The Myth of Women as ‘Victims’
P.G. Wodehouse may have been the funniest English language writer in the 20th century. He was certainly the most elegant and light-hearted one — a kind of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart of comedy. His most famous comedy pair of Bertie Wooster and Jeeves, Bertie’s personal gentleman, is constantly faced with one looming threat to the good life in Edwardian London: Bertie’s aunts.
These are formidable women. Yes, Bertie draws a sharp line between good aunts and bad aunts. Aunt Agatha is the human terror who is rumored to eat broken glass, wear barbed wire next to her skin, and offer human sacrifices at the time of the full moon. When Aunt Agatha comes hopping after Bertie with her hatchet, he flees across the ocean to New York City to wait out the storm with the faithful Jeeves. And no matter what Bertie does, Aunt Agatha disapproves, considering him to be a flighty flibberty-gibbet and a bohunkus. Which he is, of course.
But Aunt Dahlia, Bertie’s good and deserving aunt, manages to get him into even more trouble. Aunt Dahlia still harks back to her youthful days in the fox-hunting fields. On a good day her forceful voice can be heard across two copses and a spinney, a habit learned in the hot pursuit of the English fox. Dahlia constantly persuades Bertie to steal antique silver cow-creamers or modern eyesore paintings — always for a perfectly good reason, of course. When she runs out of reasons, she’s always ready for a spot of good old blackmail.
The biggest trouble is that Bertie is also surrounded by young and beautiful aunts-to-be. He constantly falls in love with willful young things, only to find out that they want to mold his soul like a piece of clay, or stop him from drinking cocktails, or make him read Spinoza instead of penny murder mysteries. Jeeves must rescue him from these deadly entanglements.
At other times, Bertie becomes the plaything of a younger Aunt Dahlia, a beautiful young woman with an imperious temperament and a wonderful sense of humor. She blackmails him into shinnying up a ladder in the dark of night at an English country house to puncture the hot water bottle of Sir Roderick Glossop, the famous brain specialist, who, upon waking up in a wet and steaming bed, promptly decides that Bertie is ready for the looney bin.
It’s the women in Bertie’s life who are the real terrors, old and young, lovable or intimidating. Most of Bertie’s male friends are feathery lightweights by comparison to the females of the species, content “just to exist beautifully from day to day,” as Bertie likes to say it.
I have never believed the feminist myth of the weak pushover woman. I don’t think such women exist; if they do, I haven’t met them. Feminists like Germaine Greer or Betty Friedan are much more like Aunt Agatha. Or maybe they take after Lady Macbeth or the Roman Empress Livia, the dragon lady who poisoned most of her younger relatives to clear the path for her chosen heir to Caesar Augustus. In every dynastic kingdom there are said to be such women.
There certainly are women who adopt the “beach bunny” disguise when it suits them, just as there are men who pretend to be helpless young children. Until they decide to grow up. Even infants aren’t goo-goo cute all the time. Ever heard of the terrible twos? Newborn babies can be as imperious as any tyrant.
So the whole “woman as victim” basis of feminist myth has always seemed hard to believe. Not that there aren’t plenty of female victims, just as there are male victims. Life can be very painful — emotionally, physically, and socially. Malicious and abusive people really do exist. After all, political correctness is itself a form of bullying. PC is our version of medieval witch-hunting, as the recent headlines make very clear.
In a culture that celebrates victims, those who lust most strongly after power and privilege will pose most aggressively as victims.
For decades modern socialists have contorted themselves to discover any new “oppressed” group, all of whom will implicitly need a savior to restore justice. Now, whom do you think wants that job of savior?
umm, it’s finally only in France that women are balanced
feminism never had such a success, like in anglo-saxon countries. May-be cuz the men take more attention on them.
