Why The Gods Definitely Have Biological Genders

I've heard people and groups in the past say that the Gods do not have genders, or that they are "genderless." I'm not here today to say that they don't have the right to their beliefs, or that they are somehow "evil," I am simply saying that I disagree, and in this post, I am going to make my case.

The first obviousness of the claim should be readily seen. To say, for example, that Hera (the Supreme Goddess, Mother of the galaxy and Goddess of women themselves) is not female, is absurd - illogical at best. The entire reason we have the words God and Goddess is to make a distinction between male and female. But let's go deeper.

I have found that the belief in genderless Gods mainly stems from the belief that gender is a social construct. But this is not a universally accurate statement.

Gender roles can be a social construct, but biological sex is not. No one gives you that except for nature, and nature is of the Gods, and therefore, defining sex comes from the Gods, not just for humans, but mostly every living thing on the planet. Male and female exist abundantly in the universe, everywhere around us, and also in the Gods as logic would therefore dictate. 

Even if you change your sex, you are still defined by that new sex, otherwise why feel the need to change it to better define yourself? And while it's true that we can possess traits from both sexes, we will still have a central manifestation. Sex is a defining characteristic of who someone is.

The gender roles of human society are not what determine the genders or sexes of the Gods in any case. Often, a God or Goddess did not choose a realm because of their gender. Athena isn't the Patron of Athens because She's female, but because She won it. Poseidon isn't the God of the sea because He's male, but because He chose it. 

And sometimes, the gender roles of Greek society were the opposite of the Gods' stations. For example, men did most of the hunting, yet Artemis is the hunting and wilderness Deity mainly. Yes, She can have a counterpart (Her brother Apollon) but that even more so proves that the Gods have genders, otherwise why is there a distinct male and female here? If gender didn't matter, why the need for the recognition of two opposites? 

Furthermore, the Sex Goddess is female even though men were the dominant sex. The Deity of agriculture is female even though men did most of the field work. It could go on with examples. In a society dominated by men, you would think that the highest stations would go to Gods if gender roles made the determination. But they don't, because Gods are not created by humans. The Gods simply are.

Even if we go back to the gender roles of Greek society alone, we cannot logically argue that those were the only manifestations of biological sex. The Greeks even had certain festivals and religious functions only for women because they were directly tied to being female and not male.

I think the insistence on genderless Gods is really a social construct in and of itself, that desires to remold the Gods to conform with modern social mindsets, but what we have to realize is that such a thing is not necessary, nor do we as humans have any right to redefine a God. 

In the Goodness of the Gods, I'll see you at the next Herm down the road,

Chris Aldridge.

Simply Great: A Post for Women's History Month

She was told she would never amount to anything. She weathered plagues, war and threats to her life. She was betrayed by the two men who should have loved her the most (her father and husband), and she was surrounded by corruption and a selfish Nobility, to name just a few problems, not to mention being a woman in a world that, at that time, belonged 100% to men. 

And even though giving in or running away from her troubles would have been the easiest solutions, Catherine the Great refused those options. She did not cower, hate or put her circumstances off on someone else. She took the highest crown her nation had, and became the only Empress in Russian history to ever be called The Great. She reminded all generations why she was alive and what destiny had laid out for her.

During my last year at University in 2023, my final class was modern European history, and I wrote a flawless term paper on Catherine the Great, an A+. The grade was so high that I could have not taken the final exam and still passed the class. My love for Catherine literally secured my degree, and it's something I will always hold dear. When people talk about who they would like to meet if they could go back in time, I always list at least Catherine, because we would have an awesome conversation and then, probably, amazing sex, as Catherine was known for her expressive sexual side. Equally important, not only was Catherine down to earth in this regard, she was also polyamorous, which is another natural part of human sexuality that is still shamed away by social norms.

To me, she embodies a lot of what a woman should still be today, which is strong, confident, and accepting of their sexual desires. In a world where women have been made so ashamed of their natural selves that they won't even acknowledge that a man is handsome or that they like him, Catherine is a liberating spirit that women desperately need. But I also think more and more women are waking up and breaking free of these anti-woman and anti-human norms. Not only are women and men both becoming more sexually open, but they are realizing that there's nothing wrong with being attracted to more than one person.

