For a moment there I thought Don said…..”fierce when Aroused.”

Easy, tiger.

I think you’re hot too.

That’s awfully sweet of you. But I can be very fierce when roused. Grr.

Sonia, first of all, I disagree with your implied premise that women are less activist than men. It is simply not true. Societies all over the world have been revolutionised over the last century due to the activism of women. Women’s political movements in the 20th century made a dramatic impact on education, economics, the environment, law and politics, civil rights, gay rights, in short nearly everything that counts and that adds to the increased democratisation of societies. The big picture reminds us just what we owe to the women who pushed the boundaries and forever changed the world that was. The feminist/humanist/democratisation project is by no means over and even the women painting their toenails are aware of a lot more than we may give them credit for.

>> is there any indication ever given by these opinion-leaders ( for that’s how powerful they are) that we might be interested in anything else? oh no.

I see your point but the ‘female media’ you deride is not so female (in terms of of ownership and overall motive which equals increasing consumerism) and not so central to women’s lives. There are lots of alternative media and real opinion leaders, so women can hardly complain that the barbie lifestyle has been somehow foisted on them.

Also it is natural for both women and men to find the mating instinct the most predominant instinct and the media simply responds to this, it doesn’t create it.I have no problems with women who simply exist to bag a millionaire – their genes may win the evolutionary race …

>>and if you are, chances are there will be many female friends/relatives out there who wonder why you ‘make a fuss’

Maybe. But so what?

Sunny – can we have the preview back ? and for Xmas can we have a spell checker?

Justforfun

Or perhaps I have misunderstood you and when you mean ‘politics’ you mean the day to day practice of politics in Westminister. I must say I don’t read that many newspapers so I don’t have a view, but if CIF is an example – is the female/male commentator split 50/50 and mostly over most areas?

Justforfun

thank you all, the discussion sure promted me to blog for the first time..

Swati – But tell me would you correct you spouse, sibling or parent. I don’t know quite what you mean, but I understand your point about role models in the house and these are past on. I did not raise the issue because I think it can be corrected in one generation or because I think there is blame to be aportioned but rather to just explore the issue.

it seems to me that women are actively dis-encouraged by ‘female media’ from any kind of activism – ooh yes -instead we’re meant to be interested in how we can buy something that makes us attractive/fashion/ how to bag a man/millionaire etc. is there any indication ever given by these opinion-leaders ( for that’s how powerful they are) that we might be interested in anything else? oh no. and if you are, chances are there will be many female friends/relatives out there who wonder why you ‘make a fuss’

mary wolstonecraft shelley would turn in her grave.

Though I was thinking more in terms of political activism, in keeping sexist traditions alive, you are right.

Mirax:
that I’d have thought you’d have quoted as a ‘female voice’.
She’s been a bit quiet though recently.

It is just wise to be aware of deeply ingrained social and cultural (desi culture is spectacularly sexist) conditioning.
And I have no problems with you making me (or us) more aware of this. I’m more than happy to constantly evaluate my own use of language or actions.

The other point Swati and justforfun make about blogs v real life. Although my examples did relate to internet discussions, I believe the same could probably be applied to real life (though I could be wrong).

As Sonia brilliantly gave an example of above – women are encouraged in discussions to keep a tone of moderation while men ge away with being loud and beliggerent.

That surely has an impact on political life too. Most newspaper commentators on politics are men. The women are usually social commentators.

I also think that though it is partly the men holding back women in parliamentary politics, that it could also be that not enough women are applying or making an angry noise about not being represented.

now i’d say a lot of women do blog and are ‘opinion-formers’..but what are they blogging about? ‘group’ influences has a lot to do with this. women’s magazines and other influential media clearly have a big impact on the self-image of women and what we’re supposed to be interested in. there’s plenty of participation on the internet in terms of ‘shopping’ and ‘lifestyle discussion forums’ – so what does this say? now i wouldn’t say ..ooh this is necessarily a problem – after all if someone wants to blog or not blog, sit and talk about shopping and gossip – that’s their business as an individual. but it seems to appear that a lot of women may be doing different things if they felt it wouldn’t be considered ‘unfeminine’ and that’s something women collectively need to think about.

but coming back to the basic discussion, does it really make u feel better that there are less women responding, do u feel sorry that there are less women on blog, ..I mean why would a blogger want to know the gender of the respondent.

I believe that on a platform this virtual its the viewpoint that matters.

It puts a different spin on things if one views behaviour and virtues/vices in this way.