The purpose of feminism originally was not to paint women as “victims,” but rather to ensure their equality in patriarchal societies that limited their involvement in public and community life. For example, the writings of John Stuart Mill and Mary Wollstonecraft speak to the desire of women to receive the same education as men (in those days, only men could attend university). Florence Nightengale’s writings testify to the importance of more training for women in healthcare settings. Feminism enabled women to get an education, to vote, to own property, to pursue employment and other opportunities, and to take care of themselves financially (thus securing their futures against poverty). Yes, there have always been strong, admirable women, but the movement known as “feminism” allowed womens’ equality to become institutionalized. For that, I am grateful.
Unfortunately, feminism was hijacked in the 1960s by leftist intellectuals who used it primarily for the purpose of justifying sexual liberation, abortion, etc. (Just like the White House has been hijacked today by an intellectual/academic who has never had to operate in the “real world.”). I wonder what “feminism” would look like today if things had progressed differently.
Despite considering myself to be a feminist, I tend to think that there is no more need for the movement outside of limited academic settings in which people like to discuss ideologies for the sake of historical and sociological study. Yes, there is need for the movement in places like Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan, but not in modern America. Women already have equality. More women attend college than men these days. A huge number of small business owners and entrepreneurs are women. My female students are succeeding at a much higher rate than my male students.
I love the way this article frames its argument in the works of P.G. Wodehouse. I know the works well and remember each of the incident to which the author refers.
By the way, my feminist heroine is Sarah Palin.
Women have it tough in today’s society. Stay-at-home moms are vilified by both women and men. Working moms are seen as taking away jobs from men and as heartless by other women. Teen girls are sent mixed messages from the media (and men) from puberty on. Are they supposed to be sexy or chaste, bookish or girlie, Paris Hilton or Michelle Malkin? As we’ve seen recently with Sarah Palin, the MSM and the Left will not stand for a woman to be both. The women’s movement did serve to elevate the role of women in society as a whole but the ability to have a choice and be honored for that choice, whatever it is, remains elusive.
1. joeblough: . . . In a culture that celebrates victims, those who lust most strongly after power and privilege will pose most aggressively as victims.
Guess you have to cancel that July 4th Tea Party.
AThinkingPerson,
Do you think men are honored for the choices they make? Or are other men (and society in general) just as critical of men’s choices? Are boys sent mixed messages too?
Perhaps it is the nature of our competitive, consumer-driven culture to be critical of ourselves and others, regardless of gender. If so, perhaps 60s feminism has achieved its goal–women are now firmly entrenched in a dog-eat-dog culture.
But you are right . . . women are horrible to each other. I’d rather have guy friends.
A “myth”, you say?
Take a look at statistics of rape and sexual assault of women in our armed services. It’s not pretty. Also read up on how women contractors working overseas have been continually raped and assaulted by their American male colleagues. Read about Jamie Leigh Jones, a KBR contractor working in Iraq in 2005 who was drugged by her male colleagues and brutally raped by them. When she dragged her beaten body to report the rape the next day, her superiors locked her in a cargo container without food and water and was held there by armed guards. Only when a sympathetic guard allowed her to borrow his cell phone did she finally get through to her dad, who then called his congressional representative to intercede and have her brought home.
To this day, none of the men who raped and beat her have been charged with any crime.
Additionally, this is far from an isolated incident. There are many cases just like this, in which women working overseas for American companies as part of the war effort have been raped and beaten by colleagues, and then intimidated by their supervisors into keeping their mouths shut by threats of losing their job and being blacklisted from the contracting industry.
I know it’s very easy and preferable for some cowards, like the author, to plead ignorance on these issues; to pretend that these inequalities and horrors like the brutal treatment of women just don’t exist or are grossly over exaggerated because the consequence of admitting the existence of these tregedies would compel any human being with a soul and a conscience to take action against the individuals and institutions that perpetrate sadistic violence against women.
A day after a South Carolina conservative Republican has to resign his post for racist e-mails depicting watermelon on the White House lawn, another conservative Republican writes a treatise exhorting women to just shut up, stop being babies about it and take what’s coming to them because “life is tough for everybody, so get used to it.”
Every day the right wing gets that much closer to becoming the American wing of Taliban.
