What is feminism? Well in 1974, despite being the highest paid graduate in Australia I was unable to get a mortgage without a male going guarantor because I might get pregnant.
Up until January 1974 my mother was paid 66% of the male wage in a professional job, she was luckier than my grandmother in the 1920s who wasn't paid but her father paid all her bills. Can you imagine every month explaining to your dad that yes you purchased 30 tampons coz you used them all. [Well that's not realistic because tampons were first marketed in the 1930s]. Imagine explaining your alcohol, cigarette or Ecstasy purchases.

That Sam is what feminism means to me!

Billie

I have a male relative who was living in Canberra in 1975 and he was refused a mortgage because he was single. Apparently banks had an order of preference and single young men were low on the pecking order. The manager said that young men were less responsible.

He was an economics/commerce graduate who was a 'permanent' public servant with some years continuous service. He said he met the other criteria such as large deposit, good credit rating and loyalty with the bank, fit and healthy.

"particularly if you are one of the half of the human race not constrained by biology." ena

Well Ena as a bloke I simply do not have the technical and tactical advantages of your gender, so yes I am constrained by my biology.

I suppose the thousands of men who died in wars or had limbs blown off weren't constrained by their biology either.

Let's consider at least 4-5 men commit suicide every day in this country are not constrained by their biology. At least 98% of work place fatalities are male.

Male children under the age of 5, have a much higher chance of dying than female children.

I am pretty sure that when the male birth control pill appears, that many men will be taking it, so the 'accidental' pregnancy does not happen. It will be interesting to see what happens to the birth rate once this magic pill appears and becomes a popular method to use in birth control.

Dear James, how many women sent men off to war? I don't mean as grieving wives and mothers, I mean as Kings, Dukes, Presidents, Fuehrers and PM"S? Yes, Golda Mier did and Indira Ghandi and Thatcher and Elizabeth 1 and probably a few more, but as a percentage they wouldn't make 1% of those who have declared war.
You need to look to your own gender for that. By the way, its feminism that has pushed more women into the armed forces, because as R0bert points out, adult feminists - and I hope I can count myself as one - believe that with equal rights come equal responsibilities.
Indeed, many - if not most - individual men throughout history had little power, but, in most societies over the millennia the least powerful man was more powerful than the least powerful woman, and I suspect that remains the case. Feminism would like to see ordinary people, both men and women, have more individual control (or power, if you prefer) over how they shall live and who they shall be, rather than have it dictated to them by - the largely male dominated institutions of church and state.

The least powerful are about to die. There are many more multiples of men then women in this cohort.

ena

You asked how many women sent men off to war. In response I am sorry to report that in Australia alone thousands of women have done just that.

Women voted strongly for Australia's participation in Vietnam and over the years have been staunch supporters of governments that sent men to war.

It is true that mothers shed tears when their sons are maimed or killed, but there is something about women that they are not averse to sending their sone and those of other mothers at the merest mention of hostilities. It is something women do not want to discuss but it does need to be 'outed' if some honesty is to prevail.

As a side issue, women haven't taken a back seat in supporting such nasties as capital punishment, corporal punishment in schools (and in the home), stronger criminal punishments, mandatory sentencing and so on either.

In short, it is a nonsense to claim that women are necessarily the less violent sex as any trip to the local hypermarket will show through the number of women who brutally chastise small children through verbal and physical abuse.

Then there is Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS)- what woman is not aware of friends (and maybe herself) who abuses children daily through alienation of the father?

Frankly I would like to think that feminism could deliver equality but while the mantra is women good but men, children and families bad, I cannot see any reason shy men should be so stupid as to accept the usual assurances that only a few radicals give feminism bad press.