Women of the world, take over

[sunny]

Some interesting facts it would behoove some people to know:

Of the estimated 1.3 billion people living in poverty around the world, 70 percent are women and girls.

Women comprise more than 50 percent of the world's population, but they own only one percent of the world's wealth, United Nation statistics say.

http://www.un.org/Conferences/habitat/u ... /women.htm

# Nationwide, working families lose $200 billion in income annually due to the wage gap between men and women.

# If married women were paid the same as men in comparable jobs, their family incomes would rise by nearly 6 percent, and their families' poverty rates would fall from 2.1 percent to 0.8 percent.

# If single working mothers earned as much as men in comparable jobs, their family incomes would increase by nearly 17 percent and their poverty rates would be cut in half, from 25.3 percent to 12.6 percent.

# If single women earned as much as men in comparable jobs, their incomes would rise by 13.4 percent and their poverty rates would be reduced from 6.3 percent to 1 percent.

# Half of all women with income from a pension in 2002 received less than $5,600 per year, compared with $10,340 per year for men


# In the global economy, women account for 60 percent of the world’s 550 million working poor—even though they make up 40 percent of the world’s workforce.

http://tinyurl.com/2rhrpf

too many of the world's women are ending up in low-paid, insecure jobs that don't keep them or their families from poverty.

http://www.globalpolicy.org/socecon/ine ... 05lucy.htm

Forced labour, slavery and criminal trafficking in human beings - especially women and children - are on the rise worldwide

http://www.ilo.org/public/english/burea ... /human.htm

Murder: The Leading Cause of Death for Pregnant Women

Nationally, homicide is a leading killer of young women—pregnant or not. In 1999, homicide was the second-leading cause of death among women ages 20 to 24. It was fifth among women ages 25-34.

http://www.now.org/issues/violence/043003pregnant.html

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=3316485&page=1

Domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to women.

http://www.aidv-usa.com/Statistics.htm


If we ever had the key's to the "Devil's Door" men must have beaten the shit out of us and took it. We would have bought some make-up to make us feel better, but we were too busy scrounging to put food on our children.

("we" in the universal sisterhood sense.)

[FourthBase]

I did pull back from this thread on first reading, uncomfortably close to the assertions that bad guys are the way they are because of Mom etc I thought.

That's not quite what I said, btw.

[populistindependent]

Many intelligent observations and criticisms....

Your thoughtful and insightful comments are very much appreciated.

Several of the things I described are uniquely American, or apply to America more so than other places, as you pointed out.

[John E. Nemo]

I'm a woman, but there are few things that piss me off more than the assertion that women taking over would make the world kinder and gentler. Think Margaret Thatcher. Ann Coulter. The official fascist shrew of the Republicrat party, Hillary Clinton. I could go on.

Some of the most reactionary, militaristic people I've ever met are women, and I refuse to believe that *all* of them are brainwashed by the patriarchy.

I absolutely agree.
Yathrib and I both know a woman who used to "run" a crew of Nazi skinheads that beat people up and destroyed shows that we went to.
This female barked out the orders and the males followed her and were rewarded with sex.

There's a huge elephant in the room that no one wants to address, but I will and will suffer the deluge of insults that is sure to follow.

In the western world, talk of oppressed women is laughable.

Every American male I know between the ages of 18-34, were forcibly removed from their homes when they turned 18 and forced to fend for themselves.
Every American female I know of the same age group was given a free ride through college, with both tuition and rent paid by their parents.

Most, if not all, females were bought automobiles by the same parents, who also paid for their insurance and gave them credit cards for gasoline.
The males I know were given none of this.

American males are being treated as second-class citizens by a society that feels that, in the words of one parent I know "My son can sleep in his car, but not my daughter."

There are many women who are nurturing, life-giving and such.
Unfortunately, they seem to have some serious blindsopts.

Why are there over-populated nations with people starving to death?
Obviously poor people don't have access to birth control, but when you boil it all down it's because men can't control their need to get laid and woman can't control their urges to have babies.

Why are there sweatshops and Walmarts?
So women can buy cheap things for their families. Ask yourself whose idea it was to get married and have babies in the first place? It's rarely the man's idea, in my experience.

Why is there so much suburban sprawl?
Women want to raise their families in nice, quiet, crime-free areas.If that means ravaging the countryside and increasing pollution, then so be it.

Why are there SUVS?
So soccer moms can achieve status amongst their peers by driving their broodlings in the most expensive gas-wasting thing that Detroit marketed specifically to them.

Personally I have worked for several female bosses who openly declared that they would only hire other women, a practice that a man would be fired for doing.
I have seen these aforementioned bosses throw temper tantrums that would have resulted in the immediate dismissal of a male, but was essentially ignored because it was a female who became unhinged.

