Monday, January 21, 2008

We humans are fragile creatures

Lately, I have noticed that more and more people I know are going through a divorce. Being divorced myself, I often joke, "50 percent of all marriages end in divorce and the rest end in death. At least I got out alive". Seriously though, it seems to be more common these days. We have gotten away from building families and staying together. Family values seem to have gone to the archives like 8 track, vinyl and beta.
Part of the problem is that we get bombarded with propaganda encouraging us to be strong and independent. Television shows like "Sex in the City" portray single women in the most glamorous ways. The radio waves are full of songs by women artists lashing out at men. Kelly Clarkson "since you've been gone" and "because of you", Beyonce "Irreplaceable" are just a few examples of songs that encourage women to be single.
Don't get me wrong here, I think that women should be strong and independent. I just have to wonder if it isn't going beyond that. Are we getting to the point where it is better to be strong than happy? You can fluff it up as much as you like but it still takes less than an ounce of pressure to pierce human skin and even less than that to break a heart. So, are we really as strong as we think we are? No matter how you look at it, we humans are fragile creatures. Not a single one of us ever got anywhere without someone else. Even Oprah, the most powerful woman in America, has Steadman.

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