tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3375512083268389933.post2673753742311878568..comments2023-09-30T10:36:23.154-05:00Comments on Accidental Historian: Malthusian Gender EconomicsGedshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15047239425466517786noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3375512083268389933.post-32093482985952357452008-09-09T12:16:00.000-05:002008-09-09T12:16:00.000-05:00In all fairness, even though I was the one in dist...In all fairness, even though I was the one in distress at the time, I didn't realize that much of the problem could be boiled down to sexism until I had got away from the church and had an opportunity to get my head straight. I just knew that I didn't fit into the rules for behavior (and more importantly, the rules for how to <I>be</I>) no matter how hard I tried. A woman who is close enough to 'feminine' to be able to conform successfully may not have the same experience. <BR/><BR/>There are plenty of women who think that the limitations placed on them are some kind of blessing. I'm enough of a radical feminist to think that this kind of subtle mental manipulation is just as horrible as overt, legally coercive sexism like you find under the Taliban. Its harder to fight, too, when women are convinced they're better off with a man taking care of them.Tayihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00475323690049542329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3375512083268389933.post-45101718735496261642008-09-08T22:59:00.000-05:002008-09-08T22:59:00.000-05:00"I'm a woman, and still people don't understand wh..."I'm a woman, and still people don't understand when I mention that the sexism inherent in Christianity caused me a great deal of distress when I was young."<BR/><BR/>Ironically, many folks who can't understand that statement are the same ones who believe we should bring "enlightenment" to female-opressive regimes such as the Taliban.<BR/><BR/>(Note: I'm not say that Christian sexism is worse than groups like the Taliban, but I am saying that both idealogies employ obviously identifiable degrees of the same B.S.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3375512083268389933.post-15851951613137070372008-09-05T21:45:00.000-05:002008-09-05T21:45:00.000-05:00Your point about women being "allowed" into leader...Your point about women being "allowed" into leadership (according to fundamentalists anyway) only when men fail at leadership is interesting. I get the idea, though, that this is only acceptable because Palin is up for <I>Vice</I> President. She's the number two, still under the authority of a man like a proper woman ought to be. I think the fundamentalists would be much less accepting of her if she was somehow a candidate for President. <BR/><BR/>I mean, compare it to a church- I guess I don't know how it was in the church you grew up in, but in the church I used to attend, there were women in positions of authority. The pastor's wife, for example, might be in charge of the whole Sunday School program including the men teaching boys' classes, but it was OK because she was still under the authority of the pastor, who is of course male. Women are allowed to work, and even organize and direct things, as long as final authority and all credit for success ends up in the hands of a man.<BR/><BR/>Its to your credit that this fact of fundamentalist life motivated you to leave. I'm a woman, and still people don't understand when I mention that the sexism inherent in Christianity caused me a great deal of distress when I was young.Tayihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00475323690049542329noreply@blogger.com