Seven to eight thousand years have gone by since the egalitarian social structure has given way to a hierarchical organization of human society. At the same time, the complementary equilibrium of an all-encompassing nature relying on the feminine as a key fertile element has been substituted by a universe in which the creative masculine, in an attempt to dominate its environment, has placed itself outside nature.
The norms and values that this latest vision carries are so deeply anchored in our traditions, our cultures, and our ideologies that they seem all too natural to us. Yet, a series of events has shaken their edifice, events that could be the precursors of profound changes, and that could lead to a complete reappraisal of the relationship between men and women as of our relationship with nature.
The first challenging elements were the discoveries of Copernicus, Galileo and Kepler who dismantled the idea that the earth was the center of the universe, removing man from the central position he thought he had. Darwin’s theory of evolution pursued this phenomenon of deconstruction by replacing the creation in a merely natural and holistic context, contradicting the religious dogma of a creation ex nihilo conveyed by the prophets of the Axial Age.
Various elements have been added to the new evidence, all indicating that the notions on which the masculine civilization was developed have become obsolete. We have noted, for example, how economic structures and the way procreation is perceived influence our conception of the world. Both domains have witnessed a genuine revolution in recent times. The twentieth century has seen a very abrupt emancipation of women, economically as well as politically. Particularly since the 1980s [33], most western societies have witnessed an extremely fast integration of women at all levels of their economic activity.
As for our views on procreation, they have been fundamentally shaken by a series of discoveries:
- In 1827, Karl Ernst von Baer discovers the ovum. This breakthrough annihilates the ancestral conception of a creative male and a nursing female that had ruled for over 7,000 years
- In 1880, Oskar Hertwig and Eduard Strasburger show that fertilization is the result of the fusion between the spermatozoid and the core of the ovum, bringing women’s procreative function on an equal footing with that of men
- The introduction of new means of contraception, such as the pill in 1960, and the liberalization of abortion, “free” women from their extremely rigid sexual constraints
-. At the end of the twentieth century, the discovery of the SRY gene establishes the female sex as the sex by default. Consequently, the procreative function of man is reduced to introducing the male element in a feminine context that, within a more secured environment, would be able to survive without him [Cyrulnik 2001]
-. Paternity can be determined by DNA tests
-. New methods of conception are introduced that eliminate sexual intercourse (IVF, etc.)
In the space of a few decades, the dominating position of man has very noticeably weakened, going as far as to provoke a panic of the masculine. At the same time, the introduction of new domestic units (mono-parental families, homosexual families, etc.) exposes the depth of the transformations that are occurring.
Finally, and most revealingly, we witness a new attitude towards nature, dictated by the realization that its resources are not inexhaustible, and by the fact that our survival depends on them. We have even begun to concede that nature has to be protected against our own activities. The idea of progress, necessary motion underpinning historical linearity, finds today its first external boundaries, requiring us to reappraise the primordial role nature plays, while eliminating the deceptions of the past. In other words, to ensure our survival, we must develop a more holistic vision of our universe and stimulate a lifestyle that takes our environment into account.
This quest for a new equilibrium will certainly find hiccups on the way. The short-term economic and political necessities and the systemic crisis confronting our societies increase the risk that this process will be slowed down, even derailed. Nevertheless, it is imperative that both men and women construct a more balanced universe in accordance with their nature and in harmony with their environment.
“The environment is not separate from ourselves. We are inside it, and it is inside us.
We make it, and it makes us.”
[Yanomami, Brazil]