My wife once told me that I have a thing for strong female rulers, and that it's not a bad thing. But I think Catherine is my favorite above all those. She understood that life was made to live, and live to the fullest. All of her critiques and haters from back then are long dead and forgotten. Only she remains known, admired and still loved to this day. The lesson is to not care what other people think. They won't matter in years to come. What will matter is whether you lived the life you truly wanted. Love, sex and power were her hallmarks. She would have had none of them, however, if she had bowed to the exact same social norms that women still bow to in our own time. And the worst part is that social norms can become so ingrained that we think it's our own desire when it's nothing more than what we've been programmed to do.

In a broader sense, Catherine escaped the prison that so many are still confined to. I think Catherine would tell all of us that, inside ourselves, is the power to overcome and accomplish anything, if we are just brave enough to try. 

You can read my college paper on Catherine for free by clicking here.

In the Goodness of the Gods,

I'll see you at the next Herm down the road,

Chris Aldridge.

Why So Many Female Villains In Greek Myth?

Ancient Greece and Greek Myth in modern time tend to get, what I think, is an undeserved bad wrap for all of the female villains that exist within it. It's assumed that because there were a lot of female monsters and criminals, that the ancient Greeks must have hated women or at least distrusted them in some capacity. Well, anyone who has known me for the last few years as a writer, historian and a Hellenist, knows I can give a fresh, and perhaps more realistic perspectives on ancient Greek culture than what is assumed by people who never lived there, or who respond with the education they have been conditioned to. For instance, if you're trained to see sexism in everything, you will. 

First consider that there might have indeed been female criminals and menaces in ancient times. In fact, it would be absurd to suggest it impossible. The level of power that women had varied from City to City, but women were not powerless in totality. For example, male bandits or organized criminals probably wouldn't have cared about being led by a female if she had enough money to pay them well. We would likely find it a species of insanity to suggest that there has ever been a human culture with no female offenders of any kind. It is not sexism to say that a woman is a woman. I mean, it's certainly not rare to find a woman or a being who is female. Women exist as about half of the population, and sometimes there are actually more females in a species than males. Therefore, there could naturally be women or females who fulfill negative as well as positive roles, and yet, even the negative ones were not universal. In other words, they were not all bad. While the Sphinx of Oedipus might be considered a villain, Sphinxes were also guardians of temples and cemeteries, and considered to be a bridge between human and Divine knowledge. 

It's also not true that men of ancient Greece always occupied admirable or virtuous roles. There were a great number of men and males who were evil. For example, when Odysseus returned home, He found no less than 108 Suitors trying to take His wife and kingdom. He killed all of them, not for simply being Suitors, but for destroying His palace, eating His food, taking everything they could, and doing everything they could get away with. They even plotted to murder Odysseus' own son. These 108 men were certainly no paragons of virtue, but villains. Finally, male monsters in Greek Myth included the Minotaur, the Nemean Lion, the Cretan Bull, and Typhon. 

In conclusion, it may not actually be true that a significant number of Greek villains were female. In fact, given the Suitors alone, there might have been more males than females in actuality. Not to mention ruling kings like Midas, Lycaon, Sisyphus, Tantalus, and Salmoneus who were some of the most greedy, ruthless, offensive, and cruel men to ever live - and the Gods punished them severely for it. And for the villains who were the opposite sex, it may have had little to do with their sex in and of itself. Additionally, you can't logically ignore the great number of female Heroes who exist in Greek Myth and Religion either, such as Atalante, Danae, Antigone, Penelope, Hydna, and Nausicca. You wouldn't think you'd have female Heroes in a society that simply hates women.

I'm not saying there was no sexism in ancient times, for that would also be an absurd suggestion. But I also think that people today assume way too much about things they couldn't have possibly experienced.

In the Goodness of the Gods,

I'll see you at the next Herm down the road,

Chris Aldridge.

And bookmark my site by clicking on the star in the top right of the web bar.

Toxicity Overhead: Struggles Of Men With Social Norms

I don't think we realize just how negatively social norms can impact men as well as women. We tend to think of women because they are the most oppressed by them, but men have their share of undue and inhumane burdens placed on them by ridiculous standards of masculinity perpetuated by our modern culture. These standards normally take the form of what we have come to call Toxic Masculinity, which can be just as harmful to men as women. 

