Banjo,

You're not a woman by any chance are you?
I've heard some pretty hard sells in my life but your last posting belongs on a feminist or 'me too' promo.
Firstly your argument is as hollow as the self righteous maggots you promote and are referring to.
Your opening paragraphs are simply a play on semantics, and hold no valid argument in support of women.
I'm not going to repeat the obvious.
You're so invested in this equality rubbish, you completely ignore the social costs.
The problems with society start from your kind of mindset.
I would like to know when did being a man become such a thing?
This equality thing is just not a starter, and no end of trying to be politically correct is going to change that.
Men by their very nature are the dominant of the human race.
Those who try to refute that will suffer for it.
Even the women know they are pushing sh!t uphill by their presumptuous push for equality.
I for one do not recognise a woman as an authoritative figure, only snags and neuters like yourself do. (if your a man)
This rubbish they keep putting out about getting a womans perspective as justification for hiring women, is just bollocks and a fabrication to justify the hiring of women in place of men.
Do you realise that if only the women with school age children left the workplace and went back to being what nature designed them to be; MOTHERS, the unemployment problem would be eradicated and a lot of families would be happy again.
So because of these selfish arrogant maggots, we see so many more people affected or displaced due to jobs being taken by women that would otherwise be filled by men supporting a family.
I applaud with a sigh of relief, every time I hear about another so called female, top level executive getting the arse from a senior management or CEO position.
Men are the dominant of the species and that is a fact of nature, trying to change that is by definition, UNNATURAL!

Dear Banjo,

Welcome back to posting.

You have been missed. Are you still in Paris?

Education to my parents was crucially important.
They came to this country as post World War II
refugees (displaced people) running from the
Soviet regime's occupation of their country.

They lost not only their country, but many members
of their family, their social position, and their
material goods. Therefore they wanted to instill
in their children something that could not be taken
away - that of a good education. My parents raised
me in the belief that I could do anything. I did not
have any sisters. I had two brothers. Both
of whom went on to higher learning, as did I.

I was born in this country, and am of a generation
that has grown up with the belief in
an - individualistic society
which should be highly open to change and experimentation.

Unlike the old system where men were expected to
abide by the "John Wayne" image of American manhood
of the 1950s. (This has less and less appeal to
both sexes today). The masculine role I find today
is now more ambiguous and more flexible,
more subject to interpretation by the individual.

Resolving this kind of ambiguity is part of the
challenge of social and cultural change.

Under the old system everyone knew what their roles
were, and most people then unquestioningly behaved
as they were supposed to. The system constrained people,
but it freed them from the need to make choices. There
are fewer constraints today, but the individual now
has the liberty (or the burden) to choose his or her
own path to fulfillment.

Men and women today are exploring a wide variety of
possible roles. To many all possible options are open
and equally acceptable for both sexes. To me and my
friends a person's individual human qualities, rather
than his or her biological sex is the primary measure
of that person's worth and achievement.

And that is something that is worth encouraging in our
society for our children's development and our country.

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Dear ALTRAV,

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Well, it’s good to see you’re fighting fit. I weigh in as a light-heavyweight these days. How about you ? I must say the last time I stepped into the ring was a long time ago. It was a against a guy called Wally Taylor at the Queensland amateur boxing championships in Brisbane. My trainer threw the towel in about halfway through the third round.

Wally was from sugar cane country up in Mackay. He punched like a sledgehammer. I can still feel his punch on my left hip. He ended up winning the title and went on to win the Australian title as well. I can’t say I did much better at the Darling Downs championships either. But never mind, I never did have the killer instinct. I always tended to let my opponents off the hook.

So, I don’t mind sparring with you, ALTRAV. If it does you any good to let your steam off, that’s fine with me. You don’t risk anything here – not from me anyway. Better to spit out your hatred than to let it consume you from within.

Which, by the way, reminds me that the Tibetan Buddhists attach great importance to what they consider to be the three poisons : ignorance, hatred and narrow mindedness, that they believe to be responsible for all the sufferances of mankind and for his inability to reach Nirvana and escape the infernal cycle of death and rebirth. No god there, ALTRAV – just oriental contemplation and meditation.

