It's an Old Idea that Might Just Work!

When my husband served in Vietnam nearly 40 years ago, I was bitter. I was being left home with two small children while my soldier husband answered the call of duty to fight the Vietnamese in their homeland in defense of our country.

I never did think he was being sent "in defense of our country." No, he was a pawn on the huge chessboard of life, at that time the Communists vs. the Capitalists. The pawns were there to protect the king, the queen and the bishops, not their families, because, after all, they were just pawns, at the beck and call of the powerful.

At the same time, I also heard of an ancient play written by Greek playwright Aristophanes in 411 BC. It was Lysistrata, a comedy with a serious message about the power of women to stop war and to wage peace.

As a matter of fact, Peace is a character in the play. She is the naked handmaid of Lysistrata, whose husband is about to go mad because Lysistrata is refusing to have sex with him as long as he continues to fight a war against Sparta and Thebes.

The symbolism of the naked Peace is so evident. Men in Athens, all of whom are walking around the Akropolis with erections because of no sex for days, are particularly attracted to the naked Peace, and in the end are won over to her because they desire her so much.

Back in the early 1970's the organizer Lysistrata became my hero. I could do the same thing she did.....but I didn't. I was also in the midst of a society that glorified the soldier who was fighting for his country. How dare a lowly wife like me who was in the safety of the USA deny her brave and horny husband who returned from war for just a short R & R!

So I didn't. And the war continued for much too long. No woman in the 60's and 70's took on the role of the strong feminine hero for peace, Lysistrata. And in other countries for centuries up to the current day, no mass movement of women has developed to end war for good.

In Lysistrata women know their power and use it with determination because they rightfully insist that they have the most to lose from war. They have for much too long given up their fathers, husbands, brothers and sons so some powerful leader somewhere can win his game. Imagine if the king declared war, and NO ONE went to fight it. Could the king imprison half of the population? Could he continue a war if he killed all the men because they refused to fight? How far would Hitler have been able to go if none of the men in the country cooperated with his sick plan?

In the Second Millenium A.D., we women once again claim that we are determined to make a better world because, we are after all, women, the mothers and grandmothers of life. We birth and nurture. We carry on the story of life from generation to generation. Now is our time to help our menfolks.....even if that includes no sex until they stop cooperating in war.

I know some of us women are soldiers today. And some of us are cooperating with war efforts all around the world with our own bodies, carrying armaments, giving our sons and daughters as soldiers (pawns), and paying our taxes for the war efforts.

And even Lysistrata addresses the money part of war. Aristophanes features a chorus of old women who take over the treasury in Athens, so the old men can't access the funds to carry out the war. Consequently the men of war are up against more than the sex boycott of their wives; they're also cut off from getting more money to support the war.

We Citizens of the World have tried just about everything to bring ends to wars for centuries. We pride ourselves on how much we have learned during these centuries. We have people, including women, who devote their lives to diplomacy.

I suggest that we women once more.....in real life this time....take War by the Horns and demand that all of us, Men and Women, wage Peace instead of War. But this victory of Peace can only be won if all of us who are left behind by War unite to withhold sex in unison.

I know we all have sexual desires, but we also love our families and our countries. Laura, withhold sex from the Pres with us! Lynne Cheney, are you up to it? You whoever have a thing for Condoleezza, will you join us?

The message is simple. WAR=NO SEX! PEACE=LOTS OF LOVE!

The men in Lysistrata got the message quickly and painlessly (except for frustration from no sex). You defenders of our country, I salute your bravery in wanting to fight for your country. Are you now brave enough to love for your country and your spouse?

I say: Let's put Lysistrata into action in the home, as well as on stage!

Rachael Bliss, after working for 10 years in creative services and community affairs at a local broadcasting station, moved into the nonprofit world with her first job with the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, AL. From there she advocated for the hungry, children and the environment as an organizer and director. Articles by Rachael Bliss at MWC News http://mwcnews.net/RachaelBliss

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