ble to join with men--follow or lead—in the new human politics that must emerge beyondreaction. This new human liberation will enable us to take back theday and the night, and use the precious and limited resources of our earth and the limitless resources of our human capital to erect new kinds of homes for all our dreams. . .The perception the public has had on the role of men and women isoutdated and has been for some time, but public attitudes change slowly even inthe face of overwhelming evidence. More than 40 years ago, anthropologistMargaret Mead noted the way the West had developed its concept of male andfemale:There has long been a habit in Western civilization of men to havea picture of womanhood to which women reluctantly conformed,and for women to make demands on man to which men adjustedeven more reluctantly. This has been a accurate picture of the way inwhich we have structured our society, with women as keepers of thehouse who insist that the man wipe their feet on the door-mat, and men as keepers of women in the house who insist that their wives should stay modestly indoors.Today, people are far less willing to accept these artificial roles evenreluctantly, and this includes the provision keeping women in the home and outof the public arena. To have more women in office it is necessary to have morewomen run.As noted, public views change more slowly than the reality of genderroles. They will continue to change slowly as long as we continue acculturatingchildren with the same sexual stereotypes that have so long prevailed. It isnecessary that we address this issue from early childhood, with parentsdemonstrating a different view of gender and sexual roles just as the school andchurch should take a part in eliminating the old stereotypes in favor of a morereasonable and equitable way to view both men and women....
