Feminism and Femininity

Quicksearch

Blog Administration

RSS Readers

Thursday, November 12. 2009

While lesbian feminista Democrat Camille Paglia admires Pelosi's "grittiness" and "mettle" (but detests what Pelosi has produced. BTW, we like Paglia a lot. She is the kind of person it is pleasant and interesting to disagree with, and we appreciate grit in women), Dr. Laura has another view of the world at home: The Evolution of �Feminism' Saddens Me. One quote:

...it�s pretty easy to make men happy.

It is remarkable that each and every one of the women who has
called my show complaining about her husband, and who was then asked
the question, "Would you want to come home to you?" has said,
haltingly, no. There it is. When women disdain masculinity and their
own femininity, all is lost for the family.

These sorts of discussions, however interesting at times, are a bit off the point. Men need to be gentle sometimes, and women need to be tough sometimes. Both obviously have these capacities. However, I think that if a woman wants to have a happy marriage she would do well to at least give Dr. Laura a listen. She understands men pretty well, and likes them for what they are.

Posted by Dr. Joy Bliss in Our Essays, Psychology, and Dr. Bliss at 14:31 | Comments (10) | Trackbacks (0)

Trackbacks

Trackback specific URI for this entry

No Trackbacks

Comments

Display comments as (Linear | Threaded)

The women finds something is wrong. The man is sent on a quest to fix it. The woman shows him that she's satisfied with him, for his spirit if not his success.

That's what made every man in America fall in love with agent 99 in Get Smart in the 60s.

When the woman finds something is wrong and there's no particular man involved, but rather all men in general, you get received feminism. Something is wrong and men have to change to fix it. Since it is not possible to show satisfaction, there being no man to show it to, it remains stuck as bitchiness.

When a woman fails to show satisfaction to her particular man, you get nagging.

That showing of satisfaction is everything. Men live for it.

#1 rhhardin (Link) on 2009-11-12 16:38 (Reply)

rhhardin ... "That showing of satisfaction is everything. Men live for it." That is so-oo true. And such a graceful, kindly thing to do. We old women knew this before we were in our 'teens. Almost from the cradle we learned it. I remember my mother saying something to the effect that men have to do so much that is difficult in our world that they really need to be praised and thanked generously for what they do do. That their hearts are just as fragile and needy as our own. I never forgot that, and I've lived by it for more than 80 years now.

Marianne

#2 Marianne Matthews on 2009-11-12 16:57 (Reply)

I...think...I...want...to...vomit...

...or, my experience vastly differs from Dr. Laura's and that of the above posters.

Oh, well.

#3 jma on 2009-11-12 17:30 (Reply)

I think most guys like women who are feminine, soft, thoughtful, caring and appreciative, but who can also be tough and smart, and who can ply a shovel or shoot a gun like pioneer women. Or use a spread sheet.

#4 Bird Dog on 2009-11-12 17:57 (Reply)

I'll take a swing. I think most adults want a member of the opposite sex who mostly has the characteristics thereof -- men are looking for soft, pretty, sweet and women are looking for handsome, strong, determined. I think we also want a member of the opposite sex who can switch roles at need: the woman who will fight for children or man, the man who will walk the floor for an hour with the fussy child. Adults have to move among a lot of roles and we always have had to do that.
JMA: everybody has seen different experiences. Not knowing how things have happened in your life, I can hope they have happened well or, since it sounds like they didn't, that they will in the future.

#5 Geoff on 2009-11-12 18:53 (Reply)

I think that any man or woman who has to be 'trained' in the art of loving has a serious problem. These women writers have gotten rich telling women how to be 'good' women.

The smart people know this is not about gender but about human nature. I'll use an extreme example of how the continuum works between humans: The cruelest form of punishment is shunning. The cruelest form of child abuse is neglect.

What each of those shows is that the person is not even worthy as a human being. Pick your spot on the continuum. The choice is yours.
`

#6 Meta on 2009-11-12 19:36 (Reply)

Dr. Bliss, would you know if Meta has been banned?

She seems unable to comment. If so I'm beyond belief at the way she has been treated. Unfairly, unjustly and without benefit of being able to defend herself. Certainly would seem to go against everything in that banner up there.

#7 Luther on 2009-11-12 21:00 (Reply)

Thanks, Geoff. My life has gone quite well, but more along the lines that you describe where one appreciates all aspects of another's nature and can tolerate it when the strong man sobs or the soft, sweet lady stands firm.

Read Dr. Laura's quote again. "...each and every one of the women who..."? I highly doubt it. She's delusional.

My women do spreadsheets and my men walk babies.

#8 jma on 2009-11-12 22:40 (Reply)

jma ... I'm sure most of you are familiar with the famous quote from one of my most admired authors which has pretty much summed up for me what I should do with my life: " A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet ... fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects." Robert Heinlein had it right, bless him.

Marianne

#9 Marianne Matthews on 2009-11-13 11:28 (Reply)

Bird Dog - what you describe reminds me of many of Robert Heinlein's female characters. Dora, from Time Enough for Love, perfectly fits the sweet, affectionate, loving while also strong and competent.

Ms. Matthews, you're comments are one of the reasons that I read this blog. Your thoughts and your concise, yet warm, writing never fail to disappoint. I get a small dose of cheer every time I see your name signed to a comment.

#10 Nate on 2009-11-13 11:33 (Reply)

No one would have described me as "soft, pretty, or sweet" at any time in my life, I think. But I have, in advanced age, at least learned to appreciate my husband explicitly and gratefully for what he does, especially when he does what I can't. He's not like me, and I know it, and honor it. He is the mainstay of my life.

Our mutual appreciation is grounded in reality, not false modesty. Each knows what the other is more or less competent in, and if our talents don't always break down along traditional lines, well, there you are.

#11 Texan99 on 2009-11-14 12:59 (Reply)

Add Comment

Name
Email	(Your e-mail will not show in your comment)
Homepage
In reply to
Comment	By commenting on this site you agree to the site rules listed here. Email addresses will not be displayed and will only be used for email notifications. Quick reference guide: [i] italics [/i], [b] bold [/b], [u] underline [/u], [url] (web address) [/url]. More tips here. Enclosing asterisks marks text as bold (word), underscore are made via _word_. E-Mail addresses will not be displayed and will only be used for E-Mail notifications. To prevent automated Bots from commentspamming, please enter the string you see in the image below in the appropriate input box. Your comment will only be submitted if the strings match. Please ensure that your browser supports and accepts cookies, or your comment cannot be verified correctly. Enter the string from the spam-prevention image above: BBCode format allowed
	Remember Information? Subscribe to this entry

Maggie's Farm

Our Recent Essays Behind the Front Page

Categories

Quicksearch

Links

Blog Administration

RSS Readers

Thursday, November 12. 2009

Feminism and Femininity