Amfortus, I wasn't around during the world wars, but have nursed many Australian and British soldiers over the years.

Where did you get the idea that it was only women who gave men white feathers?
According to the old soldiers I spoke to about this subject, many older men during those war years made it their personal vendetta to send white feathers to any younger men they thought were cowards and avoiding fighting in the war.

I know this because I have spoken to men who were alive during the 2nd world war in both Australia and Britain who had suffered ailments previous to the war breaking out, such as polio (partial paralysis) and eye diseases (legally blind), who got the most flack from older men who thought they should have gone to war anyway!

Thanks for an interesting article, Brian.

Both of your subjects were "disinterested in men", as you put it, which meant that as young women they excluded themselves from the complex social dance known as Courtship and allowed themselves time for more solitary pursuits. It also meant they had no children to divide their attention.
Many high-achieving women have done similarly throughout history.

The other thing the two had in common was wealth. Both were educated at the top private schools in Sydney, PLC and SCEGGS.

In todays' world, there is an expectation that all women can "have it all"; children and a career, adventures, travel, you name it. No one mentions the money, except in the context of the "women earn less than men" furphy. Young Jessica Watson, now sailing around the world, is a case in point: she is doing something which no amount of determination can achieve wothout wealth. Her gender is less important than her parents' wherewithal.

These women have much more in common with the wealthy male adventurers they shared their treks with that the ordinary women of today. No matter how much she might like to, a woman (or a man) from Woodridge, or Mt Druitt, or Elizabeth has little chance of ever achieving an ambition to climb Mt Everest unless they drop every other thing in their lives and devote all their efforts to raising money.

I doubt that either of them would have approved much of Greer. She is, after all, a somewhat twisted Marxist and I doubt that either of these women would have given her the time of day.

Dear Pynchme, I wouldn't presume to know what amuses you, thank you for your understanding.

As for misandry, a simple test is to reverse the genders in a text and see if the resulting dialog sounds offensive, misogynistic, or even slightly off.

Let's apply the test to Brian's article:

"The author Geronimo Greer put forward the theory that men remain ultimately under the control of women - with the obliging men adjusting themselves to the female image of what women should be."

"It must have rankled the establishment that here was a man who could not be controlled....Away from the world of flabby women in dresses and shiny shoes, Mark found that there are no female barriers to males in wilderness activities where only ability and character are the measure of a person. It is a social environment free of manipulation."

"Mark was disinterested in women, and men who are disinterested in women tend to develop personalities as they age which the female ego finds alienating. My late friend Don Butler, who was close to Mark, informed me that Mark had this problem. While sleeping on his verandah in Sydney, Mark was bludgeoned. He spent months in hospital and was left with some permanent neural damage. Nobody was ever charged, but the wife of a man he was acting for in a legal matter was suspected."

"As Mark and Fred climbed with women, would this not mean that the women where just as outstanding? I feel not. The women did not have to draw on an extra strength to overcome the entrenched mental conditioning in men at the time - that alpine climbing was both emotionally and physically beyond men. The female climbers were well-read in the exploits of countless female adventurers throughout history. They did what they thought self-reliant and brave women do."

Hopefully, you get the point...

Brian Holden

Thank you for your article describing the heriocs of two extraordinary women. I had never heard of them and I always derive comfort when the actions of women are brought into prominence - women have a need for role models too.

I am sure than when you wrote this article, you would never have expected the anger this has caused for some few males. Apparently praising women, any women is an act of misandry. Which begs the question if praising women is anti-male, then what do I make of the continual and ever-present worship of men in our society, male writers, sports-stars, politicians and so forth. For example, I really admire Nelson Mandela, does this mean I hate women? Or white people?

Pynchme, Antiseptic and Severin

It was good to get your constructive comments. Unfortunately, some weird people use OLO's comments facility as a platform for what niggles them about life. Consequently they totally miss the point the author was making - because they don't care what that point is. What matters is the opportunity to go public.

The sole purpose of my writing this article was to inspire those who read it.

<<<< The sole purpose of my writing this article was to inspire those who read it.
Posted by Brian Holden, Sunday, 21 February 2010 10:14:41 AM >>>>

Brian, you have been completely successful. And I am not being at all ironic.

Thank you