Portrait & Landscape

I've just had a Brain Storm. Over at Western Survival, Mark wrote a post about women's capacity for leadership. It was a good try, and I think there are some legitimate issues to be discussed...but unfortunately the author repeated the cliched..."women are too emotional" sorts of arguments.

You can see for yourself here. You can also, if you want, read my two comments. (Well, hey, being a woman, I'm very communicative!)

But thinking about it, it did occur to me that there is something in the recognition that men and women have tendencies to think in different ways.

You might say that men think vertically, and women think horizontally. I said:

On average, men are more aggressive (in good and bad ways), less emotional, more abstract and compartmentalized, and more singleminded. This can be good in a leader.

On average, women are more manipulative (in good and bad ways), more communicative, more practical, and tend to see the bigger picture. This can also be good in a leader.

Men's minds can be focused like a laser. Men are the outstanding geniuses in physics and mathematics. But...have you ever asked a man to take out the garbage?

Male translation: "Mission: carry garbage can to trash bin."

And in performing the mission... he'll carry that can past and over piles of other crap that should be removed to the trash bin...and never see them.

That's how they think...focused, single-minded, goal oriented.

Now, this is a good thing, in certain circumstances. It's absolutely what you want in hand-to-hand combat, or storming a castle, or pursuing the theoretical, mathematical secrets of the universe.

But humans do other things, too. And sometimes a horizontal view, i.e., seeing the bigger picture, is more appropriate. Like getting ALL the trash into the bin, for example!

A woman taking out the garbage will grab the can from under the sink, notice drips down the side that have puddled in the cabinet. She'll wipe the can and clean the cabinet. She'll pick up the can again, and take a turn through the house, she'll dump ashtrays, grab stray food wrappers, a coffee cup, two headless action figures, a stack of junk mail, a couple of tumbleweed cat-hair-dust-bunnies, an empty soda can and yesterday's newpaper because the recycling box is right next to the trash bin. She'll pick up dirty socks, a t-shirt, a wet dishtowel and muddy soccer shorts because the laundry is right next to the recycling box and the trash bin; and a pair of sneakers.

She'll pop into the kid's room to toss the shoes into the closet, pull up the bed covers (making a mental note to remind the kids to make their beds before school), collect a candybar wrapper, four dead batteries and some peanut shells. She'll stop in the bathroom, clean the cat box, straighten a precariously hung towel, wipe down the sink, flush the toilet and put down the seat, cap the shampoo and the toothpaste, and on the final stretch, replace a light bulb in the hall. And finally, the garbage gets to the trash, the paper to the recycling bin, the dirty laundry to the hamper, and the dirty cup to the kitchen sink. And the house is significantly cleaner, neater and brighter than when she began.

So, when your job is to "take out the garbage", what does it really mean? Does it mean removing the can from point A to point B? Or does it actually mean removing ALL the trash and general clutter from the house?

In politics and foreign policy, this question is hideously important.

Does "winning the war" mean removing Saddam from point A to point B? Or does it really mean removing all the would-be dictators and domination violence from the country?

We did the male-type garbage removal very well. Saddam went from point A to B with aclarity. We're very good at that.

But the female-type garbage removal of going through the house and ridding it of ALL the trash, wherever we find it? Not so much.

Now, back to that old canard..."emotionalism" vs "intellectualism". Being a woman with an IQ too high to mention modestly, I scoff at the idea that women aren't "intellectual". But I do take the point. Men certainly can be severely logical and rational. They can be very good at keeping their emotions in check.

And we, as a culture, value this most worthy trait. It is required that Western leaders have the capacity to reason, to engage in logical, sensible and rational behaviors. Western leaders, without doubt, "reason" their way to solutions, strategy, policy. (Well, not Liberals.)

And they assume that other cultures do the same. (It's that "laser-beam focus" thing)

Can I say "BIG MISTAKE" loudly enough?

How long will it take before they figure out that Islam is one big temper tantrum?

Vulcan-like logic isn't much use when talking to Klingons...or howling infants.

Our (mostly male) leaders— so stoic, strong, logical and rational—are totally incapable of seeing that the enemy is wildly emotional; impervious to logic. They are perpetually frustrated in their attempts to communicate logically, rationally, and clearly our benevolent intentions and motives. They continue to believe that all our restraint, respect and compassion, which would be proof to the most skeptical rational mind that we are good guys, yet makes no impression whatever on hysterical Muslims, will somehow eventually succeed in winning them over.

But logic doesn't convince the hysterical. Or the mad. Or the fulminating, raging, spitting viper.

So, maybe a little insight, experience and familiarity with emotions might just be handy in dealing with them.

So, anyway, my Brain Storm (remember?) was that maybe we should reintroduce the Roman idea of Two Consul rule. In our case, it'd be One Female and One Male...each bringing their respective gifts, and providing a curb on the excesses of the other.

Not a married couple. I mean two independently elected people, one of each sex. Each with equal power, and both with vetoes.

In times of national crisis, one could be allowed "final say", (which one would depend on the nature of the crisis) with the requirement that he/she always consult and give due consideration to the opinion of the other.

I like it.

The Gunslinger