RETHINKING THE BASICS

An unusual high traffic flow to one of my blog´s entries (Miss Universe 2007) in the last days made me think once again about the imperative necessity of rethinking some of our basic concepts.

I see no problem with people´s big interest in women´s beauty: I find it rather natural! The point is that the concept of beauty usually vindicated turns out to be at least, let´s say, deceptive. That is pretty much the case of many other common concepts such as happiness, love or sex, etc which normally tend to have both trivial and misleading acceptions.

The problem is not so much that by passively adopting those mainstream acceptions we literally miss the opportunity to experience these concepts real possibilities. The main issue is that these concepts as vindicated generally make us live a miserable life chock-full of doubts and problems easily avoidable otherwise.

The system does what it is expected to do according to its own inner logic. What it is not reasonable is to stop thinking for ourselves.

A friend of mine recently told me that by doing that we literally condemn ourselves to ostracism. I told her that human beings had never been lonelier than they are nowadays and that the worst possible solitude is shared solitude.

THE RIGHT TO DECIDE

Yesterday, after some difficulties, Mexico City lawmakers finally voted to legalize abortion. Before this, abortion was permitted only in special cases, including after rape, if the fetus had defects or if the mother´s life was at risk. Now, this law will allow women to have an abortion up to 12 weeks into their pregnancy if having the child “would negatively affect their life project”.

This is not just another positive step forward for health issues handling (in a country where it is said that up to a million illegal abortions take the lives of thousands of poor women every year), it is basically another victory for one of the basic and fundamental women´s rights, namely: their right to decide.

In moral terms, I have always respected everybody´s opinions, including those who fiercely oppose abortion here in Mexico. Though I have to say that, in the concrete fight for life (and the vindication of its main principals: Justice, Truth, Knowledge, etc) I have never seen them in the front line…

MISS UNIVERSE 2007

I have just learned that the latest edition of the Miss Universe pageant will be held in Mexico City next month. This piece of news would not be significant if we did not consider one thing: that this kind of events greatly contributes to expand a really unfortunate concept of beauty in general and especially of women´s beauty, that where image prevails over real substance, so to speak. We all know that those who buy that concept strive to fulfill it and normally tend to lead a very doubtful mind.

I am not one of those who think that beauty is just inner beauty. I think outer beauty does exist but it begins with an inner connection. I know not everybody believes that. I recently conducted an experiment (Hehehehe!) while being on vacation where I posted photos of two of my best friends on one of those friend´s connection internet sites. One of them is a very good looking guy, according to the media common stereotype; the other one is quite the opposite. The first one received 93 invitations (some of them accompanied with pretty weird proposals) from all kind of women in a period of time of 3 days; the second one received… cero. Why? Something´s wrong!

My father said my scientific experiment was a clear example of wasting time… I would not say so… I would rather call it science, though I am not sure yet about which one of them (Hehe..) but good enough to prove some of our concepts need to be improved, especially those ones which affect our perception of the other and not few times our own.

SLEEPING PRECIOUS

Yesterday night, after work, I felt a great necessity to be alone with myself. So I decided to go to a bar or something. It is curios to think that I have always felt especially lonely when I am surrounded by strangers. It is just as if they made me corroborate beyond any doubt the fact that, in the end, we all are by ourselves.

I drove downtown where it is known most of the clubs are located in the city. I stopped at a place whose entrance was full of people standing in line. There was no marquee sign outside the place but a fluorescent lamp. As I got off my car and started getting closer I could observe that the crowd was mainly composed by men. For no particular reason, when the door man saw me, greeted me courteously and had me in without queuing.

As I got into the place the lights went off and a familiar rhythm started to sound: Paul Oakenfold, souther sun (I-still-feel-you-beneath-my-skin-I-am-tempted-to-throw-my-senses-in…) then a reflex was directed towards the middle of what it seemed to be the dance floor. It did not take much to realize that I was in one of those so called table dance clubs. Never had been to one before but in that moment I found the idea to be just great!

