Peculiarities of Community Analysis - Essay Example

?Community Analysis Essay It is said that the only thing constant in life is change. To this effect, people react differently to change. Some take itgladly, while others take it with a pinch of salt. A certain change is what will be the theme of the subsequent change. I grew up hearing about the rights of women and stumbling across such concepts as the empowerment of women. All this remained perplexing for me. Although I read of great things, I seldom saw any demonstration of them around me. Women were still house-wives, required to be in traditional clothing with covered heads and lowered eyes. Recently, however, I have seen a change. I have seen the things I once read of, slowly materializing. I have seen women go from being a household commodity, to being equal to sons in our male chauvinistic culture. Now, working women are accepted rather than shunned like ten years ago. There is a lot more freedom in all aspects, be it dressing, travel, education, lifestyle- almost any aspect one chooses to describe, women are now more liberated than ever before. People now take it as a matter of pride to send their daughters to school, and most of the conservative elements are moving towards modernism and liberalism. This is the change I see around me. What remains to be seen is whether it really is happening, or whether it is just an illusion- a mirage, ‘window-dressing’ in accounting terms. Also, is it just limited to sprawling metropolises, or has the effect permeated to the as-yet-un-westernized rural areas? Another aspiring ray that has developed in females in recent times is their strength. Their robustness to stand change, their robustness to accept change, their robustness on being the change. This has taken the course of action to move to better, positive horizons. “Whether we like it or not, one of our tasks on this Earth is to work with the opposites through different level of consciousness until body, soul and spirit resonate together. Initiation rites, experienced at the appropriate times in our lives, burn off what is no longer relevant, opening our eyes to new possibilities of our own uniqueness.” (Miss Morian Woodman: “The Pregnant Virgin: A Process of Psychological Transformation”. Page 26 Chrysalis) Using the concept of the process of psychological pregnancy (the virgin forever a virgin, forever pregnant, forever open to possibilities), Woodman examines ways of restoring the unity of body and soul, suggesting that how and what a woman goes through in a man’s world. Drawing on her Jungian analytic practice with its analysis of hundreds of dreams, she explores the search for personal identity and relationships, including celebration of the feminine both in women and men. She begins with the symbolism of the chrysalis, and then discusses abandonment in the creative woman, psyche-soma awareness, the ritual journey, further thoughts on addiction, and yin, yang, and Jung. It encompasses the gist of change that I have noticed in recent times. The goal of human striving in the individualization process is not an easy cycle. The search begins with finding your self and revitalizing your body and soul. There is also a great deal of motivation and morale that needs to be fed. In the initiation, there is a constant dialog between the conscious and unconscious. The ego rejects the conflict and stands up against the psyche but the same ego then strives for more. More power, more wealth, more happiness and merely more satisfaction. Many women in our culture are attempting to suffer these transformations alone. They know that something new is born and they need to go through the pain so that they can enjoy the serenity of it later. But what hurts is that they are usually left alone in this road. There are no support groups to help them take the chance. The internal ego of oneself should be strong enough to cope up with everyday fights and pains. The affect aspect of an alien myth of working along side men is shattering. Its not a days effort. Or not an easy leap. Some women accept their destiny in a traditional, finding within its obvious limitations – social, intellectual, spiritual. Others who accept their destiny but resist these limitations and want to break the box are in another dilemma altogether. When we observe the new developments in genres all over the West, it makes me wonder if the norm can be altered. What if the unsaid is said out aloud? These modern women reject the idea of being succumbed under masculine pressure, but their search for personal identity for their own satisfaction of soul brings them into the crossroads of those from whom they ran. While this situation is now changing, there is still a long way to go. The dream image echoes and re-echoes within itself, the union of masculine and feminine, gold and silver, spirit and matter, West and east, Yang and Yin. Like the initiate in the primitive tribes, the dancer is to step into the cosmic arena, and through her connection with her own inner roots, she will contact ‘the water of life with which she nourishes the cosmic tree.’ Vegetation in the wasteland depends on the feminine capacity to overcome personal fear and become open to the inner fountains. Women today have taken a bold step. She is handling the dialog between herself and the deep-rooted myths. She is stepping out of her primitive defined expectations and rising far and above to achieve her dreams, her desired goals. Women today are no less competent. They are head strong and confident and are working shoulder-to-shoulder to same men that degrade them in whatever way that is possible. That is another war. I wonder if it takes a holocaust, outer or inner, to help us to realize what is really essential in life. I lived a smile-and-grin, smile-and-grin existence. I was dying. I rage for life. I want so much to be free. (Miss Morian Woodman: Page 31.) I understand fully that some women are home experts, they create a lovely warm environment for their husbands and children and in-laws. They create a home for them. A place they could go out from and come back into. While some women in our culture our engrained with professional specialties. And some extraordinary women are doing both. In my observation, the steps that modern women have taken revolve around various factors. They struggled with their defined ceilings and walls, reasoned their passion for more in life and then strived through the pain with endless endeavors to achieve what stand they have today. There are a lot of light and shadows in one’s soul and stepping out from that is difficult. Women in our culture are early aspirers from their fathers. Fathers are the head in the family, they male dominance starts from the birth of a female. Fathers are taken as the sole bread earners of the house while the woman or mother is taken as house wife who does the chores and cooks for the family. The initial lesson is set right there. The distinction is made. Now that world is developing, women and men work together. This is such not only because of the money or power or status. But also because there is a need felt. A need felt by women to do more from their lives. They strive for happiness that they earn from being themselves. Works Cited STEINBERG, ROVERT L ROOT JR AND MICHAEL. THE FOURTH GENRE. Pp 403-409 ,Longman, 2009. Woodman, Marion. The Pregnant Virgin.pp 7-31, Inner City Books, 1985. Read More