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The Mystic's Almanac - Banking On It

Image: "Soul Sailing" by Missy Rogers
Missy Rogers

Aired Sunday, Jan. 27th, 2013

Opening a new bank account in Oklahoma I was brought face-to-face with global patriarchal assumptions.

My partner Jeff and I visited a local bank to open an account. Over the 90 minutes we spent with the clerk, I asked the questions and directed all of the paperwork. Everything the clerk reviewed was in my name. Jeff signed two places on a paper and then left to run an errand. More time passed. The clerk handed me the last paper to sign. When I asked why Jeff had signed on two lines and I only on one, the clerk informed me Jeff was listed as the primary on the account. "No," I said firmly, "I am the primary on the account." In that bank I came face-to-face with several millennia of patriarchal assumptions. Globally women own 15% of all property; in developing countries women own less than 2%. In the United States, women earn 77 cents for every dollar a man earns; in developing countries, women earn 73 cents on the dollar. The figure I find most shocking of all is that women own less than 1% of the land on this Earth. I am not interested in living under a man, or anyone for that matter. Some day we will stand as true partner's, men and women, neither above nor below, but side by side. I'm banking on it.

 

The Mystic’s Almanac is a collection of commentaries by Dr. Judith L. Boice, N.D., L.Ac., author, international teacher, naturopathic physician and acupuncturist.