the bible is of course one of the most sexist book ever written! i cab say it's the one who spread that type of mentality all over the world...especially in Africa where everything written in it is considered an axiomatic truth!

hmmmm........tell me more. sexiest book is the ........ ?

mide2:

baby, i know.wanted to catch some fun as well. But i bet this male chauvinism will sure be a long forgotten story someday. It sucks !

U people just don't get it. Shoulders high, heads up and legs firm. It's not domination, it's not slavery, it's not making women dumb asses, it's not all that. It's so simple...it's life. So has it become "it sucks" for a woman to be in the kitchen, to take care of her family as the mother(primary and major role), to provide support 4 her husband (not challanging or trying to be like him-it's not a competition of who's better)

mide2:

baby, i know.wanted to catch some fun as well. But i bet this male chauvinism will sure be a long forgotten story someday. It sucks !

U people just don't get it. Shoulders high, heads up and legs firm. It's not domination, it's not slavery, it's not making women dumb asses, it's not all that. It's so simple...it's life. So has it become "it sucks" for a woman to be in the kitchen, to take care of her family as the mother(primary and major role), to provide support 4 her husband (not challanging or trying to be like him-it's not a competition of who's better)

excerpt from Virginia Woolf's "Professions for women:"


But to tell you my story—it is a simple one. You have only got to figure to yourselves a girl in a bedroom with a pen in her hand. She had only to move that pen from left to right—from ten o’clock to one. Then it occurred to her to do what is simple and cheap enough after all—to slip a few of those pages into an envelope, fix a penny stamp in the corner, and drop the envelope into the red box at the corner. It was thus that I became a journalist; and my effort was rewarded on the first day of the following month—a very glorious day it was for me—by a letter from an editor containing a cheque for one pound ten shillings and sixpence. But to show you how little I deserve to be called a professional woman, how little I know of the struggles and difficulties of such lives, I have to admit that instead of spending that sum upon bread and butter, rent, shoes and stockings, or butcher’s bills, I went out and bought a cat—a beautiful cat, a Persian cat, which very soon involved me in bitter disputes with my neighbours.

What could be easier than to write articles and to buy Persian cats with the profits? But wait a moment. Articles have to be about something. Mine, I seem to remember, was about a novel by a famous man. And while I was writing this review, I discovered that if I were going to review books I should need to do battle with a certain phantom. And the phantom was a woman, and when I came to know her better I called her after the heroine of a famous poem, The Angel in the House. It was she who used to come between me and my paper when I was writing reviews. It was she who bothered me and wasted my time and so tormented me that at last I killed her. You who come of a younger and happier generation may not have heard of her—you may not know what I mean by the Angel in the House. I will describe her as shortly as I can. She was intensely sympathetic. She was immensely charming. She was utterly unselfish. She excelled in the difficult arts of family life. She sacrificed herself daily. If there was chicken, she took the leg; if there was a draught she sat in it—in short she was so constituted that she never had a mind or a wish of her own, but preferred to sympathize always with the minds and wishes of others. Above all—I need not say it—–she was pure. Her purity was supposed to be her chief beauty—her blushes, her great grace. In those days—the last of Queen Victoria—every house had its Angel. And when I came to write I encountered her with the very first words. The shadow of her wings fell on my page; I heard the rustling of her skirts in the room. Directly, that is to say, I took my pen in my hand to review that novel by a famous man, she slipped behind me and whispered: “My dear, you are a young woman. You are writing about a book that has been written by a man. Be sympathetic; be tender; flatter; deceive; use all the arts and wiles of our sex. Never let anybody guess that you have a mind of your own. Above all, be pure.” And she made as if to guide my pen. I now record the one act for which I take some credit to myself, though the credit rightly belongs to some excellent ancestors of mine who left me a certain sum of money—shall we say five hundred pounds a year?—so that it was not necessary for me to depend solely on charm for my living. I turned upon her and caught her by the throat. I did my best to kill her. My excuse, if I were to be had up in a court of law, would be that I acted in self–defence. Had I not killed her she would have killed me. She would have plucked the heart out of my writing. For, as I found, directly I put pen to paper, you cannot review even a novel without having a mind of your own, without expressing what you think to be the truth about human relations, morality, sex. And all these questions, according to the Angel of the House, cannot be dealt with freely and openly by women; they must charm, they must conciliate, they must—to put it bluntly—tell lies if they are to succeed. Thus, whenever I felt the shadow of her wing or the radiance of her halo upon my page, I took up the inkpot and flung it at her. She died hard. Her fictitious nature was of great assistance to her. It is far harder to kill a phantom than a reality.

********

Swish, read this short essay by Woolf and tell me if Woolf was right or wrong in killing "the angel in the house" (it's a metaphor for the traditional role of women and what is expected of them).