When I am driving home, there is an electronic billboard as I enter the City. One thing it has advertised in recent times is gambling, telling the viewer that they have the opportunity to win big, and the picture is of a smiling man being kissed by a woman. To a man, this says that if you get lots of money, you'll get the women, so come try for it. Men are commonly told this a lot, "no romance without finance." We are taught that our value is in how much money we have, and the only worth we have to the opposite sex is that dollar amount. If a man fails to live up to the success of being wealthy enough to basically buy a woman, he has failed in his manhood. Once this has been established in the minds of men, all of their self-esteem is in this flawed ideal. It also hurts women because it trains them to look for money alone, and not necessarily a partner who is good for them.

For the longest time, I even viewed myself through this scope. I would think back to some of the women I fell in love with and lost, and convinced myself that if I had been rich, they would have never left me. And for argument's sake, that might have been true in some cases. But it keeps men from finding true love, and creates immense self-loathing the vast majority of the time. Men are bombarded with sexual goals by social norms. Not only are we told the above, but also that our success as a man is marked by how many women we've slept with. That's why as early as middle school the boys bragged about having sex on a regular basis. Of course they hadn't, but that social norm of being a man through sexual achievement was burned into our minds from birth, and so we were willing to even lie about it, if it proved our manhood. Modern sexual and social norms have really made mental prisoners of both men and women.

Part of my work as a writer, philosopher and teacher has been to help free my fellowman of this ridiculousness and exploitation. For starters, I've never tried to "afford" a partner, because if she's only with me for money, she's not really with me. And second, I've had my fair share of sexual partners throughout my life. What matters is the strength of your honor and virtue as a man. I'm certainly not saying that sexual satisfaction isn't important. In fact, I don't think we place enough emphasis on it in relationships and life in general. Humans are sexual beings, and that part of us needs just as much care and reverence as any other. In our 12 years together, my wife and I have never lost our passion for one another, and it's one of the things that makes our relationship powerful and exciting. Sex IS important and sacred. But you can be a great man no matter how much or how little sex you've had.

I am aware that these norms are still abundant in our society, but when I saw the billboard in my City, I was a little more disappointed to see it in the liberal state of Illinois. It is certainly free speech, but I would like to think that the people of our state are more enlightened and dignified.

In the Goodness of the Gods,

Courage and Honor,

Chris Aldridge. 

Why Society Hates Boobs, Even Milky Ones

Have you ever noticed that if a beautiful woman displays her gorgeous breasts, she is reviled? In some states, she's even charged with a felony if she does so for sexual purposes. 

This is probably most widely shown today in our society that often resents women who breast feed in public, although the female breasts and sexual organs are also generally hated just for existing in the first place if they are not kept under tight lock and key. But rest assured, it is legal everywhere in the world for a man to walk around topless. 

A man running down the beach wouldn't be given a second thought, even if his body was unattractive, but a beautiful woman would be arrested before she took her first step. Why is all of this the case? Why does the female body insight such hatred and resentment, even in the minds of many women themselves who are in government and vote for these oppressive laws?

Well, when you've spent as many years in ancient, non-Abrahamic religion as I have, and have studied history like I do, it's not hard to realize the truth. It doesn't take a genius, because I am certainly not one, yet it also requires more than just a surface explanation. It takes much study and deep thought into the philosophies and mentalities of our present society.

It all has to do with the Abrahamic take over of the world, namely Christianity and Islam. Before that happened, human sexuality was loved and celebrated among the Polytheists, because Polytheism embraces the Natural World and the life therein. 

The Polytheistic religions literally gave freedom of mind and body, and there was nothing threatening about the sexual powers of either men or women. In the ancient Greek world, the beautiful bodies of both sexes were wonderfully conceived, revered as perfections, and turned into sculptures to be admired. 

Why should anyone have been offended by any of it? The feeling of threat did not come until the religions of mind and body control started to gain prominence, which we know primarily today as Christianity and Islam, both of which have a deep distrust of women. 

These religions also rely heavily on human male dominated power alone, giving absolutely none to the female who is viewed as the tempter and destruction of man. It becomes terrifying to think of female power because, one, if you allow the woman to have power, what claim do you have to sole authority, and two, what will she do with that power? For the sake of the entire religion, she must be oppressed and repressed.

