I may be a woman inside the powerful body of a man. Now, before you jump to hasty conclusions, let me explain. And if you're a woman who believes it's long overdue that we have our first woman president----you'll like this.
I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm the sensitive type, easily hurt. But I also have a more acutely defined sense of concern for others.
This is the opposite of a macho man.
A macho man can savage a person verbally, rip them up one side and down the other, insult them, and walk away, happy with himself. They never express concern or regret later on. Dominance is a big part of their scam.
Or, as John Wayne used to say, "Never say you're sorry. It's a sign of weakness."
Yeah sure! Swagger around and act the big guy, the phoney act.
Our government acts this way because mostly men run the government. To be concerned about somebody else is to be a sissy.
I'm the kind of person, who, if you kicked a dog around the corner, I'd feel it. I can't help it. If I've been rude to somebody, I have to come back and tell them, "I didn't mean to raise my voice like that."
If I'm rude, I say I'm sorry. Sorry Duke (John Wayne), but the inability to admit the truth, and that you're human is a sign of weakness, not strength.
The other day the president of the biggest power on earth, angered by continued violence in Iraq, said "Come on," daring insurgents to attack our own troops (the White House press corps tried to clean this gaff up, saying Bush only meant to say our forces were strong).
If this little tiny pipsqueak man would stop swaggering around, we'd all be a lot better off.
Hormonal grandstanding is one of the drawbacks of a real man's man, and a male presidency.
I'm largely free of such feelings. Should I feel guilty? Ashamed? Not only am I a sensitive guy, on weekends my wife gets in the car and drives to meetings (she's a workaholic) while I stay home and wait for her to return. Isn't the man supposed to do this (drive off)?
I think I've got it backwards.
Maybe my mother was really supposed to have a second daughter, and my signals got mixed up just at the last second.
In any event, I'm proud of my feminine side, and secure with it.
I'd like to see a woman president, if for no other reason than she wouldn't have to live up to John Wayne.

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