While I worked and studied, my dream of being the Cherished Woman -- like Aunt Pollie -- grew stronger in me. But all the hard work I had had to do since I was a child, and the living I had had to earn since I was fifiteen, and all the exhortations I had had to listen to at "home," gave me too much independence of manner, too much self-assurance, too much of an appearance of confidence. This definitely put off men who wanted a Queen for their houses, a soft and yielding gentle sweet creature like Aunt Pollie, a charming hostess pliant soothing and full of musical laughter and kind wit. For such a woman, men were ready to work their poor hearts out, considering themselves blessed. But a girl like myself, who knew hard labor, and knew how to earn a buck, and had a sharp and independent voice and manner, was not atttractive to them. They did not want a "partner," and a fellow wage earner. They did not believe that "a woman can do anything a man can do." They were right, of course.
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Earth, Day 16: Encountered another female of the human species. All of the female humans who identify themselves with the group "Anti-Feminist" strongly exhibit what I've come to call "Phyllis Schlafly Disorder"; that is, the absolute belief that whatever lifestyle suits them must be forced upon all other females of their species. Beginning to wonder if Zardog's suggestion to "blow the whole damn place up" is not reasonable.
"They did not want a "partner," and a fellow wage earner. They did not believe that "a woman can do anything a man can do." They were right, of course."
Is that suppost to make every girl feel like they are dirt and only want to live life as a house wife?
A sad and pathetic story about brainwashing. Figurative and literal. "Now, remember girls, never compete with boys because if you win, you will never find a husband and you will die alone, a spinster."
Just so people know, this is written at the bottom of the website page and answers many of your questions:
"Taylor Caldwell was born in England and emigrated with her parents when she was a child in 1907. She was an outspoken conservative and wrote for many publications until her death in 1985. The preceding article was reprinted from the 1970 issue of American Opinion. While we at L.A.F. do not feel that a woman is to be merely an "ornament," we do agree that the "Liberation Ladies" have handed women to men on a silver platter and made them worse than ornaments -- they have made them slaves to man's whims and slaves to the market. [Note: This was the article that inspired the creation of the LAF website!]"
Certainly the kind of screaming bimbos on Big Brother who are supposedly 'liberated' because they wear very little clothing ARE a result of feminist liberation, but there are plenty of other results of feminism which are a damn site more productive.
One thing is for certain, this woman was wrong to think that she couldn't do so much as a man can. It is very sad that she thought the way she did, but do remember that men DID have a lesser view of women back then, that women did not have the power to vote, and most importantly (for the attention of the proponents of the offending website) only rich, upper class women could afford not to work.
You know, if I were a heavily immoral man, I could agree, but that a woman could display all this false consciousness?...
Well, fatpie42, that mitigates some of the article's content, but not all of it by a long shot. Even by 1970, when the article was published, most of what Taylor Caldwell refers to was already ancient history, and the rest is a very willfully obtuse misinterpretation of what "feminism" was/is all about. And the site creator is exhibiting an even greater disconnect with reality by basing his/her agenda on a 36-year-old article setting forth ideals that were largely outdated (or even downright fictionally nostalgic) even when the ink was not yet dry on its first printing!
~David D.G.
David D.G.,
There's many a modern female writer that echoes the late Ms. Caldwell's sentiments. Stuff's astounding to read; they are, to a one, quite amazed that not only do not all women think like they think they do (be they "feminazis" or "real women"), they get all a-flutter when actual women point out the flaws in their thought.
All I can think when I read such nonsense, be it old school nonsense or new, modern, hip nonsense is "Man, I'm glad I don't fool around with women like that. Give me a woman with a spine and a mind of her own."
Fatpie42: "Certainly the kind of screaming bimbos on Big Brother who are supposedly 'liberated' because they wear very little clothing ARE a result of feminist liberation, but there are plenty of other results of feminism which are a damn site more productive."
I don't know about "certainly". There are many (most?) historians of the 60s and 70s who believe that the sexual revolution and aspects of women's liberation (like the Pill, etc) are two separate events. They interacted, they happened at more or less the same time.... but to say that sexual liberation is the result only of feminism is an oversimplification I can't bear.
Heya David D.G.,
This is so old now that I don't know whether you will see this reply, but I wanted to reply anyway.
Firstly in response to this:
"Well, fatpie42, that mitigates some of the article's content, but not all of it by a long shot. Even by 1970, when the article was published, most of what Taylor Caldwell refers to was already ancient history, and the rest is a very willfully obtuse misinterpretation of what "feminism" was/is all about."
Well pointed out. I had thought that it was an essay from the early 1900s that was RE-printed in the 70s, but you are right. It does appear that the original FROM which this re-print comes was published in the 70s. However, you must remember that the writer would have been in her 60s when she wrote this and would be pretty thoroughly embedded in the sentiments of the pre-feminist era.
It is the publishing of it on this website in the belief that it somehow rubbishes the acheivements of feminism that I disagree with.
Secondly:
"And the site creator is exhibiting an even greater disconnect with reality by basing his/her agenda on a 36-year-old article setting forth ideals that were largely outdated (or even downright fictionally nostalgic) even when the ink was not yet dry on its first printing!"
Absolutely, this I would agree with. (I thought it was important to establish my agreement with this statement so it can be recognised that I had no other intention in my intial comments. I was sympathising with the initial writer, not the intentions of the person re-printing it...
Actually you guys have put the right thing on that. If fundies say the darnnest thing, please, be they real fundies. This woman, no matter how controversial is, is not a fundie. One, she wrote this article BEFORE 1970, it was reprinted there and she was not sixty, probably a poor septuagenary who was despised by the fact that she was rejected for her ideas initially and thought that traditional mores on women were right. This woman was a conservative, not a fundie, and a child of her time, she would be a fundie if she were fourty and living now. She probably wrote this article in times when most families could live on one-income only basis and in which working moms like me where by no means the rule and in which she could not forsee the changes coming.
While I worked and studied, my dream of being an awesome doctor grew stronger in me. Each success gave me fresh confidence, making me cheerful, outgoing, and capable of engaging in intelligent conversation. This definitely put off uneducated and conceited men, who wanted someone to pick up their dirty socks and give them head while they watched football. But a woman like me could only be amused at their horror. They did not want a successful and assertive woman like me, because I was superior and therefore intimidating. They were right to be afraid of me, but wrong in pretty much everything else they had ever conceived of in their wretched lives.
In the meantime, I married a brilliant, loving man who respects me as I respect him. He adores how willful I am, we routinely argue about who is smarter, and are currently engaged in a friendly 'Race to a Six Figure Salary.' We live an awesome life together and make out in front of your husband while he bags our groceries.
Can you really have "too much independence of manner"?
Of course a woman can do anything a man can do!
The men around your part of the world are stupid!
Most men around here would be thoroughly bored with a woman who was just a "soft and yielding gentle sweet creature", "a charming hostess pliant soothing and full of musical laughter and kind wit". They want a REAL woman, a woman who is their equal, who can pull her weight around, who can contribute her part to the house-hold economy.
Confused?
So were we! You can find all of this, and more, on Fundies Say the Darndest Things!
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