Women in Focus

A Modern Tale of the Maiden and the Dragon

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, there lived a beautiful maiden on the seashore.

In the depths of the sea lived a monster that the locals had to placate by sacrificing a

beautiful maiden… This is how fairy tales usually begin, and in childhood, through them,

we learn about justice and sacrifice. Another fairy tale talks about two princes who quarrelled

and two kingdoms that went to war over their love for a beautiful princess…

The American Fairy Tale – The Silence Breakers

In today’s heated political climate in America and beyond, the hunt for influential people who behaved badly—or worse, who have been identified as harassers of women—has once again brought up the topic of the role of women in society. Hollywood was the first to be attacked, where the most doubt was cast on the informal and undisclosed relationships between employers and future stars. Then, the list expanded to include politicians, journalists, and popular figures who continue to appear with negative connotations, as if someone has taken a broom and begun to sweep the dirty steps of fame and public life. Once again, the spokespeople for women’s rights are even more loudly coming out, accusing, and proclaiming a revolutionary movement for the rights and dignity of women in the Western world. Equality and democracy are being propagated throughout the world, in which the position of women on a pedestal is more important than anything, since she establishes herself in the world in the domain of her career, and in society as a whole. However, gray clouds have covered the shape of this democratic pillar of a society that is experiencing economic as well as dramatic political changes.

During and after the elections, the liberal currents of the Democratic Party initiated and mobilized women in the fight against Trump. In other words, they were used in front of the “Clinton Clique,” with the pretext of fighting for respect and equality, in support of a female presidential candidate. This massive agitation headed by Madonna did not work, but it did trigger an avalanche of accusations and attacks on oppressors of the female sex. While some of the biggest names participated, calling out and pressuring many who had already resigned, many famous women bravely came out under the slogan #MeToo. The media took up their revelations and accusations as a battle cry for women’s rights, for their mutual conflicts. Whether there are more abusers and womanizers in the ruling or opposition party— that is at the essence of these dramatic attacks with all guns blazing. Behind all this, it only appears that what dominates is the battle of women for their democratic rights in American society. In fact, women are once again being (mis)used for political purposes, all under the guise of democracy and justice.

Just like so many times before, Canada was calmly watching what was happening with its neighbours, and then carefully began disclosing its dragons who were taking their tributes in our borders of modern hypocrisy. If nothing else, at least the LGBT topic was put on the back burner with the new avalanche of male-female bickering. All of the players are heterosexual!

The Serbian Fairytale – The Mother

Where is our Serbian woman in this so-called modern world? The regard of women is also a way of measuring humanism and culture in a country from the standpoint of human rights. If it is measured by the right of women to work, we fought that out back during socialist times. But, did we also get the status of equal member in the workforce and political status? Things are very different in that respect. Women are industrious and hardworking, but not ambitious when it comes to positions and salary. They justify themselves by saying that their family and children come first, and jobs and careers come second. And that is where their free will ends, in the majority of cases.

What is also an indicator of the position of women in our communities is the fact that men treat women disrespectfully a priori. A great example of that mentality can be compared easily with others by looking at online dating sites. While most Canadian and American men act amiably and formally, our typical man approaches women in a mocking and disrespectful way, and only if a woman points it out, he apologizes and starts to communicate in a respectful way. So, on the other side of the screen is an invisible woman, and that is enough to kick-start the conditioned prejudices regarding a lower-class person. That is the regard of women in society in general, and one of the indicators of how difficult it is for women to navigate such a jungle and find their true places. They are always exposed to more or less unpleasant surprises from the start. However, since the public is bombarded with images and stories of movie stars and sugar babies, then it is no wonder that this kind of idea about women has been created.

If a woman in Serbia has achieved a higher position, often we find reasons or names of those who helped her get to the top, ignoring her true worth. However, women bravely go forth in spite of all the obstacles. At the same time, because of economic instabilities, many women are choosing not to have children, and others are not giving up their jobs for their families. In other words, many decisions are made because of economic reasons more than any other. Politicians’ calls for people to have more children in order for our nation to survive are in vain. Women are silently but reproachfully watching men, and their message is clear—if you can provide the conditions, we can have more children. Political campaigns without economic support are more or less dead letters on a page. And yet again, men accuse women of conformity, ignoring the fact that in a family, the woman already carries the heaviest load on her back.

