American Woman, by Martha Thomases – Brilliant Disguise
As we discussed here and here, we, as a nation, are having a lot of the same arguments we had more than 50 years ago. Abortion, birth control, voting rights, lynchings — all these things were thought we settled policy are once again on the front page.
Next up is equal pay for equal work. When I was a young feminist, back in the 1960s, all sorts of people would say, “You dykes lose me with the bra-burning thing, but I support equal pay.”
Except now, some Republicans apparently can’t even go that far.
Since January 2009, we’ve heard them say they want to “Take America Back.” Now we know they mean back in time. If you don’t believe me, read this, where a Republican states that women don’t care about money because raising children is more important. I wonder how he raises children without any money?
But isn’t Mad Men really cool? Don’t all us women want a Don Draper? He’s so handsome, and he makes a lot of money.
And also he might dump us with no warning, or bring home an STD, and he’s so distant that one can have a more emotionally intimate relationship with a microwave. Which I think is the next bit of modernity that the GOP will attack.
As a white woman, I can’t really comment on how this nostalgia for a time when there were separate – but equal! – bathrooms, water fountains, schools, etc. for “coloreds,” to use the polite term of the time, feels to African-Americans today. But I can talk about the so-called “war on women.”
Of course, the Republicans don’t want to call it a war on women. They want to blame Obama for even starting the conversation. Or they want to blame the media, a tactic they developed in the 1960s for which they are so nostalgic. However, the facts are against them. (Although, as Stephen Colbert says, the facts have a liberal bias.)
Even their solutions reek of days gone by. The extreme right thinks the solution to economic inequality is more restrictions on the rights of women. Somehow, if we’re left without resources, men will magically want to take care of us and all of our needs. Yeah, that worked so well the first time.
My personal life lately is very difficult. However, I’m in a position of privilege, and while that privilege makes things easier, it doesn’t make them easy. I can only imagine how horrible it would be without my extra resources.
What I can’t imagine is why anyone would want to put others through this. And it is inconceivable to me that anyone would vote for it.
Martha Thomases, Media Goddess, misses only one thing from the 1950s – self-contained comic book stories.
![[Facebook]](http://mdwp.malibulist.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/facebook.png)
![[MySpace]](http://mdwp.malibulist.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/myspace.png)
![[Twitter]](http://mdwp.malibulist.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/twitter.png)
![[Email]](http://mdwp.malibulist.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/email.png)
April 14th, 2012 at 4:50 pm
Preach! Sister Martha! Preach!!
April 14th, 2012 at 5:15 pm
“we, as a nation, are having a lot of the same arguments we had more than 50 years ago”
I made that exact, same observation not more than an hour ago when I talking on the phone with someone.
I honestly thought most these cyclical issues had been sorted out and solved decades ago. But, no. The same things over and over again.
April 14th, 2012 at 9:11 pm
The Republicons want men to take of women you say. I’m in trouble I am and will be a single woman.
April 14th, 2012 at 11:24 pm
“Martha Thomases, Media Goddess, misses only one thing from the 1950s – self-contained comic book stories.”
Martha, on a tangent, don’t you miss TV shows that ran 30 -35 NEW episodes a year and didn’t have “reruns?” Nowadays, there are series (especially on HBO and Showtime) that wrap an entire season with as few as 10 or 12 episodes. Perhaps even worse are the shows that run 22-24 episodes for a season but split them up into what amounts to 3 (or even 4) “mini-seasons.”
It’s always funny/depressing to think that “I Love Lucy” had nearly 180 episodes over the course of just 6 seasons (compared to “Malcolm in the Middle” which had about 150 episodes over the course of 7 seasons). Even “Gilligan’s Island,” in just 3 years, managed 98 episodes (a point which most contemporary shows need 5 seasons to reach).
April 15th, 2012 at 5:26 am
I don’t miss old TV shows. Mostly because I don’t like shows with reset buttons at the end of each episode. I suppose it’s easier to produce them when each episode is pretty much interchangeable, but I much prefer post-1990s TV shows who take care to develop a continuing story.
Except for the Twilight Zone and the Outer Limits. Those I miss.
April 15th, 2012 at 5:26 am
Joseph, as a fan of many BBC programs, where a season can be 8 shows, I hadn’t considered your point. For example, FAWLTY TOWERS, one of my faces, only has a few episodes, but they are all gems.
However, just as I miss self-contained comics, I sometimes miss self-contained shows. There are a bunch of programs I bet I would like (JUSTIFIED, DR. WHO, LOST) that I don’t watch because I’d have to sit through hours and hours of video just to get caught up.
April 15th, 2012 at 11:47 am
The only thing that has changed in the last 50 years is that the large southern block that used to grudgingly support the Democratic party finally got in touch with their inner Puritan and switched to the Republican party.
April 15th, 2012 at 12:53 pm
Rene,
“Except for the Twilight Zone and the Outer Limits. Those I miss.”
I’m with you.
April 16th, 2012 at 3:29 am
I miss Rod Serling.
April 16th, 2012 at 2:55 pm
Back on topic.
Fifty years ago white men began to recognize, admit, and actively change their society. Today, the first two receive nostalgic notices from a generation fooled into believing the struggles are over. But in the case of action, many conservatives adopt libertarian views that social actions are somehow selective and discriminatory. Inequalities of race and sex do not end in one generation. The solutions in the 60s are not the solutions for today, but we still need solutions.