Swish:

U people just don't get it. Shoulders high, heads up and legs firm. It's not domination, it's not slavery, it's not making women dumb asses, it's not all that. It's so simple...it's life. So has it become "it sucks" for a woman to be in the kitchen, to take care of her family as the mother(primary and major role), to provide support 4 her husband (not challanging or trying to be like him-it's not a competition of who's better)

Actually u r d one dats not getting d point. there are men who think cuz they r of d other sex they are better than females.
we r not complaining about the job wat we r simply saying is it shouldn't be seen as a females job. she didn't make d baby alone and she shouldn't have to take care of it alone. it shold be a joint work. i love cooking and when i get married i will be glad to cook 4 my husband but he gotta cook too and if he can't cook then he should make a lil contribution like set d table while i cook dinner. i shouldn't have to do everything by myself. U saying women should support their husband well the husband should support their wife too and not in financial matter alone. In everything.

And in a way it has becme a competition why? cuz in some cases women have to prove their abilities, power and strength 4 people to realize she ain't no bootty calla nd means bizzness.

Yeh! @ damgurl
i understand when u say sometimes they have to prove they're not just 4 booty calls, yeh
i'm not against woman working per se but the kinda of work really should be something that has nothing to do with neglect of family. if a woman can't have time to cook for her home, take care of her kids, n all that because of work and maybe she has to employ a maid(who does 90% of these things) then i tell you she got to check it. why do you think there's an increase in single mothers (it has even become a normal thing in the Us and Europe where a lady just wants to have a kid and that's all - because she feels *she can do what a man can do*-don't press on the statement in asterix, it's an expression.

@Wes
really wish you can see my point.

Swish,

The profession of women has little significance in the increase of single mothers in the US and Europe rather it has to do with the high rate of premarital sex and divorce somethings along that line.
Actually, Women (educated) who work alongside their husbands tend to live a more healthier and economically stable lives than those who don't. They don't tend to have 10 kids like some families do. Rather they live in homes with 2-3 kids average (my guess) .
One thing that could lessen the overpopulation in Nigeria is increasing female employment and education.


i see, you're the one not getting my point.
If you read the short essay by Virginia Woolf. (I'll narrate it because i don't think you read it).

Her dream has always been to become a writer since she was a young girl but there were restrictions in society then against female writers (there were also other professions men monopolized). They actually used to published their works under male names or pseudonyms because they don't want to be found out!. (a classic example of this is Mary Ann Evans who wrote her books under the name of "George Elliot".

Then every woman was supposed to be "An Angel of the House"

let me give you short quotes on what the role of women and what was expected of them:

"She was intensely sympathetic. She was immensely charming. She was utterly unselfish. She excelled in the difficult arts of family life. She sacrificed herself daily. If there was chicken, she took the leg; if there was a draught she sat in it—in short she was so constituted that she never had a mind or a wish of her own,but preferred to sympathize always with the minds and wishes of others men. Above all—I need not say it—–she was pure. Her purity was supposed to be her chief beauty—her blushes, her great grace. In those days—the last of Queen Victoria—every house had its Angel"

“My dear, you are a young woman. You are writing (review) about a book that has been written by a man. Be sympathetic; be tender; flatter; deceive; use all the arts and wiles of our sex. Never let anybody guess that you have a mind of your own. Above all, be pure

*******
women have minds of their own. That's my main point right there!!!!!!!
It's not that "she feels she can do what a man can do" rather it's "she feels she can be what she wants to be" there should be no gender restrictions to whatever occupation she wishes to pursue.

If you are interested in politics and law go ahead and become it!
Malcolm wanted to become a lawyer but his teacher told him to become a carpenter instead because he was black. and blacks aren't supposed to be doctors and lawyers then.


do you get my point now?!!

EVERYONE MALE OR FEMALE HAS A MIND OF HIS OWN. i'm not going to let society describe to me my profession.
because i'm a female doesn't mean i have to pretend to be what i'm not to satisfy anybody.

i guess there's no point, probably if i was talking 2 you it would be a bit clearer. well i'm me and u are you. I strongly anti-feminist (i support women o, don't get me wrong but that whole "men are domineering" is a little too far.)

u musst be a real professional woman

I was read a book about Gender Inequality  in School & i was made 2 know that Women r not supposed 2 me b SHUT dwn !!! they should stand up 4 their RIGHTS @ all time

Men r Domineering yes but that wldnt make u stnd up 4 your right

@drbigdaddy
please keep those one sided arguments to urself. the man is commanded to love his wife and i bet any woman who feels loved would willining and lovinly submit.
so please u cant demand on one side, along with rights comes responsibilities.

excuse, please you need to differentiate between a help mate and a hosehelp. because what i see most african men doing is converting their wife to a househelp.
first the bible calls her a helpmate, and from the meaning of that word, she is supposed to help you in what you have already started so do you see why you men need to start the sweeping of the house and she would later HELP u maybe wit the dusting.
i think its because women have always accepted the norm and made men believe dey are gods
if you make a man feel he is indisposable he would lord over u but when u make a man feel like he can be changed like a pair of shoes i am sure he would sit up
i am talking from personal experience

Gender is the range of characteristics pertaining to, and differentiating between, masculinity and femininity.
See: Definition of Gender

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