Re #8:”Every day the right wing gets that much closer to becoming the American wing of Taliban.”
Yet more hate speech from the left. Surely the race-baiting and sexism cannot be far behind.
Congratulations! This is EXACTLY the kind of post conservatives need to regain the respect and support of women. Might I offer a suggestion for your next post . . . .”Sambo – It’s just a charming children’s story”
Teen girls are sent mixed messages from the media (and men) from puberty on.
~~~~
that starts from toddlerhood, and their mother’s who dress them that way are a big part of the problem – after all, THEY are the ones BUYING the clothes. take a four year old girl clothes shopping, and see what’s available in any discount chain. The clothes look like something only a super-tart would wear. itty bitty bikini’s and feather boa’s. This is the “pre-schooler” girls dept. remember.
It was hard enough when my adult daughters were younger to find modest clothing – and we skipped from little girls to women’s – now it’s worse.
Now, I am glad my pre-schooler is a boy, as the girl’s clothing selections are predominantly trashy.
i sympathize with the author but i think mariecurie above also makes an important point.
basically, wolstoncraft’s feminism is a simple plea for equal opportunity, a request inspired by the bourgeoisie’s liberation during the revolutionary period of the late 18th century. if the criterion is, in a state of civic freedom, sufficient intellect, then why should women – whose virtues the author illustrates – not be allowed to vote, to work, to own property? this evolution is simply the result of the original (classical) liberal insight. as with the labor movement, feminism originally addressed genuine stupidities of socio-political life.
but then came leninism, the co-option of such movements by the comintern, the organization of international media campaigns which directed the sympathies of non-co-opted parties into public alliance commensurate with the crisis generated by the leninists.
society did enact the laws which abolished the prior institutions. but he cause was sustained and new points of crisis developed in order to transform the movement into a perpetual weapon and trojan horse for leninist conspiracy. it as been such a successful strategy, masquerading as a form of justice to the one which previously had been the case, that to even propose this course of events is to be self-branded a lunatic.
and yet, that is the case. we now have politically and socially and economically free women who have been partialy enslaved and enfeebled – along with as many men – by the exact kind of subversion which the leninists intended. and even if we start this minute and raise each girl to recognize her freedom and yet also be unafraid to express her nature as she sees fit, it will still take at least a generation to undo the 20th century’s damage, and in fact might be a permanent feature which, like similar fissures created by the leninists, may be incurable.
#11, there are no difference in boys and girls clothes if you buy them sport outfits, jeans, tee-shirts, pull-overs are for both genders… plus they are more agreable to wear
I got a grand daughter, and my daughter in law has no intention to make her child look like a woman in reduction
One nitpick: Jane Austen was an 18th-century, not a Victorian, writer. She died 20 years before Victoria assumed the throne and 2 years before Victoria was even born. Perhaps you are thinking of George Eliot (who had to publish her works under a male pseudonym)?
Weakness and oppression are not synonymous. I suppose the author thinks racism is a myth as well.
When I was 21, I read Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex. It scared me to death….I thought that every man was out to victimize me. As I got older, I realized that if I am a victim it’s because I allow myself to be one.
Re #9 (My post) about race-baiting and sexism not being far behind…. all I can say is….read #10….is that great timing or what?
Liberals are SO predictable.
I would take the left and their victim-hood mentality a little more seriously if they actually were against the victimization and legalized murder of the smallest of human beings who have no voice with which to speak up on their own behalf.
Women can be just as cruel, perverse, murderous, evil and abusive as any man.
Instead of putting a ‘label’ on any group of people by their ethnicity, sexual orientation, sex, age or religion, maybe we should instead be vigilant about the fact that people of all the aforementioned can be both victims and victimizers.
I am really sick-n-tired of the Lefties painting perps as ‘victims’ when they commit crimes against other people. Why? -Because they had a hard childhood? I was abused and raped and I didn’t go on to repeat that supposed ‘cycle’ of abuse and I know far more victims of crimes who never repeated the abuses they suffered either.
