Texting Pharaohs 

“Women who seek to be equal with men lack ambition.” ~ Timothy Leary

Now that I’ve alienated the male population, and they’ve likely stopped reading this post, I’d like to address the young female population. 

In an attempt to project my own driving ambition (fears) onto my two daughters, I have made several frantic attempts to manipulate their minds. My time is running out. The first goes off to college in two weeks, and the other in four. Before they go, I want them to grasp importance of the next few years. “Don’t sell yourself short, aim high, keep your focus, don’t let a man distract you.” Sadly, they only hear Charlie Browns teacher: “Wah wah wah wah.”

One of the techniques I use to try to infiltrate their minds is history. (Zzzz) I try to explain the role of women in society over the past several generations. It wasn’t that long ago that women in the workforce were pigeonholed into three careers: teacher, nurse, secretary, many women were sent to college with the only goal being “find a husband”, and many women were not sent to college at all, because it was considered a waste of money. “Women get married, have babies and stay home.” In fact, those were my own fathers words…not that long ago. Granted, his beliefs were a result of his own upbringing in another country, but these attitudes exist. Even today, in certain parts of the world, women’s lives are not their own. 

In contrast, there have been many powerful women throughout world history. One is traced back to 1478 B.C…to Hatshepsut, a King, the first female Pharaoh of ancient Egypt. It is believed that she reigned in peace and prosperity for 22 years, promoting international trade, and the arts. 

In the decades after her death, one of her predecessors tried to eradicate her from archaeological and written records, but through the science of decoding the text of hieroglyphics, an intriguing biography has been pieced together by Egyptologists of the nineteenth century. Yes, the ancient Egyptians in their own way texted future historians. Everything from the fact that she used resin to line her eyes, grinding charred frankincense into kohl, to the cause of her death has been deciphered through text.

Lucky for us, Hatshepsut’s mummified body is not protected by HIPPAA privacy laws, because her medical history reveals a cause and explanation of her death. She apparently was a diabetic, and died at age fifty one of bone cancer. Scientists go further, citing a toxic face cream as the cause of her cancer. 

Hatshepsut’s history is important, because it is proof that women have value in history, and you should be careful what you put on your face. I want my daughters to understand they are fortunate to have freedom and choices.

I’d insert a football analogy here, about wanting my girls to run with the ball, run hard, and plow through anyone who tries to get in their way…but I don’t care for professional sports. Although perhaps I should. There are conspiracy theorists who believe sports play a key roll in mind manipulation…by distracting the public with non-important events, essential human issues such as liberty become inconsequential.

My hope for my daughters is not world domination, but self sufficiency, and financial independence. That is what I want for my son as well. For him perhaps when the time comes I’ll try hypnosis.

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July 17, 2016, One Word Daily Prompt: Drive~ <a href=”https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/drive/”>Drive</a&gt;