, we can do the same stuff you men can and in fact, better." Again, however, no matter what they can do, this male-dominated society of ours says that a woman should know her place and never compete with or against a man. It's interesting, because guys come under that same kind of scrutiny if we take ballet. That's a no-no for a man in our society! He's looked upon as being homosexual if he takes ballet. And a man is supposed to engage in manly things, like football, basketball, etc. That's the biggest croc I've ever heard. But, even if a guy disagrees with that sort of attitude, he still must be careful whom he confides in. But the funny thing is, ballet class is one of the best places to meet women and interact with women!

So, you have to decide what makes more sense to yourself. Here again, women are seen as homosexual if they are in the martial arts because they should be the ones taking ballet. It's a very strange world we live in, but that's the way it is and all we can do as human beings is embrace it and continue to keep moving.