Chris Jepson: Better for women, better for men

What do women want? Do all women want the same things? Is what women want different from what men want?

Mind-blowing sex. I know. I know. But I thought I’d get “that” one off the table early. No doubt that is my male perspective coming through, the desire for mind-blowing sex. Although I came to understand early-on that men got the short end of stick when it comes to sexual pleasure. What’s the expression, “Gone in 60 seconds?” While a woman can go on and on and on. Regardless, sex is undeniably on the mind (a desire) of both men and women.

Sigmund Freud suggested that, “anatomy is destiny.” That is not so true today. Emma Gray of the Huffington Post wrote that, “According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey, in 2014, 47.6 percent of women between age 15 and 44 had never had children, up from 46.5 percent in 2012. This represents the highest percentage of childless women since the bureau started tracking that data in 1976.” To the degree that “anatomy is destiny,” that women bear children and men do not is unequivocally becoming “less” of a differentiating quality between the sexes as more and more women in America are having no children (or fewer children).

Does the biological capacity of women bearing children — does that quality alone — mean that women approach life differently from men, regardless of whether or not they have children? Are women (as a group) more empathetic, nurturing, communicative, consensus-building, etc.; whatever qualities you “wish” to attribute to the female sex. I have definite opinions on this subject. Regardless, I embrace the idea of vive la différence.

The question on the table is what do women want. If love songs are to be believed, women want a love that lasts. I think that true of men as well.

We all want a safe (and all that that implies) environment in which to flourish. Men and women alike.

What women want that they have not historically experienced is complete equality with men. They want equality when it comes to independent decision making for themselves as well as in the governance of society.

Everyone alive today has seen or experienced the struggle for female equality in America. It is an ongoing effort made all the more difficult by the intransigence of America’s Republican Party. Why is that? Why do the Pubs want to manage a woman’s reproductive choices? Centuries from now when historians assess the significant achievements of the 20th century, birth control will rank high on the list. For the first time in history women were mistresses of their own reproductive destiny. And the Republican Party, much like the Confederacy and slavery, fought this human advancement every step of the way.

A friend sent me a T-shirt for Christmas that reads: “The GOP: creating government small enough to fit inside your vagina.” That – sadly, pathetically – sums-up today’s Republican Party.

On Jan. 21, 2017, from 1-4 p.m. at the Walt Disney Amphitheater on Lake Eola Park in downtown Orlando there will be the Women’s Rally “in solidarity with the Women's March on Washington. We invite supporters and defenders of issues affecting women, their families, and the community to rally with us in our call to action of, by, and for concerned citizens.” For more information: http://www.womensrallycfl.org

I will be there. Show your solidarity with reproductive choice, with equal pay for equal work, for all that is yet to be achieved for women’s rights. Stand-up, speak-out for female equality.