On Mon, 5 Feb 2001 08:47:45 -0000 "Fiona Moore" nydersdyner@yahoo.co.uk writes:
Something else occurs to me in all this.
, I'd like to point out
that in most societies, or at least Indo-European ones, women are seen as being the ones who are the guardians of culture,
An interesting point, especially from an American point of view (the first wave of settlement in the U.S. was always predominantly male, a fact which had interesting effects on attitudes and history [Wyoming gave women the right to vote partly in an effort to attract more women to the territory, the gender ratio at that time being about 5 to 1. The only time I know of where Congress took away the right of women to vote in a U.S. territory was in one of the few where women had actually come to outnumber men (they were also showing a tendency to vote in ways that Congress didn't like, which was used as evidence that women were not capable of voting in an intelligent, independent manner)]).
Anyhow, it was frequently said that civilization came to a territory when women came (some frontiersmen seem to have said this with considerable regret for the change).
Now, interestingly enough, in these same cultures, although the women are the guardians of culture, it's the men, specifically the elite men, who guide what the values of that culture are.
Interesting side note. In the 19th century, writing books on proper behavior, manners, etc. was quite popular (to make a long story short, when society's in flux, it becomes more important to define these things in authoratative detail).
In Britain, nearly all these books were written by men, making them the guides.
In the U.S. nearly all these books were written by women.
I could comment, but not in less than three pages, so I will refrain.
Ob. B7. I have this mental picture now of Avon trapped in the 19th century with a bunch of very proper matriarch types all set on reforming him.
Avon: I have always considered self-interest the basis of human nature.
Matriarch: Nature, Mr. Avon, is something we were put here to rise above.
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