RIP Anthony Bourdain

That's because there is a societal attempt, and even some success, at equality. But it still has not really changed, in people's heads, or whatever. Women still are not equal to men.

The ways in which that is true are subtle, and not even necessarily intentional, or even purposely wrong-headed. People need to have definitions, expectations, boundaries, limits, comparisons, etc. It's what informs thinking, understanding, analysis, and, by extension, surviving, living/operating, and almost can't be helped.

Not to have them, or to change/eliminate them, even if such changes are legally in place, takes (a lot of) time. It involves, well, evolution, actually, and that makes truly changing such things difficult.

It probably doesn't help that men and women ARE, in fact, actually different, making seeing, treating them as equal all the harder.

 

But I think you're confusing equal with same. Men and women are different but that doesn't mean that one is inherently better than the other.

 

Exactly, women and men can never be the same.
Equality does not translate into equal or same outcomes. That is not a practical reality.
Equality can only translate into equal access and opportunity. The outcomes will always vary.
Unfortunately, because outcomes will always vary, people continue to use that as cover for unfair practices regarding access and opportunity.

 

I didn’t say it was “bad.” I said it correlated to unhappiness. Maybe happiness is sexist.

 

Some interesting statistics here about suicide rates and attempted suicides among men and women.

Women attempt suicide more often. Men succeed at suicide more often.

Be interesting to know what brain chemistry has to do with the disparity in mental health issues between men and women, if anything. Maybe women are just more willing to acknowledge a problem.

Why are men more likely than women to take their own lives?

 

I'm not confusing it. Just suggesting it is hard to quantify when the things/people themselves are not the same.

And society, and reality, only cares about outcomes. When they inherently won't be the same, it is going to be difficult to give/get the same opportunities.

What needs to happen is that the same value needs to be recognized, acknowledged and assigned to the different strengths, abilities -- and outcomes. That seems unlikely to ever truly happen.

 

Women have always had to be all things to everyone:

I was sent from the Power
And I have come to those who think upon me.
And I was found among those who seek after me (13,2-5) .

Look at me, you who think upon me;
And you hearers, hear me!
You who are waiting for me, take me to yourselves.
And do not pursue me from your vision.
And do not make your sound hate me, nor your hearing.
Do not be ignorant of me at any place or any time.
Be on guard!
Do not be ignorant of me. (13,5-15).

For I am the first and the last.
I am the honored and the scorned,
I am the harlot and the holy one.
I am the wife and the virgin.
I am the m[oth]er and the daughter.
I am the members of my mother.

I am the barren one and the one with many children.
I am she whose marriage is multiple, and I have not taken a husband.
I am the midwife and she who does not give birth.
I am the comforting of my labor pains.

I am the bride and the bridegroom.
It is my husband who begot me.
I am the mother of my father and the sister of my husband.
And he is my offspring.
I am the servant of him who prepared me and I am the lord of my offspring.
But he is the one who be[got me] before time on a day of birth and he is my offspring in time, and my power is from him.
I am the staff of his power in his youth and he is the rod of my old age.
And whatever he wills happens to me.

I am the incomprehensible silence and the much-remembered thought.
I am the voice of many sounds and the utterance (logos) of many forms.
I am the utterance of my name (13,15-14,15).

Why, you who hate me, do you love me
And hate those who love me?
You who deny me, confess me,
And you who confess me, deny me.
You who speak the truth about me, tell lies about me,
And you who have told lies about me, speak the truth about me.
You who know me, become ignorant of me; and may those who have been ignorant of me come to know me (14,15-25).

For I am knowledge and ignorance.
I am shame and boldness.
I am unashamed, I am ashamed.
I am strength and I am fear.
I am war and peace (14,26-32).

Give heed to me (14,32-33)..

I am the disgraced and the exalted one (14,33-34)..

Give heed to my poverty and my wealth.
Do not be haughty to me when I am discarded upon the earth,

And you will find me among [those] that are to come.

And do not look upon me on the garbage-heap and go and leave me discarded.

And you will find me in the kingdoms.

