Knowing beforehand that the writer is an early twenties, fresh employee living in the sociological Frankenstein that is Cairo, Egypt, would help put things in perspective
Why so? (The sociological Frankenstein part)
I wrote once that we have a critical segment of an entire generation born & raised that sex, desire for sex & intimacy or the mere expression of it is wrong...not bad, WRONG!
as in shouldn't be there
This had me thinking about other aspects of social life and the path of self-actualization, which basically include friendship, intimate relationships, hobbies & areas one is passionate about
In lieu of that, the thought that crossed my mind that, in our present culture here, we have NOTHING about these things...
We don't have any place that respects & nurtures one's passions & hobbies; that childish part
We don't have a contemporary, consensual & socially welcomed way of showing affection towards the opposite sex; for instance: how should one propose? go to parents & be considered regressive (dunno the term)? talk to the girl before the parents & be considered insolent & disrespectful...what?
We don't discuss sex, nor think about personal active and/or social ways of entertainment (family/neighborhood football matches, mixed gender dances...etc); as if pleasure in life is not to be expressed or even felt publicly
THAT sheds light on another aspect which is the previous generation; how they were raised and how they dealt with us
We are the Y2K; What I see & am talking about now is the result of being raised by a generation that was taught to follow their elders without questioning or criticism
A generation raised by the back of its fathers' hand, mothers' slippers & coat-hangers and peer-pressure just waiting for one mistake to claim that their reputation & ethics are tainted
That's right; a generation taught to follow instructions without questions, that doesn't understand why & how their time came to be, eventually finding themselves with no one to give them instructions and with a later generation (entirely different time & tools) that has no one but them to ask (That's us, the later generation that's asking)
And what does the rearing generation answer? by giving the same instructions on how to live that their predecessors gave them...that's all they know
Which leaves us with what we have now: Extremity
From men believing that a relationship with women is to be asked of her parents to girls believing that desiring & feeling intimacy with a man is wrong & will be met with only pain & persecution by society (which is a fact most of the time) an in turn hide & deny this part of themselves.
Part trying to live the time their parents lived and only know how to live and judge them accordingly; a time passed. Another trying to live their time, yet to come, by aggressively denying all aspects of the time past & the ones still living in it and rejecting them.
A generation of typewriters telling a generation of computers & Word Processors how to be and act or else face life alone & shunned.
Both generations only focusing on how to prevent sadness, misery, poverty, pain; aiming only to live a life free of pain, even if it means free of pleasure as well
Almost none, save for a few survivors, focusing on how to be satisfied, pleased & fulfilled, alone & with a partner, and actually working to achieve that with acceptance of the pain that lies ahead
We stopped loving, only looking for pain-killers and sedatives
Because loving means rekindling that childish part of ourselves again, the part that others hurt us for and in escaping and preventing that pain from others, we hide & stifle what they hurt us for...
The generation of strangers & outcasts; whether to the world they live in or the world that lives in them
Then the question remains: How do we Be?
Should you be so lucky to have someone to turn to when you fall, discover and be whatever makes you satisfied
Should you be not so lucky as to be destined to go through your path alone...forgive the pain
And listen..
