'Post-Neanderthal Equality' (Where is the next feminist revolution?)

Wall Street Journal ^ | December 15, 2006 | NAOMI SCHAEFER RILEY

[Mrs. Don-o]

The December issue of the journal Current Anthropology offers a new hypothesis for how the Neanderthals died out 10,000 years ago. It happens that there was little or no division of labor in Neanderthal society. Unlike in early human communities, where the men hunted and the women gathered (or hunted small animals), male and female Neanderthals were both engaged in going after big game, at least if the evidence from their gravesites is to be believed. When there was no big game, there was no food at all.

Betty Friedan is probably turning over in her own gravesite right now, yearning to assure us that this finding has no bearing on modern society...

[Yet] I was getting nostalgic for this kind of "equality" feminism...after reading an article in a recent issue of the New Yorker about the rise of Bratz dolls, a kind of hip figurine that is giving Barbie a run for her money. Margaret Talbot, the article's author, describes, among other Bratz personalities, the "Wicked Twins" who are wearing "black chokers, tight black T-shirts that said 'Bad Girl,' low-slung skirts, and lace-up, high-heeled boots." A father in one toy store told Ms. Talbot: "These are dolls that look like streetwalkers."

And Ms. Talbot seems to agree: "You could never imagine a Bratz doll assuming any of the dozens of careers Barbie has pursued over the decades: not Business Executive or Surgeon or Summit Diplomat--not even Pan Am Flight Attendant or Pet Doctor. Bratz girls seem more like kept girls, or girls trying to convert a stint on reality TV into a future as the new Ashlee or Lindsay or Paris." Perhaps now that feminism has achieved its goals--let's call it a post-Neanderthal equality--the freedom to act like Paris Hilton seems to be all that's left....

[Mrs. Don-o]

Quoting SlavaBogu from another website,

"The beauty of feminism is that it's a self-correcting anomaly.

"In any society where the differences between male and female degenerate to the point where there IS no difference, there is not sufficient replenishment of the population because either guys are doing guys and gals are doing gals OR the heteros are afflicted with the modern age diseases of impotence and low fertility rates. "

[Mrs. Don-o]

Share?

[Just another Joe]

Neanderthal Women Joined Men in the Hunt (Eat your heart out, feminists)

You're late on this subject. ;^)

[darkwing104]

In others words "feminism killed off the Neanderthals"

That ought to stir the pot a little.

[Jaysun]

The greatest contribution that feminism can make is to die as a movement.

[HOTTIEBOY]

That proves it.

When women don't know there place, the whole species starts to break down.

[theFIRMbss]

[montag813]

Perhaps Nanderthals died out because the men became "metrosexuals"

[yankeedame]

...male and female Neanderthals were both engaged in going after big game, at least if the evidence from their gravesites is to be believed...

IMHO, this is another case of "the wish is father to the thought." Hunting, esp. primitive sticks-and-flint-knives hunting requires brute straight and stamina. Women come in a definite second in these when compares to men -- even Neanderthal women.

• Women are smaller, with smaller hands, lungs, etc. Because of this women, as a rule, could not keep up with the men.
• Women are more susceptible, and sensitive, to physical pain(s) and discomfort. Even if they don't utter a word, they still feel/suffer from it.
• Women have shorter legs, thus do not run as fast, or sprint, as men.
• Women have menstrual cycles, and all kidding aside about PMS, the mere fact she dribbles, often quite heavily, as well as the frequent cramping and pain involved, does not make her ideal companion for the hunt.
• Women get pregnant. This condition -- even from the very onset w/ morning sickness -- likewise makes women, even Neanderthal women, more of a burden than asset in the hunt.
• A women who has recently given birth to a child, or is nursing a child, is in no condition to be "equal partners" in the hunt.

[SunkenCiv]

Just adding this to the GGG catalog, not sending a general distribution.

To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. Thanks.

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