Mar 11, 2022·edited Mar 11, 2022Liked by Greg Olear
Superb article, Thank You! So that's why, in 1977 on my good, full time salary, I could not get a car loan in my name ("You might get pregnant" the loan officer had said), but my husband, full time student, NO income, could walk into that same bank the next day and get MY car financed (and get my faithful payments listed on his credit report). P.S. The following year, I was awarded a full scholarship and generous stipend for graduate school, and, while pregnant, paid that car off.
The slander of VP Harris is vile on Fox. However, the MSM heaps it on as well. They just can’t help repeating the cult nuts. Of course many are our republican “leaders.”
I refuse to click on anything that criticizes or vilifies Kamala Harris. She is an absolutely magnificent human being, every story I’ve ever read about her while she was in California proves it. She’s a gem. 💎🏆❤️
American society is just a reflection of world society. We live in a primitive, barbaric, often savage civilization, and the treatment of women in particular absolutely stinks.
First of all, Greg, sorry about the bad head cold. May it break soon, hopefully it has broken already, and may your recovery be quick and easy.
Considering the depth and variety and severity of tough/painful subjects you cover, I’m not a bit surprised.
In Middle Eastern countries to this day, women have to hide their hair and their figures, they need a man’s permission and supervision to do almost anything from driving a car to engaging in simple contractual transactions, and on and on. The social regulation of women is still alive and well in other nations.
This world is barbaric. Of course the United States, a country built on the European invasion and occupation of someone else’s rightful property, is where we live, and should be the focus of our attention to this matter. But the problem is worldwide. All of human civilization that we know of, the last several thousand years, is predicated on men having power over women. Subjugation.
What I am saying in simple words is that this world’s civilization stinks to high heaven. Human society, human civilization, is shit. The state of human rights on planet earth is better now than it was a few hundred years ago, during the Inquisitions, but it’s still only slightly higher than rock bottom.
Don’t even try using that stupid cliché on me that we live in an advanced culture. Nonsense. Crap. Just take a look at how many women disappear because men have offed them. It’s an epidemic, and it barely gets any press. Now and then, one single solitary white woman becomes the focus of attention. Kidnapping and murder (or sale) of women is rampant, epidemic, and usually committed with impunity all over the world, every day.
Thank you for writing this, Greg. I was a Social Studies teacher for many years, and I put forth the information about the arrival of the first African slaves and the first European women at the same time. I'm not sure how many of my hundreds and hundreds of students grabbed on to this information, but it was there.
While I had all the facts you shared for many years, I never wrote an article like yours, and I want to express my appreciation for you--one of those "white men"--for doing what I should have done long ago. Thank you for giving voice to me and my sisters. You are truly a brother.
I have never heard the story of those 90 women. Damn.
I have always been acutely aware of the difference between the rights and situation of my mother-- born in 1935-- and mine, born 1957. I was lucky enough to find myself squarely within the ranks of the first generation of Gloria Steinem feminists. We fight on.
Meanwhile my mother, alive and well at 86 years old, has never fully understood why she was so very unhappy in her life. She blames it on having to raise 4 kids with little money-- but I do not think she ever really understood the broader picture. She *never* had a way out, a different choice.
The women of her generation could see the promise of feminism, but couldn't quite grasp it. Their daughters... well, we own our lives in ways unimaginable to them. For that I am grateful. As for the rest... we fight on.
Thanks, Sherrie. I didn't know the story either, until yesterday...I just remembered that slaves and women came over the same year.
It will be interesting to see what happens with gender roles in the US. Many more women in college now than men...how will that affect things? I had to keep Googling the Supreme Court thing. There HAD to be more, someone I was forgetting...but no, it really is that awful.
I well remember that first credit card. I learned about it from a friend (not my husband) who told me that if something happened to him, I wouldn't be able to use his credit card to put gas in my car or pay bills and if our bank account was in his name only (it was), I would not have access to that account. That scared me so badly, I was a credit card queen for a long time! I'm back to one card and my OWN account now. It's a good thing I took her advice when I did. When he became ill with Alzheimers, he attempted to close our mutual account (he was out of his mind at the time) and because I knew the bank VP personally (she was a "she"), I was able to reopen it and put restrictions on it that forbade him making any more unilateral decisions. I was also able to navigate us through the following years until his death, with the help of an Eldercare attorney (also a "she".) Even living in a time of so-called feminism, the deck is stacked. Thank you so much for this article, Greg.
