Marlene, I save my tears for beauty and tears spilled when I read your comment. Thank you so much for stepping in. I was having a hard time with baby cakes. Until I read your comment, I did not know baby cakes had been in prison. That said, I have a step-granddaughter in prison for murder, so I should have picked up on the signs.
Thank you for seeing me, few women have shown me that kindness before – and I am truly humbled. I don’t know how you figured it out, but you are right about me. From the time I was a very little girl, most of my friends were boys. Even in my family, my male cousins doted on me, but my female cousins had no use for me. And the pattern followed me throughout life. Most of my close friends, champions, mentors, confidantes, and business partners have been men. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve enjoyed extremely close friendships with several women for decades. But women rarely like me.
To be honest, I think it has to do with my appearance. I am homely. Believe you me, no one has ever called me pretty, let alone beautiful. I’m one of those women that other women see and ask each other “how did she get him?” (or “she must be rich”)
Marlene, it’s a curious thing. Somehow, in the absence of sexual attraction, men seek something deeper in a woman. Conversely, in the competition for male attention, most women rely on sexual attraction and have no use for homely women in their sphere.
You are correct again. While most people reading my article are city people, I see the back-breaking and soul destroying work that rural people do every day. I see the physical scars, the missing body parts, the ghastly deaths, and the psychic wounds that will never heal. Imagine pulling out the limp, dead body of a 22 year old man overcome by fumes in a vat of pig urine. Imagine a crop duster spraying highly toxic fertilizer on pregnant women picking crops in the field below, then telling those women to strip naked in the field so they can clean them off. In these awful situations, men are grateful for a woman who is able and willing to lead them (and grateful they don’t have to cry alone).
Like you, in my career I’ve rarely seen another woman. That said, the few women I have met in my field, can outproduce most men in a second flat. When men encounter these kinds of women, they treat them with respect – and loyalty (men are the most loyal of all people).
PS I apologize for my tardiness, I only just saw your comment.
