This is a Man’s World

 

James Brown was right. The world is a man’s world. We have become so accustomed to gender injustice that we don’t even realize how pervasive patriarchy is. It surrounds us like the air we breathe. And this air is the air of a man’s world.

"It's a Man's Man's Man's World" was written by James Brown and Betty Jean Newsome and recorded in 1966. It soon became a number one hit on the charts. The lyrics describe the man as the inventor of all the wonders of modern civilization like cars and trains, going back as far as Noah who by building the ark invented the first boat. Men concentrate on making money to buy toys for their babies but fail to see the importance of relationships until they realize that all this would “mean nothing without a woman or a girl”. It is still a man’s world and the song ends in a fadeout with the words, “He's lost in the wilderness / He's lost in bitterness, he's lost lost”…

Patriarchy is a system that values men and their achievements more than women and their achievements. In patriarchy, society is male-dominated, male-identified, and male-centered. Oppression of women is a result of this system. The man is the center of attention and everything else is seen in its relation to the man. Women define themselves in their relation to a male person.

However much I rebel at the thought of an unjust, patriarchal world where women are treated as second-class citizens, I have to accept that this is the world we live in, where women have lived for as long as history goes back. I can fight for justice and equality, but as long as patriarchal attitudes are so entrenched in our culture and thinking, all my efforts will not change much. I am getting sick and tired of this world – the man’s world.

  •        We see it in the unjust treatment of women in countries where their human rights are denied.
  •        We feel it when women become victims of abuse, be it physical or mental.
  •        We hear it in the gendered language that excludes women.
  •       We taste it when women are ridiculed.
  •        We smell it when men become overbearing and arrogant.
  •        The air of the man’s world is polluted with injustice.

Some countries have achieved a higher level of gender equality than others. Women are respected and appreciated.  In many countries, though, women still live in abject oppression and dependence. But even in our western world, women live in a world that men have designed for their own profit. They want to keep their control of society, politics, the church, and the family. Prejudices against women are so subtle that even women often fall prey to them without realizing how sexist they are. Women’s self-worth has been wounded and disparagement has often led them to accept that they are not good enough. This is a topic I will be exploring.

Even James Brown realized how impossible it is for men to exist without a woman. They need more than money and prestige. They need relationships. Otherwise, they are lost. Humankind was created based on mutual love and respect. There is no place in a loving relationship for disparagement and misogyny. How I wish that the world could be a world for men and women where both are valued and respected and where they work together to take care of the world that was entrusted to them at creation.

If you want to hear James Brown sing the song, go to:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wd1-HM234DE

 


Lyrics of the song[1]:

This is a man's world, this is a man's world
But it wouldn't be nothing, nothing without a woman or a girl

You see, man made the cars to take us over the road
Man made the train to carry the heavy load
Man made electric light to take us out of the dark
Man made the boat for the water, like Noah made the ark

This is a man's, man's, man's world
But it wouldn't be nothing, nothing without a woman or a girl

Man thinks about our little bitty baby girls and our baby boys
Man made them happy, 'cause man made them toys
And after man make everything, everything he can
You know that man makes money, to buy from other man

This is a man's world
But it wouldn't be nothing, nothing, not one little thing, without a woman or a girl
He's lost in the wilderness
He's lost in bitterness, he's lost lost

 



[1] https://www.songtexte.com/songtext/james-brown/its-a-mans-world-63d646bf.html

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