Mary Kenny causes more than a few feminists to have a heart attack in today’s Telegraph:
When the failure of women in general to have attained equal pay or equal leadership in the workplace is publicly discussed, it is still put down to constructs such as “the glass ceiling”, or the way in which girls are “socially conditioned” not to aspire to top pay or high leadership.
The evident fact that most women are, by definition, not driven by testosterone-fuelled competitive ambition is seldom suggested. Far from females being “conditioned” by society, it is Nature doing the programming.
It is interesting to note how it is possible for some people to simultaneously decry “testoterone-fueled aggression” and what they perceive as an unnatural shortage of women in leadership positions. What’s particularly strange about this is that if one looks at the sort of women who do pursue such roles, they tend to be women of the strikingly masculine appearance that suggests an abnormal amount of testosterone.
One thing I enjoy about the European newspapers is that they are significantly less PC than their American counterparts, as I’ve pointed out previously, European countries have already begun numerous public debates on immigration and many countries have already instituted stricter immigration controls despite an immigrant population that is less than one-fourth the size (in percentage terms) of America’s ongoing immigrant invasion.
Granted, Islamo-fascists are more problematic than Hispano-fascists, but nevertheless, they are taking action while US politicians busy themselves trying to diddle the pages.
My favorite thing about Kenny’s article, however, was the response from this zeta male:
Presumably Mary Kenney has never ever heard of any of the following…..Boudicca, Joan of Arc, Queen Elizabeth I, Mary Wolstenholme, Marie Stopes, Emmeline Pankhurst, Marie Curie, Anita Roddick, Mary Quant, Coco Chanel…to name but few. She needs (either) i)a serious reality check, or ii) a proper introduction to some of the most basic historical (and current) facts of life amongst which belonging to the female sexual gender does not of necessity equate to a “subservient” role in society.
Let’s examine those great women leaders, shall we?
1. Boudicca – Inherited her husband’s crown and sought revenge for her family’s humiliation by leading the Iceni and Trinovantes into rebellion against the Romans. She and her army of 250,0000 won a few battles, wiped out a Roman legion and massacred 75,000 people before losing to Suetonius despite outnumbering him 25 to 1.
2. Joan of Arc – Inspired the French and legitimately deserves credit for the victory at the Siege of Orleans. Unfortunately, her single tactic was to charge the enemy head-on without hesitation, which worked a few times until her luck ran out. She was captured in a minor skirmish while stupidly insisting on remaining with the rear-guard.
3. Queen Elizabeth I – A canny leader, but one who was always conscious of her limitations. Adroitly made use of her sex as a weapon. Excellent politician but never led her troops and had the benefit of some very skilled ministers. Never dared to marry for fear of political and religious intrigue and was forced to leave her throne to a Catholic in the end.
4. Mary Wolstenholme – I don’t know and neither does Google or Wikipedia.
5. Marie Stopes – Eugenicist who called for sterilizing the feeble-minded and “half-castes” and disowned her son for committing the “eugenic crime” of marrying a woman who wore glasses.
6. Emmeline Pankhurst – Suffragette led the campaign for women’s right to vote as well as the White Feather campaign to jail men who did not volunteer to fight in the Great War. A nascent fascist, as her daughters and fellow suffragettes later proved.
7. Marie Curie – gifted physicist and chemist, worked with her husband Pierre and won two Nobel prizes.
8. Anita Roddick – Founded The Body Shop. A teacher whose entrepeneurial husband had previously started a restaurant and a hotel… and joined her business after she’d opened her second shop. I don’t know enough about that industry to have an informed opinion here, but my suspicion is that it was probably her idea and his execution.
9. Mary Quant – invented the mini-skirt. In the immortal words of Derrick Coleman, whoop-de-damn do. It’s nice, but come on.
10. Coco Chanel – Clothes designer and Nazi collaborator.
So, this list of female immortals appears to demonstrate that women are capable of a) getting themselves and many others killed through military incompetence or insane ideology, and b) working effectively with their husbands to enjoy great scientific and commercial success.
How these ten examples are supposed to disprove anything Kenny has written about a biological handicap is beyond me. I note that he just happened to leave off one successful female leader, unfortunately, even Margaret Thatcher managed to get herself seduced and suckered by sweet-talking evil men when she bought into the bait-and-switch of the European Union, to the great detriment of her legacy.