Thanks for sharing that, Ellen. Nothing like that should ever happen, but because of misogyny, here we are.
Property law here derives from British property law, which was formed in the years of the Black Death, when multiple generations (read: of men) died all at once, and in some circumstances, women HAD to inherit stuff.
The fact that the word “woman” is still nowhere in the Constitution (and that the ERA has not ever passed) makes it clear what the status of women is in this country. Also, many women still submit to footbinding in the form of high heeled shoes. Oppressed people dress to curry favor with their oppressors.
I wish I had something to add, but you've covered all the salient points, Greg. I too, DO NOT understand the constant drumbeat of misogyny over Kamala Harris. She was actually my first choice in the 2020 election. I could see the intelligence and the fight in her to take down Trump, but as it turned out, I guess not very many people could. I honestly can't figure it out. I was 100% behind Hillary too, but if I'm being honest, I could see some of the points being made about her. I still didn't agree with them, but I could see how people got there, and that was ALL misogyny and lies. But the stuff about Harris, I don't get at all. I would LOVE to still be alive to see her as president -- you know, for longer than it takes for Uncle Joe to get a colonoscopy.
If the country were run by women, we'd get a lot more done, that's for sure!
Thank you, Greg. More true every day, especially due to Trump and GOP:
“The better I get to know men, the more I find myself loving dogs.”
- Charles de Gaulle
And cats, at my house
Yes, two cats here, a very very fine house.
Was gonna say, I'm a cat person, but the point holds.
Made me smile in tough times. We gotta do better ourselves -- it's the 21st Century, my brothers!
Amen.
NPR had a show on maternal death rates. The percentage of maternal deaths in the US are THREE TIMES HIGHER than they are in the UK.
Just let that sink in.
Wow, unconscionable
One of our two political parties wants women to die, so this is not a surprise. But it's appalling.
So glad I subscribe; I’m in Twitmo for a week, but, TGIF🎉🎉🎉
TGIF!
Thank you for this, Greg. It’s all so FRUSTRATING! KB
There's so much more to say. So much frustrating.
Superb article, Thank You! So that's why, in 1977 on my good, full time salary, I could not get a car loan in my name ("You might get pregnant" the loan officer had said), but my husband, full time student, NO income, could walk into that same bank the next day and get MY car financed (and get my faithful payments listed on his credit report). P.S. The following year, I was awarded a full scholarship and generous stipend for graduate school, and, while pregnant, paid that car off.
We live in an incredibly backwards society. Barbaric. Primitive.
Unconscionable. Just awful. Good on you for your scholarship!
Amen, amen, amen. Sharing widely.
The slander of VP Harris is vile on Fox. However, the MSM heaps it on as well. They just can’t help repeating the cult nuts. Of course many are our republican “leaders.”
I refuse to click on anything that criticizes or vilifies Kamala Harris. She is an absolutely magnificent human being, every story I’ve ever read about her while she was in California proves it. She’s a gem. 💎🏆❤️
There is low-key misogyny among supposed leftwing journos, too. Especially with MVP.
Thank you for acknowledging this. Too many in media do not.
Welcome to my world, bro.
American society is just a reflection of world society. We live in a primitive, barbaric, often savage civilization, and the treatment of women in particular absolutely stinks.
If this doesn't stop soon, there won't be a world left, alas. It's infuriating.
First of all, Greg, sorry about the bad head cold. May it break soon, hopefully it has broken already, and may your recovery be quick and easy.
Considering the depth and variety and severity of tough/painful subjects you cover, I’m not a bit surprised.
In Middle Eastern countries to this day, women have to hide their hair and their figures, they need a man’s permission and supervision to do almost anything from driving a car to engaging in simple contractual transactions, and on and on. The social regulation of women is still alive and well in other nations.
This world is barbaric. Of course the United States, a country built on the European invasion and occupation of someone else’s rightful property, is where we live, and should be the focus of our attention to this matter. But the problem is worldwide. All of human civilization that we know of, the last several thousand years, is predicated on men having power over women. Subjugation.
What I am saying in simple words is that this world’s civilization stinks to high heaven. Human society, human civilization, is shit. The state of human rights on planet earth is better now than it was a few hundred years ago, during the Inquisitions, but it’s still only slightly higher than rock bottom.
Don’t even try using that stupid cliché on me that we live in an advanced culture. Nonsense. Crap. Just take a look at how many women disappear because men have offed them. It’s an epidemic, and it barely gets any press. Now and then, one single solitary white woman becomes the focus of attention. Kidnapping and murder (or sale) of women is rampant, epidemic, and usually committed with impunity all over the world, every day.
And to think, this is right now the best it's ever been. That's the part that really boggles the mind.
Thank you for writing this, Greg. I was a Social Studies teacher for many years, and I put forth the information about the arrival of the first African slaves and the first European women at the same time. I'm not sure how many of my hundreds and hundreds of students grabbed on to this information, but it was there.
While I had all the facts you shared for many years, I never wrote an article like yours, and I want to express my appreciation for you--one of those "white men"--for doing what I should have done long ago. Thank you for giving voice to me and my sisters. You are truly a brother.
Thanks, Lexine. I'm sure you were a great Social Studies teacher!
Thank you, Greg. I certainly tried to do my best for my community. Thank you for all you do for us.
Well done, Mr. Olear. Well done.
I have never heard the story of those 90 women. Damn.
I have always been acutely aware of the difference between the rights and situation of my mother-- born in 1935-- and mine, born 1957. I was lucky enough to find myself squarely within the ranks of the first generation of Gloria Steinem feminists. We fight on.
Meanwhile my mother, alive and well at 86 years old, has never fully understood why she was so very unhappy in her life. She blames it on having to raise 4 kids with little money-- but I do not think she ever really understood the broader picture. She *never* had a way out, a different choice.
The women of her generation could see the promise of feminism, but couldn't quite grasp it. Their daughters... well, we own our lives in ways unimaginable to them. For that I am grateful. As for the rest... we fight on.
Sherrie Crow
Atlanta, GA
Thanks, Sherrie. I didn't know the story either, until yesterday...I just remembered that slaves and women came over the same year.
It will be interesting to see what happens with gender roles in the US. Many more women in college now than men...how will that affect things? I had to keep Googling the Supreme Court thing. There HAD to be more, someone I was forgetting...but no, it really is that awful.
Thanks for sharing.
I well remember that first credit card. I learned about it from a friend (not my husband) who told me that if something happened to him, I wouldn't be able to use his credit card to put gas in my car or pay bills and if our bank account was in his name only (it was), I would not have access to that account. That scared me so badly, I was a credit card queen for a long time! I'm back to one card and my OWN account now. It's a good thing I took her advice when I did. When he became ill with Alzheimers, he attempted to close our mutual account (he was out of his mind at the time) and because I knew the bank VP personally (she was a "she"), I was able to reopen it and put restrictions on it that forbade him making any more unilateral decisions. I was also able to navigate us through the following years until his death, with the help of an Eldercare attorney (also a "she".) Even living in a time of so-called feminism, the deck is stacked. Thank you so much for this article, Greg.
Can't 'love' this enough Ellen.
Thanks for sharing that, Ellen. Nothing like that should ever happen, but because of misogyny, here we are.
Property law here derives from British property law, which was formed in the years of the Black Death, when multiple generations (read: of men) died all at once, and in some circumstances, women HAD to inherit stuff.
Madness, all madness.
The fact that the word “woman” is still nowhere in the Constitution (and that the ERA has not ever passed) makes it clear what the status of women is in this country. Also, many women still submit to footbinding in the form of high heeled shoes. Oppressed people dress to curry favor with their oppressors.
I mean, PAKISTAN has had a woman leading the country. Pakistan!
Great column. Thank you
I wish I had something to add, but you've covered all the salient points, Greg. I too, DO NOT understand the constant drumbeat of misogyny over Kamala Harris. She was actually my first choice in the 2020 election. I could see the intelligence and the fight in her to take down Trump, but as it turned out, I guess not very many people could. I honestly can't figure it out. I was 100% behind Hillary too, but if I'm being honest, I could see some of the points being made about her. I still didn't agree with them, but I could see how people got there, and that was ALL misogyny and lies. But the stuff about Harris, I don't get at all. I would LOVE to still be alive to see her as president -- you know, for longer than it takes for Uncle Joe to get a colonoscopy.
If the country were run by women, we'd get a lot more done, that's for sure!