The 100th Monkey
By
Japanese monkeys on the island of Koshima were studied for thirty years. Scientists dropped sweet potatoes into their habitat for them to eat. The monkeys appeared to like the new food, but not the dirt embedded in the skin. One young monkey, Imo, had the bright idea of washing her potato in the stream. Her siblings and mother soon followed suit. As time went by, all the Koshima monkeys grasped the idea and washed their food. While the scientists found that change of behavior interesting, they were amazed at the sudden change in the behavior of all the monkeys on nearby islands. At some point a leap of monkey consciousness occurred. Without being taught the new behavior, all the monkeys began washing their potatoes. How many monkeys did it take to effect the change of consciousness? Just picking a round number, let's say it took 100 monkeys. From monkey 99 to monkey 100 a monumental mental leap took place. Do humans make those group conscious leaps and how many humans does it take?
As a 21st century American woman, I am one of the most privileged and powerful women in history. No, my name is not Oprah, but I have been fortunate to live in a time and place that has given me unprecedented independence. I can own property, have a checking account, and get an education. I can write books and have my own Internet radio show transmitting to fifty countries.
But with the privilege, what is the responsibility? As I look across the globe, I see a world filled with powerless women–women sold into sexual slavery, women without rights to property or even their own children. But, what can I do about such inequities? March in picket lines? Lobby for new laws?
New laws are only as effective as those determined to see them enforced. It isn't new laws we need–but new patterns of thinking, new standards of behavior embraced by whole population groups. But where to begin?
I have limited talents, but one of them is storytelling. What if I write stories that offer people a new way of thinking–a paradigm shift, one reader at a time?
My new release from Echelon Press is a short story entitled Kindred Spirits.
The thread of Kindred Spirits began several years ago when I read a story about a young woman in Bangladesh who had turned away the attentions of a young man. He retaliated by throwing acid on her face, leaving her disfigured and an outcast in her society. The woman's story filled me with impotent anger, but what could I do about it?
Last year I interviewed Cindi Broaddus, author of A Random Act. Cindi was driving down a rural highway in 2001 in Oklahoma on her way to the airport for the first vacation she'd had in years. An unknown assailant threw a gallon of acid on her windshield from an overpass. After fifteen surgeries, Cindi lives with the scars of acid violence. Her status as the sister-in-law of television personality, Dr. Phil McGraw, shone a spotlight on a largely ignored and heinous form of violence. Cindi has a kindred spirit with the thousands of victims of acid violence in Bangladesh, India, Cambodia and many other countries. She was invited to speak to the United Nations about this largely unpunished crime. I gave Cindi's story exposure on my radio show, but what more could I do?
When I was asked to write a story for Echelon Press featuring a reader, E. Star Conrad, as the heroine, I kicked around many ideas. In the flurry of potential themes, the mental leap of the Koshiman monkeys came to mind. The end to acid violence and other crimes against the weakest of society begins with a change of mass consciousness. Kindred Spirits is about one woman's life-changing trip to a foreign land. Besides finding romance and adventure, Star comes to understand the difference one person can make.
My hope is Kindred Spirits will bring us one degree closer to a leap of consciousness–setting new standards where violence against women is no longer acceptable and the powerless become empowered and respected. New thoughts embraced by many can effect global changes.
Will you be the 100th monkey?
Fiction by
Dana Taylor
