Morning Car Thoughts

Most mornings, I'm in the car on my way to work a little before 7 a.m., which means that I have a good 15 minutes to let my mind wander or pray or contemplate the really deep issues of life...like why the symbols given to males and females are what they are. Yes, that was the topic at hand this morning. As we all know, males have the circle with the arrow pointing out to the northeast while females are designated a crude-looking stick figure with no legs.

Here's my interpretation: Males tend to have difficulty following through with tasks, becoming side-tracked with distractions. Hence, the circle (head) with an arrow pointing off in a non-descript direction. Females, on the other hand, are very anchored people. Their head is on their shoulders and it is clear that they are unmoving in the face of distraction or interruption.

Of course, interpretations often seem a bit like guesswork to me, so here's an alternative one: Men tend to have big heads, but are certainly not lacking in direction, and, women, while also have big heads, can tend to be so "unmoving" in nature that they can teeter on stubbornness.

And now, here's the truth about gender symbols (thank you, Wikipedia): The male symbol actually began as the female symbol turned on its side. However, the cross was later changed to be an arrow so that it looked like a spear and shield, thus preserving a sense of manhood everywhere. The female symbol is supposed to look like a hand mirror, symbolizing beauty.

John Eldrige would be proud that his "beauty to rescue" and "man-warrior/adventurer" had its roots in mythology long before he wrote any of his books.