Reverting now to our discussion, you wrote :

« Men are the dominant of the species and that is a fact of nature, trying to change that is by definition, UNNATURAL! »

I don’t think anyone is “trying to change that”, ALTRAV …

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(Continued …)

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(Continued …)

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My understanding is that life on earth was triggered by the fortuitous encounter of matter and energy in a favourable environment which, after a long process of natural evolution and transformation, spanning billions of years, eventually produced human beings. That process has never ceased and, more than likely, will continue to exist long after we have gone.

As one can imagine, we human beings today must be quite different physically and mentally from that far distant ancestor, primeval man, when he first emerged from the ape family. Nature had obviously equipped him with the brain and the brawn he needed in order to survive. But in modern man, the culmination of natural evolution to date, the development of the “brain” has gradually outpaced that of the “brawn” simply because we no longer depend on it for survival.

So, as I see it, ALTRAV, though men continue to be “the dominant of the species”, as you say, their “domination” has very seriously declined, particularly in the Western world. Now, with less need for “brawn” and the continued natural evolutionary development of the “brain”, the female of our species has gradually emancipated herself and become more independent.

The result is more harmonious, better balanced male-female relationships based on mutual rights and responsibilities and mutual respect.

Looks like you've got a bit of catching-up to do, ALTRAV. Stay with us my friend.

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Banjo,

I must confess not subscribing to any particular third party beliefs, such as Buddhism.
Raised a Catholic, but realised it was not a worthy endeavour, so slowly began believing in myself.
As for the belief that the male is the dominant species, it has to be so.
The idea of equality is a romantic notion by some but in nature we see a natural structure and order as a matter of fact.
Even though it appears you subscribe to this equality mantra, you will find it doesn't work.
As much as some females push for equality, it does not mean it should be so.
There are always those who are out of step with nature, either by birth or by choice.
These people, at best might be tolerated, but do not form mainstream human physique.
In life there cannot be equality of the un-equal.
By our very structure, form both physical and emotional, we are different so how can we be equal.
No it's a feminazi ideology that is a cancer and has spread throughout society, even to the point of infecting the males and changing their personality into something less masculine.
I use terms like, neuter and unnatural, because this equality farce is just that, unnatural.
We might have developed from monkeys, but it does not mean we keep developing in a wrong direction.
You are quite right by quoting the three poisons, because when applied to the idea of equality and the drivers of this cause or pilgrimage in the direct assessment of the females so inclined, we find that they do in fact display those exact flaws; ignorance, hatred and narrow mindedness.
We can debate, discuss, as much as we like, those who believe in going against nature, are doing exactly that for their own arrogant and ignorant reasons.
Females are causing so much long term, harm to a baby by rejecting it or compromising it by choosing to have a bloody job/career over the well being and healthy upbringing of her child/ren.
And I don't just mean their physical health, I mean mental or psychological.

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Dear Foxy,

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It’s nice to hear from you. Sorry I couldn't get back to you earlier, I had to wait several hours before I could post again.

Yes, I’m still living in Paris and haven’t been back to Australia for a few years now. I have less reason to do so. All my close family are no longer of this world. I guess I’m the last of the Mohicans :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_8zELeOsww

Happily, I still have my five lifetime friends who pass through Paris occasionally. They keep me in touch and I’m still on the electoral role in my little hometown on the Darling Downs where I vote by correspondence.

Thank you for that interesting note on your parents. It reminds me a little of the personal story of George, the eminent professor of mathematics who lectured for many years at Melbourne University, who is a staunch Roman Catholic and occasional poster here on OLO.

I appreciate and thoroughly agree with your comments on the changing mentalities regarding gender identity and the complexities involved. It is a positive evolution which I hope will help liberate those who suffer from the bigotry of ill-founded social convention and prejudice.

On the subject of so-called “gender equality”, according to the United Nations :

« Gender equality is not only a fundamental human right, but a necessary foundation for a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world » :

http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/gender-equality/

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