We always think that we should understand and bless an Orthodox man (and an average Muslim man is not so far off)—women are not lesser creatures, rather men fall into temptation easier, and that is why women are not allowed in certain holy places and religious functions, such as in Hilandar.

It is widely known that a marriage will not function if the woman is smarter and more ambitious than the man. For marriage, a man picks an inferior woman in order to dominate according to some natural law. He man is the initiator, the attacker, the one who must capture, and the woman either defends herself or gives in.

This cannot be the case at work, where intelligence, organizational skills, visionary approaches, and planning come first; qualities that characterize bosses and innovators. Here, women are finding their places to stand out in their new roles that correspond to them because of their capabilities, and not because of their biological sex.

Some theorists believe that women got the right to vote and the ability to work in order to bring down the global birthrate and thereby lower the exponential increase of the earth’s population. On the other hand, by hiring women, the work is paid less since there is a larger work force, and this system creates more consumers. This quickens the development of the economy and makes the rich all the richer. Women got new responsibilities, and the family has found itself in the toughest position yet. Mothers are less and less present in the home, and children are more and more entertained by media and video games. Thusly, parents let slip out of their hands that which is most important—raising their children, which is one of the goals of this globalist idea.

Our Serbian women are first and foremost cooks, and after that mothers and everything else. No Serbian man would tolerate a woman who cannot cook. In the West, a woman is considered a cook if she can make spaghetti and add sauce from a can. These standards put our Balkan women at odds with their traditional roles, which are very demanding, and their careers. However, our women are strong: they never give up on their families or on their careers. They bravely battle on.

SOMETHING IN BETWEEN

It would seem that the newest Western battle for the rights of women in America has nothing to do with the politics of military and political policing of the world, which teaches lessons in democracy with its coldblooded cruelty. How is it that the rights of the “stronger ones” are tolerated in that same society when it comes to foreign politics?

Keeping in mind the link between the male-female problem in the White House and the bombing of Serbia, one of our fellow countrywomen reacted quite reasonably to Trump’s election campaign.

That is, one time at the hair salon, she stirred up the discussion of what Trump said about women in a secret audio recording in which he vulgarly spoke about women, and the atmosphere lit up. Several Canadian women wholeheartedly accused Trump, while our lady definitely supported the “pinching” of women, but on one condition—that the US stop bombing the rest of the world. One of the Canadian women involved in the discussion was so flustered that her hood dryer fell to her chin. Our lady repeated: as long as it contributed to keeping America from bombing all four corners of the earth, she had nothing against “pinching.”

She clarified her stance explaining that beautiful women have always been sacrificed to rulers and gods, so if this is the way, one must admit that it is the most painless way! When the smoke cleared, the Canadian woman peacefully admitted that our countrywoman was maybe right, while the hairdresser frowned, forcing our lady to reconcile the conflict by any means necessary. As it usually happens in our Canadian community of all colours and nations, the ladies compromised, moving on to a different topic, but the heated conversation rang in their ears. Our lady was satisfied. She felt like a winner, since she explained the misuse of women’s issues for political purposes in a way that got through to at least one person who regularly watches CNN, but also the majority of Canadian media who report on anti-Trump politics.

And in the end, what can we say about the dragon and the beautiful girl sacrificed at the beginning of the story?

Will the dragon retract its claws after these harsh attacks?

Of course it will not. It will sooner show its other hidden heads that spit fire on all sides of the world, showing that it is insatiable and indestructible! 

In the battle of good versus evil, good only wins temporarily, and the world smolders in the fire that threatens to flare up with uncontrollable force. For the justice of the stronger was always and will always be more important.

Many believe that if women ruled the world, that world would be better than the one we live in today. I, of course, do not believe that, for when someone comes into power, you never know whether that person will show the good or bad sides of their personality. If you put a lamb on a throne, it will probably become a wolf! In the meantime, women continue fighting their battles every way they can, but they are also winning, whether or not anyone else likes it.