But by all mean, please hand the reigns of power over to one gender in the vain hope that things will change.
When it doesn't happen, perhaps we can do away with such foolish sexist pablum and try to make real change.

[FourthBase]

When it doesn't happen, perhaps we can do away with such foolish sexist pablum and try to make real change.

Perhaps you can start your own thread to post such manure.

[marmot]

[see above]

Dag Nemo! You're gonna get kicked in the balls for that post!

[FourthBase]

Here's the PM:

From: FourthBase
To: Jeff
Posted: 20 Oct 2007 22:33
Subject: Every thread turns into an argument
And I'm not just talking about the ones I lose my temper in, lol, I'm talking about every thread. Now I know argument and debate and "agon" is healthy and productive. But so is the occasional discussion among like-minded people, which is IMPOSSIBLE on this site. Discussions amongst friends in a living room over a bong and a bottle of wine...think of how many great conversations people have in that kind of environment. There's some debate, sure -- but so much of the talk is people who fundamentally agree on premises helping each other figure shit out, not constantly correcting and bickering and drowning out each other. Have you thought anymore about subforums where you'd schedule restricted access for an invited group of posters depending on the subject? Nothing hidden or out of sight, for everyone to see, but only a select few to contribute to. Fuck the charges of elitism that would be sure to follow, the proof will be in the pudding, i.e., great threads, lively threads, threads that last for a long time but amazingly don't wind up in a pissing match between two loudmouths. You feeling me Jeff? Is that setup possible?

Working in an office or sitting in a quad or sitting around a dinner table, it's possible for a group of people to talk with each other about something they generally agree about. If somebody walks by and butts in and says "I completely disagree" and goes on to argue that the premise of the conversation is bullshit...then the group of people have the freedom to walk away and resume the conversation elsewhere or another time, or worst case scenario say "Get lost asshole, we're having a conversation" and shoo the arguer away. That's not possible here (or on any internet forum I guess). What I'm proposing is a way to make it possible, to allow for a conversation other than a balls-out argument over everything including the basics of a subject. Maybe it's a radical idea, I don't know. I think not, though, since it's basically just the forum version of a roundtable discussion that we see "distinguished" people get to participate in all the time. This thread was the last fucking straw for me. Instead of being able to talk about this subject with the several people here who I'm sure agree with me more or less, and have an evolving conversation that would probably include the same exceptions and points of argument but without the total disavowal of the validity of the entire fucking subject...I'm trapped by the trappings of a "public forum" and forced to respond to people I have no interest in discussing this with, which severely limits if not precludes the kind of discussion I wanted.

Jeff? Hello?

My meltdown here should have no bearing on the usefulness of this idea. Alice, blanc, Hugh, sunny, others with the same basic mindset about this issue, and even a calmer me should be able to discuss women/feminism without the junk interference from the likes of Morgan and Nemo.

[AlicetheKurious]

Oh, Sunny, don't you get it?

Women are evil. Why? Well, just because (so sayeth he of the right brain).

Women are the "ultimate tool of THE CONSPIRACY". (Whathisname didn't specify which one, but he must be right, being male and so very logical).

If it weren't for she-devils, manly men would get to play with their "big guns" all by themselves...











Or with like-minded chicks.








And then the world would be even more fun than it already is:



Women: the doorway to the devil. African women, for example:

Basic Facts:

In sub-Saharan Africa, women food farmers:

produce 80 percent of Africa's food
do 90 percent of the work to process Africa's food
do 80 percent of the work to transport and store Africa's food
do 60 percent of the work to market Africa's food
provide 90 percent of the water, wood and fuel

Women meet the basic survival needs of the continent despite the fact that they:
own less than 1 percent of the land
receive only 7 percent of farm extension services
receive less than 10 percent of the credit given to small-scale farmers
are undernourished, illiterate, and lack voice in the decisions affecting their lives

http://www.thp.org/reports/family/1999/jul/index.html




But Sunny, Sunny, Sunny, never forget who the TRUE victims are: men.

(I like the part about "working-class": it adds a thrilling progressive edge to the caveman's self-pitying wail).

Boo hoo hoo.

[AlicetheKurious]

To John E. Nemo: Boo hoo hoo.

[AlicetheKurious]

Allow me to present: The Asses Who Rule the World!

[sunny]

Every American male I know between the ages of 18-34, were forcibly removed from their homes when they turned 18 and forced to fend for themselves.
Every American female I know of the same age group was given a free ride through college, with both tuition and rent paid by their parents.

Most, if not all, females were bought automobiles by the same parents, who also paid for their insurance and gave them credit cards for gasoline.
The males I know were given none of this.

American males are being treated as second-class citizens by a society that feels that, in the words of one parent I know "My son can sleep in his car, but not my daughter."

You must not live in the suburbs. As the mother of a son and a daughter, you are nuts, little blue fish.