I asked to be seated at the back of the site, basically to have the opportunity to see the whole place in one glance. Less than 2 minutes later, a model type girl (one of those ones everybody is so fond of but me) approached me… perfectly smiling and saying… hi!! Without waiting for an answer, she sat down right next to me and started asking me questions like: what´s your name? How often do you come here? Are you married?... No, I am not, if I were, I would not be here… Say what? Most of men who come here are married or have girlfriends… Well, that´s a mistake, it would just make no sense!!: If I were married, I would want to be with my wife all time possible!!!... Ooh!

The precious woman stared at me and kept staring at me like for 10 seconds (well… 5!) and then, for no particular reason, she laid her head kind of lovingly on my chest. Immediately afterward she started sharing, as a natural impulse, some things about her job, her life, her recollections, her fears, her dreams, and her future intentions… “I have plans, you know? I ain´t gonna be here for ever, you know?...” and 45 minutes later, surprisingly, she fell asleep, profoundly.

I was completely amazed: women all are so precious, for all kind of reasons; except those ones everybody is used to thinking they are for (including them) and that is precisely one of the things that makes them be even more precious!!! ...

Some minutes later -continuing in a complete true story, all of a sudden the sleeping precious woke up, as if she had just remembered something very important. She turned her head towards me and said, as an automatic reflection: wanna a lap dance?... no, I don´t think so. But thanks!... You don´t like me? Come on, Let´s do it! It is not expensive... Yes, I do. But everything you could possibly give me, has already been given and if you were to charge me for that, I could not afford it…

Some seconds later, she said to me kind of disappointed: You don´t know me!!

The precious woman took a piece of paper and a little pen from her purse and jotted down something: take, gimme a call sometime!... You know I won´t do it… Yes, I know! Take it anyways. Said she before leaving…

As I abandoned the place and while heading to my car, I kept on thinking of those words: You don´t know me!!… You don´t know me!!.

She was right... I don´t know them but I will keep on insisting…

ZARATHUSTRA´S LAST DISCOURSE

As it is known, German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche is considered, along with Karl Marx and Sigmund Freud, one of the most important thinkers of modern western thought: one of its sharpest critics.

It is also known that Thus Spoke Zarathustra is one his most important pieces of work: his ultimate achievement and also his most famous writing.

Zarathustra gives an account of a young Persian man who faces an important task: to reveal or to make men recall the truth about themselves and their own possibilities. While carrying out his mission, this hero of thought experiences himself deep inner crises and changes of heart that make him become, in the end, the kind of man he claims men should endeavor to be.

Recently, it was made public an unpublished handwriting that could be, according to experts, the original version of Zarathustra´s chapter devoted to “Women”. A chapter that Nietzsche presumably must have decided to change after a love deception but that was kept intact as it was conceived at first.

As far as I know, this work has never been posted to Internet neither in English nor in any other language. Here, I reproduce it completely given its great value and wisdom:

WOMEN

As I went on my way alone today, at the hour when the sun declined, there I met an old woman, and she spoke thus unto my soul:

“Much has Zarathustra spoken also to us women, but never spoke he unto us concerning woman”.

And I answered her: “Concerning woman, one should only talk unto men”.

“Talk also unto me of woman”, said she; “I am old enough to forget it presently”.

And I, obliged by the old woman, spoke thus unto her:

Everything in woman is beautiful, and women all are beautiful but not all can appreciate it, including you women, in the first place.

It is not that there are as many variations in taste as men and women. The whole concept is wrong!!! You all have been deceived…

Some among you look at the woman´s body as if it were the supreme thing and prefer it meagre and famished. Others look at it contemptuously and would rather worship its spirit: hypocrites!!! Either way, women become an object: in the end, their real essence is denied as well as their real beauty.

The beauty of women is an “occurrence in motion” and it can be perceived in every single thing they think, they do, they feel, they happen to remember.... And even if they wanted to keep it undisclosed, there would always be one thing that reveals it: the way they smile, their perfect smile…

Then answered me the old woman: “Many fine things had Zarathustra said, especially for those who are young enough for them.

Strange! Zarathustra knows little about women, and yet he is right in some aspects about them. Though he might have forgotten to mention one thing... definitely the most important: that women are not really women... but divine beings playing they are human... some times, all too human".

Thus spoke Zarathustra

Note: Nietzsche never really wrote this piece but I wish he had done it (Heheheheh!).