we wonder why.

Zoning off in class, I was awakened by an abrupt urge to either choke or chuckle. My professor passed around some hand-outs of the Philosophy Dept's Annual Symposium with topics concerning the mind, body, soul, and the question of their existence and correlations. I scanned the room to see if anyone else was curious or even intrigued at the announcement. There were none.

Now I'm not quite sure, but it seems as though I'm the only college student who doesn't go to school/class enough to have realized by her third year that symposium is often the name given for a large conference or meeting. Apparently, I am also the only student who knows her ancient Greek history. A symposium was a room in the typical Greek home where wives were not allowed to enter. Why? It was a room for men to get drunk while exchanging opinions and articles concerning current events, politics, philosophy, and literature. No place for your wife to be. Oh, I forgot to mention that female entertainers and whores were invited there for pleasure purposes and also because those type of women were the only ones of the time who were literate and, furthermore, intelligent.

The liberated woman of ancient times was intelligent AND hot. She was a rebel, going against the grains of society's gender roles. She was a means of stimulation for a man, whether by looks, charm, intellect, or a combination of all. Meanwhile, the wife-material woman was hard-working, submissive, unconditionally faithful, and pretty much illiterate and completely dependent on husband dearest. She was a means of having children and an example of virtue and chastity for the children she'd bear him.

As I thought to myself that times have thankfully changed, my second thought overpowered. I could take this one in various directions, but i'll spare you all the banter. I'll choose one so just enjoy it. Many people today want to have their cake and eat it too; we wonder why. Our roots and origins are alive among us and we culture and condition our young to be subconsciously tolerant of such values/beliefs (or lack thereof).