BBoy, you weren't to know, but at my own sites I've written many detailed posts on feminism.

For example, "The politics of bad faith" discusses the work of Kate Millett:

http://ozconservative.blogspot.com/2006/04/politics-of-bad-faith.html

"The case against Sweden" examines the views of Swedish ministers on gender equality:

http://ozconservative.blogspot.com/2007/04/case-against-sweden.html

"Eliza Linton and the female Lurcher" considers the works of Mary Wollstonecraft and Eliza Linton amongst others:

http://www.ozconservative.com/elizalinton.htm

This article is also highly relevant:

http://ozconservative.blogspot.com/2006/12/feminism-which-ends-in-tears.html

The last item looks at the criticisms of feminism made by Virginia Haussegger, who had been to that time a left-wing feminist journalist. Her criticisms are similar to the ones made in my post featured here at On Line Opinion.

BBoy, I'm not sure you really tried to engage with the specific criticisms of feminism I made in my post. Am I wrong in asserting that during third wave feminism young women were encouraged to follow a "glamorous" single girl lifestyle and to postpone family formation? Am I wrong in asserting that leading feminists did not issue warnings about the emotional pain such a postponement was likely to cause women in their 30s?

Romany. Word, sister. I didn't even open my mouth but you already managed to steal the words right out of them. I thought of posting on this thread earlier, then I thought of having a glass of wine and reading some PG Wodehouse. PG Wodehouse won.

Hugs to all.

Plleease! Another article rehashing this tired groan?:
1) As the first forum entry conjectures, this story was probably workshopped around a boardroom table two hours before an issue deadline. She's not a real woman, just a synthesis of hackneyed generalisations and urban myth;
2) Feminism is a very diverse and broad field. There are in fact many feminists who have put their minds to the question of motherhood and spousedom. This is, in fact, where second wave feminism began. It's an ignorant assertion to say that feminists are only concerned with women who are in the workforce and/or childless;
3) As a feminist and a (married) mother, who has taught feminist theory at University, it would concern me a great deal if Mark Richardson were my daughter's secondary school teacher. I certainly hope he doesn't propound this sort of feeble-minded pap in the classroom.

Ideally Online Opinion writers should actually know what they are talking about, and possibly even have some level of expertise in the area. It is beneath the usual standards of this journal to publish what is simply a reheated article from the popular press.

Yup: If one woman stuffs up her life ALL women are to blame. Now just when will those girls get the truth through their pretty little heads?

By the same logic, ALL men are to blame for tossers like Wayne Carey or Ben Cousins, aren’t we boys?

Richardson has made some sweeping generalisations which I would like to tweak a little:

“Real manly men have never seriously interested themselves in questions of how men might successfully marry and become fathers.”

OR how about this one?

“It's not that HRS was unfortunate in meeting the wrong women but that he deliberately sought them out.”

I figure are HRS has had so much to whinge about on OLO he would be a good substitute for the real or imagined Danielle.

I would like to suggest, Mark that you turn your shining spotlight on why men continue to stuff up by writing thoughtless twaddle like your article.

I'm so glad I decided to remain single and childless. I'm a woman in my early sixties, live alone, have wonderful friends (both sexes) and am retired. I love it! Many thanks to all those brave feminists, who have made my choices possible.
Brennie

Is the author aware that the proportion of women who have children compared to those who do not (a little less than one third don't) has been stable throughout the period of history during which records have been kept (more than 100 years). I’m sure we could pull out any number of stories of women (and men) who waited too long and didn’t end up with their dream. But then there’s any number of women who stuffed around most of their lives then thought about it all at the last minute and things proceeded perfectly. Or how about women who started too early and ended up in a nightmare. Or the women who started too early and ended up fluking the perfect life. Or the women who did everthing perfectly and ended up with the perfect/horrific life. Anecdotes like the one offered by the author we’re commenting on are useful for giving us something to mull over. But we can learn more by stepping back and looking at the figures on the bigger picture. Sure – women have some decisions to make and some things to think about today but life has offered every generation a series of challenges that leave some people unhappy. And as for those who do not bear children – the figures show us the proportion has been stable over time (with the exception of a post-WWII boom in which the proportion of women who didn’t bear children shrunk for a short period of time). Even when it was standard to marry as a teenager, there was about a third of women who didn't become mothers.