Why are there over-populated nations with people starving to death?
Obviously poor people don't have access to birth control, but when you boil it all down it's because men can't control their need to get laid and woman can't control their urges to have babies.

See Alice's post above about the women of Africa.

Why is there so much suburban sprawl?
Women want to raise their families in nice, quiet, crime-free areas.If that means ravaging the countryside and increasing pollution, then so be it.

Yeah, most Real Estate developers are women, sure.

Why are there SUVS?
So soccer moms can achieve status amongst their peers by driving their broodlings in the most expensive gas-wasting thing that Detroit marketed specifically to them.

Us girls sure do love our phallic symbols.

Why are there sweatshops and Walmarts?
So women can buy cheap things for their families. Ask yourself whose idea it was to get married and have babies in the first place? It's rarely the man's idea, in my experience.

Meahwhile, most of the workers in sweatshops are women. And of course, men have NO biological urge to reproduce. Wanting and needing to get laid has nothing to do with that, right?

But Sunny, Sunny, Sunny, never forget who the TRUE victims are:
men.

Ah yes, the poor little dears. Because of their uncontrollable biological need to fuck us, we must be sensitive to their egos and never remind them that the responsibility for this fine mess we find ourselves in rests almost entirely with them. That might lead to ED.

[brekin]

I had an interesting experience working for a large non-profit that was 99.9% female. The YWCA (Young Womens Christian Association). I and one other male (the tech guy) were the only males in our branch, and throughout the overall organization for the city.
I have to say the daily power struggles and turf wars that I witnessed were equivalent, if not at times more so, then what I've encountered in other more male dominated jobs (construction project management.) Really the difference that stands out for me probably was the difference in jokes.
A few co-workers in fact I thought represented the victim-perpertrator cycle very well. Having a huge reservoir of unresolved rage did not make them the most empathetic of people to be around.
I remember one co-worker coming in to read to everyone through giggles the remarks of an unrepentant women on the witness stand who killed her husband.

[marmot]

She, the novel's title is short for "She Who Must Be Obeyed," a translation of the Arabic honorific--Ayesha--given to the White Queen, a beautiful, powerful sorceress who became immortal by bathing in a pillar of fire.

Haggard, the novelist, had a nursemaid growing up who used to menace him with an ugly doll which went by the name "she who must be obeyed."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/She_(novel)



The (1886-87) novel has been adapted into film at least nine times.

Below is pasted a youtube clip of Ursula Andress as SHE (1965).

Years ago I used an audio segment from this scene in a sound project.

Ayesha: I am she who must be obeyed. There is only one penalty for those who do not choose to obey---a lesson in obedience.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFFPYjsbt9A

note: i don't know why my url links aren't showing up!

[populistindependent]

Populistindependent, your post is a masterpiece ....

Thanks for the repsonse.

If I am following you, you are saying that violence is the root cause of all ills, and that men are the root cause of all violence. Given that view of what we are discussing, it could seem to you that I am obfuscating in my post, I suppose.

Yes, I intentionally did not say that violence is the root cause of our evils and that men are responsible for that. If that were the topic - I hadn't seen your thesis mentioned yet - then I certainly did derail the discussion.

Would you make a moral distinction between violence employed in self defense and that which is not?

Is violence only in the material world, or would something like a violently hostile post be considerd violence as well? Is there a coinnection between hostility and violence do you think?

Is it only those actually engaged in combat in war time who are responsible for violence, or do those behind the lines encouraging it, supporting it and often demanding it also bear some responsibility?

Certainly Maggie Thatcher is not the only example of a female war leader.

Catherine the Great, Isabella I of Castile, Elizabeth I of England, Mbande Nzinga of Angola, Nigerian Queen Amina, Queen Victoria of England, Sammuramat, Joan of Arc, Golda Meir, and Cleopatra, immediately come to mind.

[marmot]

I had an interesting experience working for a large non-profit that was 99.9% female. The YWCA (Young Womens Christian Association). I and one other male (the tech guy) were the only males in our branch, and throughout the overall organization for the city.
I have to say the daily power struggles and turf wars that I witnessed were equivalent, if not at times more so, then what I've encountered in other more male dominated jobs (construction project management.) Really the difference that stands out for me probably was the difference in jokes.
A few co-workers in fact I thought represented the victim-perpertrator cycle very well. Having a huge reservoir of unresolved rage did not make them the most empathetic of people to be around.
I remember one co-worker coming in to read to everyone through giggles the remarks of an unrepentant women on the witness stand who killed her husband.

brekin, welcome to the jungle!

You know, two of my best friends are women, and they both hate to work with other women because of the power games, the alpha female/beta female struggles in the workplace. They say women can be absolutely and violently ruthless to eachother. They say that they'd rather work for men bosses over women bosses any day.