Women at one time were definitely treated unfairly and so were minorities but there are no excuses in this day and age. It’s time to grow up and take responsibility for our own actions rather than playing the ‘victim’ role to the umpteenth degree.
The argument that women are equally cruel is totally false if criminal statistics are any indication. Men commit about 95% of the mayhem. Most murders committed by women are domestic and resulting from abuse. Most crimes committed by women are financial crimes.
As a scientist, this writer is ignoring the effects of testosterone on behavior. How many men kill their wives and children and then themselves, in contrast to women doing the same thing?
Dr.Bukk
You have stated some interesting facts in your post; however most thinking human beings understand that statics can be skewed. I like most people feel a sense of safety with a form of predictability. Leave the stats out of it, because the cold and hard reality to all that has been posted on this page poses truths and untruths. Men are prosecuted twice that of women for reasons of than the nature of the crimes. Most often, men are prosecuted because of fear, women are naturally not feared in the same manner. If a woman kills twenty people society does not fear them as much as men. SELAH! We are all human beings and are subject to think anyone way because of our environmental background, social-economic status, race, gender, and age. Women have unique qualities and characteristics that are needed to balance society, but I would have to agree with several other writers. What started out as a much needed equalization of human rights has ended in a tangled web of confusion.
19. Dr. Bukk,
Are you therefore saying men are ‘victims’ of testosterone?
http://www.keltawebconcepts.com.au/ecrgend1.htm
Women abuse and kill their children and my own mother was not only physically and mentally abusive to my siblings and I but also to her husbands and boyfriends. Oh…and she was a liberal man-hater.
“Lesbian couples sometimes have a history of severe abuse. Which gender abuses more often, or with more traumatic effect? I don’t know. But I don’t think human biology has turned any of us into tender saplings that bend or break at the merest breath of a spring breeze.”
The lesbians I know had all a happy family background.
some animal happen to be gay or lesbian too, umm, I would say it’s rather a lottery !
“The lesbians I know had all a happy family background.”
Yes, and? I don’t think anyone was arguing that lesbians are all abusive, just that it happens.
“Yes, and? I don’t think anyone was arguing that lesbians are all abusive, just that it happens.”
No, but someone was trying to argue that an abusive family background leads to homosexuality.
“The politically powerful women of Rome were often monsters of sexual exploitation and public sadism.” True. As a history buff, I can’t believe people can be so patronizing.
There are male and female victims and persecutors across all countries, and roles can change too. In the West, a female doctor can abort a teenager’s baby girl, even break her neck and still play the victim. In some parts of the Middle East, abused women fear driving for fear of persecution.
“but someone” is the author of the article
that 38952R didn’t read !
My Mom raised us while Dad worked during the day; she played no favorites, although my older sister might say otherwise. Anyway, she treated us the same, yet tempered it & allowed us to make mistakes. She allowed us to engage in our hobbies & allowed us to be ourselves. She also fought when we could not (such as a teacher, administrator, or principle at school for one reason or another). She remains a very strong woman today, yet her knees are not in the best shape. Her spirit is fierce & no one would dare to cross my mother. Therefore, I already know of a strong female without a prefabricated so-called “feminist” exhorts her fembot programming.
My mother has no college education, but she has far greater wisdom than these same feminist fembots. She can sometimes not articulate her words so well, but then I can do that task quite well myself.
When looking for the next victim group, all one has to ask is which liberal wrote this essay & why? Liberal always needs victims or they are out of a job.
Bravo, mariecurie! You’ve summed up my views as well. I know too many white, privileged, liberal Baby Boomer women who live in nice homes in nice neighborhoods who still incessantly whine about how rough they have it because they’re woman. Usually their husbands are the most wussiest liberal males in the world and these are the men who are supposedly “oppressing” them. It is a laugh to see such couples together. She whines and crabs – in between berating and ordering her completely whipped “significant other” around.
