Dear Editor,
Wasn’t Woman’s Liberation Day observed sometime in 1975. Sometime between November and December of that year I wrote a letter, which was published in the Guyana Chronicle (there was no SN at that time). In responding to the woman’s Liberation movement I had reasoned then that there is no equality between men and woman, because of their fundamental differences, and that woman should be fighting for equal opportunities instead of trying to be men. Of course the feminist took the movement down the road of “anything a man can do we can do better”, exposing women to the perils of being in the army, the war zone and a lot more.
Women have indeed made great strides in their careers even though there are complaints that there is still a lot of distance to travel, pay equality being one of the major obstacles. The reality of the feminists’ ambitions can now be viewed from the right perspective as we witness and analyze the circumstances involving the attempt of a woman trying to break through the ultimate glass ceiling.
Ever since Mrs. Clinton decided on running for the Presidency of the US and long before her defeat in Iowa the other candidates dared not treat her or talk about her as they would talk about each other. When it became necessary to take the campaign down the rough, rugged, nasty and dirty trail one could not miss that there is a “girl” in the race. Keep it clean guys.
Participating in this big game, in this so called man’s world and after losing in Iowa, where statistics show that women did not vote overwhelmingly for Mrs. Clinton, Mrs. Clinton was brought to tears in response to the question, “How do you do it?”. Whether spontaneous or deliberate Mrs. Clinton displayed raw emotion which triggered a feminine response and a turn around victory for her in New Hampshire.
The New Hampshire phenomenon seems to be saying, “take this you men for beating up a girl”. No harm in that. This is expected if one understands the differences between men and women, but it makes a mockery of what the feminists were fighting for. The following quote from a popular US talk show host deals with this topic succinctly:
“Tell me, people, I don’t know women? (laughs) Now, here’s the thing. Here’s the thing about this, because I know what some of you are thinking.
Does this episode with Mrs. Clinton, not just blow to smithereens the whole concept of equality, the Equal Rights Amendment, feminism and so forth? Men, routinely… I mean, life for men is one giant competition, sometimes physical, all the times mental, all the times emotional, all the times attitudinal. Life is one big competition, and men are raised that way – and the moment they show weakness in the face of competition, they’re finished!”
“Mrs. Clinton wants to enter what has been a boys club. Fine and dandy. What was feminism about?
Making sure that women could do whatever they wanted to do. The big mistake that I think the feminists made from the get-go was, rather than stick to female issues – having women be who they are, who they want to be – the early feminists said, “You gotta be like men! You gotta dress like them. You gotta go to career schools like them. You gotta go to a career path like them. You gotta climb the career ladder like them. You gotta be like men.” Well, women aren’t like men, despite what TIME Magazine says. There are basic differences, among them the womb – and that is something that you cannot rule out here, the differences, once that comes into play.”
“At any rate, do we now have evidence that there is no such thing as equality, particularly on the campaign trail? I mean look at what’s been said about Huckabee! Look at what’s been said about Mitt! Look at what’s been said about Fred Thompson, “You lazy bum! Where’s the fire in the belly?” People have been all over Huckabee because he’s dishonest. He’s a conservative, liberal in sheep’s clothing. Look at McCain. These guys have not once broken down and cried. They have not once gotten emotional.
They have not once gotten the question, “How do you do it?” No man would think of asking McCain or Rudy or Huckabee or any of these candidates, “How do you do it?” because it’s what it is, and I doubt that a woman would ask these Republican candidates, “How do you put up with it? How are you handling this?”
“The point is, there is no such thing as equality. There is still – and it will always be this way, as it should be – preferential treatment for women in areas of high competition, high intensity. There always will be, and it should be that way, and you can see in this whole episode the absolute fraud and intellectual vapidity that feminism, militant feminism has always been.”
Yours faithfully,
F. Skinner