One of the central missions of the two new religions that arrived on the world stage, was to control human sexuality, because that makes it easier to control people themselves. When you have your foot on the throat of humanity's basic makeup, you have them completely enslaved. 

That's why the central things that make you human, are condemned by these religions. Everything becomes a sin, even the mere fact that you were born human. So by making your humanity a sin, you are controlled, and additionally important, you are always dependent on the religion and the religious authority who claims they can save you from it.

At this point, one might ask, what does all this have to do with female breasts and breast feeding being resented? Because the precise reason they are resented is because they are the representation, embodiment and action of female power that the ruling religions have conditioned everyone, even women themselves, to hate and cover up. 

Her breasts are her power in sexuality, and breast feeding shows how she also has the power to give life itself. Woman cannot be allowed to freely know and express her inherent powers, because if she does, she might just come out from under the oppression that Christianity and Islam need in order to maintain their rule over her. 

It would also encourage men to come out from under the sexual oppression they have faced. This is the last thing that the present ruling powers want. Once they lose control of the basic humanity that they have kept in check for centuries, they lose control of the world.

In the Goodness of the Gods,
Chris Aldridge.

Women's Day Is A Valuable Front Against Fascism

Today is International Women's Day, and March itself is Women's History Month. On the surface, we may think of it as just another time to honor the contributions and sacrifices of America's often unsung or oppressed citizens, but I think that the observance of women's rights goes far beyond that, and into all of humanity, male and female alike.

Being a woman during times of gender oppression, didn't simply encompass things like a denial of employment opportunity or property. It used to involve sheer crimes against humanity.

Ever since monotheism and namely Christianity took over the West, their establishments have always considered women to be the destruction of man and the place in which he lives. The bible is quite clear about this worldview, starting with the story of Adam and Eve. If you look deeper into the myth, you realize that it's about sex, and sexual power, in part, lying with the female. That's not to say that men don't have sexual power as well, but women hold a tremendous amount. Not only are they very successful at achieving, but they are also the nurturers of the babies. The apple is an ancient symbol of female sexuality. Eve did not tempt Adam with a fruit, but with her sexual power, and that power has been hated ever since, not only because it came from a woman, but because it's considered an "original sin." In short, sex is bad, especially if a woman comes out from under her male counterparts and lives her own life in her own power. Nothing scares a male-dominated monotheistic establishment more. 

In the United States and Europe, if a woman was not sexually conservative, and was considered promiscuous, she could be committed to a mental institution. In other words, the state literally kidnapped women who expressed their sexual power. If a woman dared to enjoy herself instead of remaining sexually oppressed, should could be locked up, and some were.  Yes, you read right. This wasn't Saudi Arabia or the Holy Roman Empire. This was the United States of America and Europe in times like the 19th Century, and although we don't have the same persecution today, women are still demonized for being sexually free in the United States. If a man loves sex, it's fine. But if a woman loves sex, she's a dirty, immoral slut. In general, our society as a whole has been immensely sexually oppressed for nearly all of its existence. Sexual freedom, while tolerated for men, is still not overtly popular or accepted. Both sexes are subjugated in this manner because the establishment knows that such oppression makes it easier to control and manipulate people. When you have your foot on the throat of someone's most basic humanity, you have them enslaved. The enslavement is also causing severe de-evolution. Instead of having people sexually educated and expressively healthy in their sexual activity, our abstinence only philosophy has utterly failed and given us more ignorance and therefore more problems like unwanted pregnancies, STDs, and cheating to such an epidemic extent that we have made reality shows out of it. 

These crimes that were inflicted upon innocent human beings have never been addressed in our culture even to this day, because our governmental leaders still don't want to support human liberation entirely, for fear of offending a large voting population or being painted as immoral or ruthless by fascist-supporting media. 

The reason Women's Day and Women's History Month is important is because there are still people today who want to bring those crimes against humanity back into our society. While we have ultimately defeated fascism at every turn over the last 242 years, the threat is always there as long as America remains free. Like a predator, it waits in the shadows, stalking and hoping for us to let our guard down. We must never turn a blind eye to it, or give it any form of home. We must always be ready and willing to drive it out of human civilization every single time.

In the Goodness of the Gods,

Chris Aldridge.

Source Article