I suspect that some of those er, men, then go home and work out their frustrations by trolling sites like PJM.;-)
The politically powerful women of Rome were often monsters of sexual exploitation and public sadism.” True.
Yes, true. There’s an obvious reason why women without political power do not commit brutal physical crimes as often as men. They don’t have the physicial strength or the testesterone. But the possession of ovaries does not make you morally superior. I knew a girl in grade school with a brutally cruel, sadistic mother. It was purely psychological, not physical torment – just constant belittling and mocking, nothing the mother could be jailed for, but evident to everyone who spent any time around that family. They moved away when I was in 7th grade. I later heard the girl killed herself when she was 19.
Marie Claire: the author of the article wrote:
Lesbian couples sometimes have a history of severe abuse.
Do you understand the meaning of the word “sometimes?” Or perhaps you didn’t read the article either.
14. Amy:
One nitpick: Jane Austen was an 18th-century
~~~~
If you want to be nitpicky – Jane Austen’s first book, Mansfield Park, was published in 1811 – the 19th Century. That makes her a Regency (technically 1811 – 1820 when George IV ruled in his father’s place) Author.
28. Donna V.
“I knew a girl in grade school with a brutally cruel, sadistic mother. It was purely psychological, not physical torment – just constant belittling and mocking, nothing the mother could be jailed for, but evident to everyone who spent any time around that family. They moved away when I was in 7th grade. I later heard the girl killed herself when she was 19.”
~
Ugh. That was absolutely heart-wrenching. I can relate in an unfortunate way. I was a suicidal teen and I was also a ‘cutter’ before the term was ever coined. My mother tried everything she could to break my spirit and torture my mind into believing I was the evil spawn of my non-existent father she left before I was born and my friend’s mothers would only allow me to vist them and not the other way around because of how cruel my mother was to me in front of them. Luckily, my mother didn’t succeed in destroying my body or my soul because I had a couple of very precious teachers who cared about me. I only wish the girl you spoke of could have had somebody to help her to believe in herself.
28. Donna
But the possession of ovaries does not make you morally superior. I knew a girl in grade school with a brutally cruel, sadistic mother. It was purely psychological, not physical torment – just constant belittling and mocking, nothing the mother could be jailed for, but evident to everyone who spent any time around that family.
~~~~
Hear hear. You could be describing my maternal grandmother. My mother was totally whipped, and we where reared to think we had to do *whatever* this woman wanted.
I learned the nuances of evil watching these two women and their effect on their “loved ones”(I use that term loosely, they didn’t know what the word means. very sad) lives. Both confirmed democrats and support PC liberal dogma btw.
I find it very ignorant of the author to state that he has never met “weak push over women”. When you live a life of priviledge, you don’t get to meet alot of real people. Just phoney power hungry females. Ironically & disgustingly that would be what those military men called the women they rape. Ya, what pushovers, huh? To “let” themselves be victims of drugged rapes. Is that what you think?
Women were subject to job discrimination and sexual harassment…I know I lived through it. As a bra burning child of the 60′s, I worked, deftly feigned off improper sexual advanced and raised my daughter to be strong, independent and no one’s victim. She did and now she is a highly educated stay-at-home Mom doing a great job raising two bright active children. I was, in the beginning disappointed. When I questioned her decision, she reminded me of the times she arrived home, alone, afraid to open the front door and the lonely afternoons waiting for me to come home from my “important” career. Looking back I have regrets. There is great stress trying to “have it all.” Life is short. That damn career wasn’t worth a hill of beans and I never see any of those people who reminded me of how important I was. By the Grace of God, my husband put up with my extremes and feminist expressions independence. Looking back, it was all meaningless, absolutely meaningless. This debate should address whether a woman choose career over family. You can’t have it all. Just look at what has happened to our society since the 60s. At the time, feminist ideology justified my choice. I’m convinced it was wrong for me to try and have it all. I’m also convinced it was wrong for our society. Choose one, and never be anyone’s victim.
