Why you don't see

[Beachcomber]

An Iraq version of Playboy or Penthouse. Praise allah:

[Lew]

My millitant-feminist friend (who's a college professor)....I mean, this stuff drives her nuts. To hear her talk, women in this country are treated little better than livestock. Now look, I will be the first to acknowledge that there is still much work to be done, there's still sexism, there's still harassment, I've seen the glass ceiling at work, blah blah blah....

But...

There are more self-made chick millionaires here than in the rest of the world combined. (well, there was when our dollar actually had value, nowadays that's probably not the case). And I submit that women here are, on the whole, treated better than they are in Saudi Arabia. Maybe I'm wrong, but that's my hypothesis. And quite honestly, I have no intention of sending my wife over there to test it.

And my college professor friend...she harps and harps about diversity and religious tolerance and all-that, but when you confront her with the treatment of women in the Arab world (and not just there, but many places throughout the world), well, it creates a conundrum. It's like, which is it? Respect for their religion, or condemnation of the way they treat women? And she can't give me an answer.

Now I can, of course, and that is, we need to force our women here to act a little more in line like the Arabs. Not so much the Burkas in public (if they're hot, anyway), but definitely the whole do-as-we-say and service-our-needs mantra. Enough of these chick lawyers and politicians and that crap. It's like, go get me a cup of coffee, and don't bitch if I smack you on the butt as you do it.....

[cincygreg]

To each his or her own, but I think that if a woman wants to pose for a certain kind of magazine in the buff then she should do it. It's her body, it's her decision. Those who dont want to buy it or look at it dont have to. People get too uptight about it over here in the states (nothing compared to what they face in other nations though)
If you dont want to watch a certain tv show, dont watch it. If you dont like a certain radio program, dont listen to it, if you dont like certain kinds of movies, dont see them. It's really not that tough people.
Freedom of choice is a wonderful thing.

[gae]

LewBaby, since I'm 'of a certain age' and female, let me respond to your post.

When I was a youngun about the only careers open to wimmin folks were teacher, nurse or full time mom/wife. Not that there's anything wrong with any of those, but it was an uphill battle and I'm glad we wimmins won it, and I always rejoice at the numbers of female doctors, lawyers and Indian Chiefs.

That said, I'm probably the most sexist person you'll ever meet. Just because women are now permitted to do anything they want doesn't mean that they SHOULD.

The law says that my daughter, Erin, can be a firefighter. Erin is 5' 1.75" and could no more get Trav out of a burning building than I could. She also meets the criteria for being a police officer. HAHAHAHA!!! I laugh at female police officers. I know they're trained and have weapons and could probably kick my ass, but there's no way a 120 pound woman could take Trav down.

I guess we wimmin folks really do want it all.

(Deleted the rest of the rant to save bandwidth.)

[Lew]

Oh don't get me wrong, Gae. I always had a problem with the firefighter rule.

Traditionally, you had to be able to carry a 200 lb dummy, and then the broads started bitching because they couldn't do it, and it became a big mess. And I agree that's not the kind of job that should be subject to this crap. There are some chicks who can carry the 200 lb dummy, by all means let them be firefighters. Maybe it's not appropriate for me to bring this up, but Erin beat me in armwrestling one time, I have no doubt she could carry the dummy (that would make two dummies she got over on). The 200 lb rule doesn't exist for a sexist purpose, it's a public safety concern.

Same thing with air traffic controllers. They have affirmative action on their tests, and I'm sorry, but that's the kind of profession where there's no margin of error.

But the glass ceiling...I mean, it still exists, let's not kid ourselves. I remember back in the insurance industry days, there would be meetings where all the underwriters got together, and then the men would all get together later (without the women) and have the "real" meeting.

ANd younger judges and lawyers aren't as bad, but some of the old head judges...I mean, they never accepted the fact that dames could be lawyers, and to this day they'll go off on women for things they would never do with a man. I saw it with my own eyes, there's no denying it.

Or when my wife and I go to shop for a new car for her, and the saleman only talks to me (as if I know what the hell I'm talking about).

And I think I've mentioned this before, but every black woman that I've ever been close enough to ask....I've asked them in their experience have they encountered more crap being black or being female, and each and every one of them has answered female, and without hesitation or argument.

So look, I'm not going to say that this crap doesn't go on, or that it wouldn't go on to a greater degree but for all the fears of litigation, because it does. No question.

But....

Again, it's not 1850 anymore, there have been tremendous strides made, and I don't think the feminists (at least the ones I know or read) seem to want to acknowledge that. And when you hear these horror stories out of Saudi Arabia and what have you...it's like, go over them and complain to them about it.

[gae]

Lew, I thought about coming to your house to kick you ass for using terms like "dames" and "broads", but then I remembered you're a lawyer: basically uneducated.