And do not look upon me when I am discarded among those who are disgraced and in the least places,
And then laugh at me.
And do not cast me down among those who are slain in severity (14,34-15,14).

But as for me, I am merciful and I am cruel (15,15-16).

Be on guard!
Do not hate my obedience,
And do not love my self-control in my weakness.
Do not forsake me,
And do not be afraid of my power.

Why then do you despise my fear
And curse my pride? (15,16-24).

I am she who exists in all fears and boldness in trembling.
I am she who is weak, and I am well in pleasure of place.
I am foolish and I am wise (15,25-31).

Why have you hated me in your counsels?

(Is it) because I shall be silent among those who are silent,
And I shall appear and speak?

Why then have you hated me, you Greeks?
Because I am a non-Greek among non-Greeks? (15,31-16,3).

For I am the Wisdom of Greeks
And the Gnosis of non-Greeks.
I am judgment for Greeks and non-Greeks.
I am the one whose image is multiple in Egypt.
And the one who has no image among non-Greeks.

I am she who has been hated everywhere and who has been loved everywhere.

I am she who is called Life and you have called Death.
I am she who is called Law and you have called Lawlessness.

I am the one you have pursued, and I am the one you have restrained.
I am the one you have scattered and you have gathered me together.
Before me you have been ashamed and you have been unashamed with me.

I am she who observes no festival and I am she whose festivals are many.
I, I am godless and I am she whose God is multiple.

I am the one upon whom you have thought and whom you have scorned.
I am unlearned, and it is from me they learn.

I am she whom you have despised and upon whom you think.
I am the one from whom you have hidden and to whom you are manifest.
But whenever you hide yourselves, I myself will be manifest.
For whenever you are manifest, I myself [will hide f]rom you.

Those who have [... ]
[...]
[...] senselessly

Take me [...] [underst]anding out of pain,
and receive me to yourselves out of understanding [and] pain.
Receive me to yourselves out of disgraceful places and contrition.
And seize me from those which are good even though in disgrace.
Out of shame, receive me to yourselves in shamelessness.
And out of shamelessness and shame, blame my members among yourselves.
And come forward to me, you who know me and who know my members.
Establish the great ones among the small first creatures.

Come forward to childhood and do not despise it because it is little and small.
And do not bring back some greatnesses in parts from smallnesses,
for the smallnesses are known from the greatnesses.

Why do you curse me and honor me?
You have wounded and you have had mercy.

Do not separate me from the first ones whom you have k[nown.
And] do not cast anyone [out
and do not] bring anyone back [...]
...brought you back
and ... [kno]w him not (17,4-18,5).

[I...] what is mine
[...] I know the fi[rst ones] and those after them know me.
But I am the [perfect] mind and the repose of the [...]
I am the gnosis of my seeking, and the finding of those who seek after me.
And the command of those who ask of me.

And the power of the powers by my gnosis
of the angels who have been sent by my logos,
And the gods in their seasons by my command,
And it is with me that the spirits of all humans exist,
and it is within me that women exist.

I am she who is honored and praised and who is despised scornfully.
I am peace and because of me war has come to be.
And I am an alien and a citizen.
I am substance and she who has no substance.
Those who come into being from my synousia are ignorant of me,
And those who are in my substance know me.

Those who are close to me have been ignorant of me
And those who are far from me have known me. (18,6-35).

On the day when I am close to [you, you] are far away [from me
And] on the day when I [am far away] from you, [I am] [close] to you.
I [am] [....] within.
[I..] ..... of the natures.
I am [......] of the creation of spirits ....request of the souls. (18,35-19,8). [I am} restraint and unrestraint.
I am union and dissolution.
I am the abiding and I am the loosing.
I am descent and they come up to me.
I am the judgment and the acquittal.
I, I am sinless and the root of sin is from me.
I am desire in appearance and self-control of the heart exists within me.

I am the hearing which is attainable to everyone and the ungraspable utterance.
I am a non-speaking mute and great is my multitude of utterances (19,9-25).

Hear me in softness and learn from me in harshness. (19,25-27).

