Greetings, Gentle Reader,

A young man and I approached the post office door at the same time. I smiled at him and stepped aside, expecting him to hold the door for me. Instead, he smiled back, opened the door and walked through. As I realized that I had fallen back into an old pattern that is no longer in effect, it struck my funny bone, and I started to giggle.

It reminded me of another incident of thirty-plus years ago. At that time I was also approaching a post office door. There were several older men standing around, passing the time of day. One of them stepped forward, smiled and opened the door for me. As he did, he touched his fingers to the brim of his hat in a courteous salute. I remember thinking that, though we were in California at the time, this man must have come from southwestern Colorado. It was such a typical Colorado salute for a man of his generation.

At that time in our nation's history, men treated women with respect and courtesy. In fact, contrary to what we are told by today's man haters, a man who abused his wife was not the norm - at least not in southwestern Colorado. And since we were stationed in many different parts of this country over the years, I can say that it was not the norm in any of the other places in which I have lived. Don't misunderstand; I am not saying it didn't happen; I am saying it was not the norm on the east coast, in the Midwest, in the Northwest, nor in Cal ifornia. I cannot say what went on in the Northeast or the Southeast, not did I ever live in the northern part of the Midwest, but for rest, a man who abused his wife was the exception, not the rule.

A paratrooper named Ross Carter wrote a book of his experiences during the hard fighting in Europe, as the allies took the continent back from Adolf Hitler - one bloody battle at a time. He said the men, overwhelming, were fighting for their wives, their fiances, their mothers and their sisters. Each man was fighting for a world in which his loved ones would remain safe and free.

During that period in our history, the term "battle of the sexes" was often used. If it was a battle at all, it was a tremendously fun battle. Good men valued good women, and they were willing to fight to protect them. Having been born very shortly before that war started, I know that is true. In fact, before the feminists began the battle of the sexes in earnest, maligning and abusing all men shamefully and unjustly - with special attention to white men - we women were treated with care and respect; and we were protected by men much more than we were ever abused.

Women were protected from contact sports, because women's bodies take a worse beating from that sort of sport than men's do, seriously compromising their chance of survival during childbirth. Feminists interpreted this as discrimination, while the rest of us interpreted it as protection. Men were kept from women's locker rooms, dorms and bathrooms. Normal women knew those rules were for their protection. Feminists saw it as discrimination (and they have successfully discarded those rules in many colleges.) But when they forced themselves into the locker rooms of professional football teams, they were outraged that the men walked around naked in front of them. They saw no reason why men should be protected from a woman reporter's outrageous intrusion in a locker room - where the men really do take showers with their clothes off - but they were furious when they were not protected from the sight of naked males. What did they think football players did in their locker rooms? Play Old Maid?

When I hear women say they are feminists because they want to be equal with men, I cringe. We were always treated as though we were superior to men. Men held doors, chairs and coats for us. They stood up and gave us their seats, and they let us get ahead of them in a line. If a woman's car broke, some man would invariably come along and fix it - right on the street and without charge. I was never afraid of being attacked when a man stopped to help me; I knew why he was stopping. If I were in trouble and had to go into a man's repair shop to buy something, I knew I would probably be able to buy what I needed for less than they would sell it to a man.

My husband treated women this way. He was an honorable, decent man, and he treated women as though they were God's gift to good men. If I was very tired and would rather go without food than get some for myself, he would get it for me. He tucked me in carefully at night and was happy to get me a glass of water if I was thirsty. He tried to make sure my car was safe and filled with fuel. He didn't like to have me wandering around our property alone at night, and that was especially if it was cold or rainy. He preferred to have me stay inside, while he tended to whatever problem had arisen. If it was something I had to do and he couldn't do it for me, then he accompanied me.

We are in a fight for the survival of our society and our country. That which we know to be good is derided and punished. That which we know to be bad is forced on us by the courts and government. Our government persecutes and prosecutes whistle blowers. Women in the military have to abandon their babies to serve in foreign lands. Men are forced to have women with them 24 hours a day in missile silos. Military people are told that adultery is totally acceptable in our modern society, but are drummed out of the military when they engage in it, and then lie about it. But then politicians seem to have a free pass on all offenses, even when they betray us to our enemies.

The people of our nation have split into two opposing camps. One side aggressively embraces and defends our present society, with its rampant sexual and social depravity, anti-nationalism and refusal to accept personal responsibility for the social violence it has spawned. The other side remembers what it was like to leave the keys in the car and the door unlocked. They remember when children were safe on the school grounds and the schools taught history, geography and the three "R's." They remember unabashed patriotism and devotion to a good, constructive country, filled with freedom and concern for one's fellow man.

If the intelligent women of this country could know what they have forfeited in their ridiculous fight for "equality," many of them would shed tears for its loss, as I do. We are a culture at war with itself, and we are losing.


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1 comments:

    Unknown said...

    Without question, women have paid huge prices for their "equality." Now I believe, along with every other woman, that we should be treated fairly and equally, able to make a living as much as the next guy. But I don't believe that men should be emasculated to accomplish that task. We've gone from the domination of women, to the emasculation of men and now we're left with a mess! How about we treat each others as the sons and daughters of God we all are?!

  1. ... on June 1, 2008 at 3:48 PM