Dona V
Lesbian couples sometimes have a history of severe abuse. Which gender abuses more often, or with more traumatic effect? I don’t know. But I don’t think human biology has turned any of us into tender saplings that bend or break at the merest breath of a spring breeze.”
May-be you can develop your own text explanation, I am curious
#5
yeah women have it so tough. men die earlier, commit suicide more often, do almost all the ultra hazardous jobs, pay more alimony and child support, comprise 90 percent plus of war casulties and believe me, we know women have it tough as stay at home moms and making money in law and business. my sympathies.
Women have unequal power if anything in Western society. They have way too much legal power in the courtroom especially. Our education system for the last couple decades has been intentionally catered around the needs of female children and as a result 60%+ of college graduates are female now. And our society is becoming way too feminine. Even women are complaining that there’s no real men anymore and have turned to dating each other lately it seems. Homosexuality between females has soared in the West as has homosexuality between men. I can’t stand it. Male adults act like they’re 15 even when they’re 32. Women are sleeping around like crazy as evidenced by 50% of teenage girls having atleast 1 STD. And our press is asking our president what “enchants” him. Our culture is getting crapped on all over.
Marie Claire: What’s the “text explanation” supposed to be? “Sometimes” means “sometimes” – it doesn’t mean the author is saying every lesbian grew up being abused and abuses others.
I work in an urban hospital. Emergency staff – who see everything imaginable – tell me that from time to time, a battered woman turns up and it turns out she’s been battered by her female lover. It’s certainly not as common as women who are beaten by men, but it’s far from unheard of. So I see nothing wrong in the statement you take such exception to. Like I said earlier, having ovaries doesn’t automatically make us nobler, kinder beings.
Amy,
How is Jane Austen relevant to this discussion? I recall mentioning Mary Wollstonecraft in my posting, but not Jane Austen.
Confused . . .
Donna V
Yees, but abuses aren’t a reason why they became lesbians and also radical feminist, at least, that’s what I wanted to point on
I don’t know…look at how Sarah Palin was treated during this election. The sheer amount of hatred spewed at her was gender-specific and highly sexualized and I believe she was and continues to be a victim of sex discrimination. I agree that sentimentality and leftism of feminism is a problem, but women are treated like dogmeat all over the world, every single day. The Congo? Afghanistan? Darfur? Infanticide everywhere? Not to mention the largest known slave trade in history–the current sex slave trade? Slavery of women and girls is 4 to 5 times larger than the black slave trade was. To ignore this is all and claim these women and girls aren’t victims of vile crimes, just for being born female, is pretty ridiculous.
39. mariecurie:
How is Jane Austen relevant to this discussion? I recall mentioning Mary Wollstonecraft in my posting, but not Jane Austen.
~~~~~~~
James Lewis mentions her towards the end of the article as being a “19th Century Author”, something Amy seems to have taken exception too. Of course, the 19th Century started in 1801, Miss Austen started publishing in 1811, so I don’t understand her issue either.
Women get “brownie points” for being victims as long as they are left wing. No feminists complained that Sarah Palin was vilified, and the misogyny directed against Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was seen as legitimate.
41. NMSC & Mary Jackson,
Very good points! The typical double standard for how Palin was treated [dehumanized and degraded] was disgusting and typical Lefty tactics. If Palin had been a Democrat and treated like that by the Rebubs there would have been a HUGE outcry.
My [own] point was that women can be cruel and evil too and that America has come far…unfortunately, in Palin’s case not far enough. -But, yes, other places in the world (especially Islamic places) treat women like chattel. They probably treat dogs better! As Phyllis Chesler has posted before, Muslim women will be cruel to other Muslim women too.
-But, let us not forget that in the USA women do often get unfair treatment regarding how they are treated for their crimes. If a male teacher were to engage in sex with a student, the book would be thrown at him and yet we have:
http://crime.about.com/od/history/p/Letourneau.htm
http://www.kvoa.com/Global/story.asp?S=6368851&nav=HMO6HMaW
http://www.dcourier.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&subsectionID=1&articleID=65716
http://www.tabloidcolumn.com/debbie-lafave.html
As women, we also have to own up to the fact that our sex can be predators, sexual deviants and killers too.