I am she who cries out,
And I am cast out upon the face of the earth.
I prepare the bread and my mind within.
I am the gnosis of my name.
I am she who cries out and I am the one who listens.

I appear an[d...] walk in [...]
seal of my [...]...[sign] of the
I am [...] the defense.
I am she who is cal[led] Truth. And violence [...] (19,28-20,8).

You honor me [...] and you whisper against [me].
You who are defeated,
judge them before they pass judgment against you.
For the judge and partiality exist within you.
If you are condemned by this, who will acquit you?
Or if you are acquitted by him, who will be able to restrain you?

For what is inside of you is what is outside of you.
And the one who molded you on the outside has made an impression of it inside of you.
And that which you see outside of you,
you see inside of you.
It is manifest and it is your garment.

Hear me, listeners, and be taught my utterances, you who know me! (20,9-28)

I am the hearing that is acceptable in every matter;
I am the utterance that cannot be restrained.
I am the name of the voice and the voice of the name.
I am the sign of writing and the manifestation of difference.

And I ...
[3 lines missing]
[...] light [...] and [...]
[...] listeners [...] you.

[...] the great power.
And [...] will not move the name.
[...] the one who created me.
But I shall speak his name (20,28-21,11).

Behold, then, his utterances and all the writings that have been completed.
Give heed, then, listeners, and you also, angels,
And those who have been sent,
And you spirits who have arisen from the dead, (21,12-18).

For I am the one who alone exists,
And I have no one who will judge me. (21,18-20).

For many are the sweet forms that exist in numerous sins
And unrestrained acts and disgraceful passions, and temporal pleasures,
Which are restrained until they become sober
And run up to their place of rest.
And they will find me there,
And they will live and they will not die again (21,20-32).

 

FYI
‘Thunder, Perfect Mind’
From the gnostic texts found at Nag Hammadi

 

Eh, I wouldn't put it that way. Again, suicide or parasuicidal behavior can be caused by a variety of factors, including people that "attempt" suicide but never mean to complete it (people who mean to self-injure but not kill themselves, which is sometimes classified as suicidal behavior when it hits dangerous points, or people who are using it as a means of manipulation, which can be a hallmark of borderline personality disorder).

Interestingly enough, when you look at physicians, women and men complete suicide at pretty much exactly the same rate. This has been attributed to the fact that physicians know exactly how to kill themselves if they really mean to. It's a big increase from women in the normal population (and a significant increase for the men as well), but the gender gap goes away in this situation. Obviously, education level, class and race discrepancies (East Asians and South Asians are way over represented, Caucasians basically in line with population numbers, everyone else underrepresented) as confounders here to try and walk it backwards to the general population

Mental health issues definitely do have gender tendencies. Depression is about twice as common in women as men, though this is easier to hide, and the gap may be smaller if it were more socially acceptable for men to admit symptoms consistent with depression. Schizophrenia is about twice as common in men as women; it is much harder to present "subclinically," but also has a much smaller overall incidence. But WRT suicide in particular, bigger components than underlying mental illness are those factors of substance use/abuse (alcohol in particular) and hopelessness.

 

Is it assumed by most people that suicide is always the result of mental illness?

 

It is believed and assumed, as if it must be. But I don't think someone who is at that level is necessarily always mentally ill. Their thinking may be wrong/extreme, their impulse to act inadvisable, but victims often are responding to something, and are not necessarily ill in the classic, "condition-al" sense.

Or, there might be other factors involved, chief among them drugs, both illicit and/or prescribed, which may exacerbate problems rather than help them.

In the same vane, depression, the oft-cited condition connected to suicide, is considered a mental illness but I don't think it always means that someone is really mentally ill. It can, in fact, be an indication of mental health, a sign that something is wrong and needs to be changed/dealt, just as with any pain. It is an attempt by the mind/body to signal the need to fight for health.

The failure to deal with things, to move through it, to grow and change as needed is what causes the interruption/stoppage of the fight, and brings on long-term, deep and real illness.

 

Too soon: