Odd Thoughts

 Every so often I come across something that really brings home just how horrible some things are.

That's really rather vague, of course, so I'll have to give an example.

Some years ago I was reading up on the history of the Mongols. It's been long enough that I don't remember if the event I'm thinking of was in The Secret History of the Mongol Queens, with Töregene Khatun.

Obviously it's hard to know much about a historical figure like that, yet her fate and especially the fate of her close confidante Fatima (and perhaps lover, but again... history isn't exactly clear) was horrific.

And I got the distinct impression that it was, at least in part, because the men resented having a woman in such a powerful position.

Like... okay, fine. History is full of powerful figures intriguing against each other. Murder, etc. But the cruelty in the death of Fatima, and her mysterious death itself, made it seem like there was a degree of hatred above and beyond the quest for power. Like her son (and it was her son who was behind Fatima's death) really had such a fragile ego that he had to make sure Fatima suffered horribly when she died, as well as purging all of his mother's supporters from his household and perhaps being involved in her death too.

There lies the fate of a woman who scares the men around her.

At least, back then. Things do seem to be better today, but there's a weight that comes from knowing how bad the backlash can be when people are scared.

I thought something similar when I learned that, apparently, sales of violets took a nose dive after a play in the 20's.

That's also related to why cultural norms changed, and casual contact (especially between men and other men) became less common. 

Seriously. There are pictures taken where men are comfortably close to each other, that now look weird or strange and immediately make people think they're gay. Even though they weren't, and it was pretty normal behavior at that time.

You can even see modern reactions like in that picture of George Bush holding hands with the Saudi King. Perfectly normal behavior for Saudi men, but to Americans it was not.

Like damn... that backlash is kind of crazy when you think about it. People just completely stopped doing things out of fear that - what? Someone might think they're gay?

Why is that so terrifying? Why would you completely stop hugging or holding hands or showing affection because of it?

And given we all know people get touch-starved - why would you create a society where far too many people are lonely, touch starved, and suffering...

Just because someone might, might, mistakenly think you're attracted to someone of the same sex?

I just don't understand it.

Tbh, I don't really care to either. I just want to understand it enough to know when to expect a backlash.

And maybe figure out some way of getting people to get over their fears.