8. Pastor of Muppets:
You had me until the last statement…You can’t say it’s right wing men or left wing men…In fact I’ve been put down more by liberal men than conservative but I refuse to be prejudice and lump them all together.
I live it so I know. It is still hard to be a woman in this country. I had a choice, be the cute sweet girl that did as her boss told her or let it be known from the get go that there are limits. I’m moving up the ladder with the limits, I had to earn the respect. The first time my boss asked me where his coffee was I told him it was in the pot.
Yes – women have exactly the same rights as men, and always have. That’s why they’ve always been able to vote. Also, that’s why they now earn equal pay for equal work.
Brilliant piece, by the way.
@Someone75
“Yes – women have exactly the same rights as men, and always have. That’s why they’ve always been able to vote. Also, that’s why they now earn equal pay for equal work.”
Yes, women and men do have exactly the same rights. Now whether those rights are respected equally is a different matter.
Also, I don’t think anyone here is arguing that things have always been the same, or defending the wrongs of the past, etc.
The article seems to be making the point that the modern incarnation of Feminism falsely presupposes female weakness.
In the U.S.:
– 1/5 women will be victims of violence against women.
-Women earn 0.78 on the dollar compared to men. Actually a new study coming out will show that it is less.
Women in Rome were property. So you extrapolate a couple of wives of emperors and generalize?
The U.S. is 71st among nations for women in national legislatures. Rwanda is ahead of us. Yes! Rwanda. The percentage is close to 50% in Scandinavia.
For a scientist, you show a remarkable lack of data and facts.
In fact, you show a lot of fear.
Did you have a bad time with your wife this week? Feeling insecure? Need to feel more macho?
@Nisse C,
You choose to focus on the challenges faced by women and nothing else. This is a standard tactic used by feminists and their male lapdogs to reinforce their flawed ideology.
Besides that, in Rome, most of the men were destined to some hard labor and were essentially a wage earning slave for their families. And i find your claim of Women being Property to be dubious. Women were never sold or brought in an open market. May be their marriage was out of their choice, but so was that for young men.
wlpeak:
I agree – that’s not what the article was arguing. My remarks were directed to many of the people who posted ignorant comments. There are plenty of areas where one could attack feminism, but I saw few of them here. I did, however, see many stupid reasons for attacking feminism.
“James Lewis” appears to be a pseudonym. Pajamas Media should not publish authors who do not have the courage and integrity to present their true identity and credentials.
Cynthia
I really like Pajamas Media-but this is well below standard-there are some points that could be argued here but generally the writer just comes over as rather silly. I Suggest that ‘James Lewis’ reads some of Phyllis Chesler’s excellent articles and gets out a bit more.
Alexa
(4) Mariecurie:
“John Stuart Mill and Mary Wollstonecraft speak to the desire of women to receive the same education as men (in those days, only men could attend university).”
John Stuart Mill was speaking of the situation in Great Britain, not the United States. The first coed college in the U.S. was, I believe, Oberlin, founded as such in 1832. Swarthmore was founded as coed in 1865. Some women’s colleges, like Mt. Holyoke, were founded in the 1830s, I believe.
Mary Wollstencroft was writing in the late 18th century, I believe, and there was no issue about higher education then.
The fact is that most of the victims in civilization – any civilization- have predominantly been Men. The perpetrators have also predominantly been Men.
Men are enriched at the poles of every spectrum- intelligence/stupidity,crime/altruism,accomplishment/failure,strength/weakness, humor/humorlessness etc etc.Except,perhaps,mortality.
No matter how many Feminists and Leftist distort this obvious fact,it will always remain obvious and a fact.
It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World.
I find it interesting that statistics get quoted promiscuosly with out any reference to their source. Unverified stats are nothing more than an opinion.