With a degree from a top-notch college, I couldn't get a full time job as a newly married woman - Long Island, 1984! I was told no one would take the time to train me as I'd likely leave shortly to tend to a baby. I was asked by interviewers if I were pregnant - I could only get sub/part time jobs. Not that long ago.

HA! I probably would have lied and said "Oh, well, I can't have children." then if I ever did get pregnant, start having a religious fit, claiming it was a miracle. =p

It still happens! Less than a year ago, I was grilled by a prospective employer on how I would care for my child if I were to get the job (she repeated the question multiple times, for multiple scenarios). I didn't volunteer that I had children. The interviewer, who was a woman, asked me. I did not get the job, and I really wonder if it has to do with the fact that I am a woman who has children.

Most likely, that is why you didn't get the job. They can't ask questions like that for that very reason...and they could never say that because it is illegal to use the answer as job criteria.

http://www.huffingtonpost.c...

In many parts of America (the insane Christian extremist areas) all of this and much more (especially anything to do with thier own bodies) is still strictly forbidden to the women-folk.

You almost expect it from the Christian extremist areas, but I'm always amazed at how repressive and backwards even normal-thinking states can be when it comes to women's rights.

Serve on a jury, get a credit card, wear practical bathing suit, watch the Olympics Play soccer. I can't think of a single state in the U.S. where any of these are out of my reach. Sure, we still have issues to overcome, but let's have some respect and perspective for the issues our mothers and grand mothers ACTUALLY had to go through.

Not so much states as social communities. Small scale, very small scale.

I remember my Mom practically ran out the first day she could established her own credit.

[citation needed]

If you're going to make a stupid claim, please cite your work. I want to see links to laws that prohibit women from doing any of the above in the "insane Christian extremist areas".

It is wonderful to see men expressing outrage over women's rights discrimination. Thank you

Not allowed to play soccer? Oh, the horror! Oh, the outrage! Oh, the oppression! But this list fails to mention one thing that women were banned from: Forced conscription. That's right, no women has ever been forced to die in war. But rest assured, Congress is currently hard at work to correct this little oversight.
Congratulations! This is what equality looks like.

Who's being forced to die? Didn't say I was better. What the hell are you talking about?
How about forming a constructive argument?
Try again.

Again, who is "she"?
Universal conscription of both men and women would be true equality. But feminists don't seem to want that, they only want equality for the fun stuff. That was the point I was making.

Thank you for the clarification.
And no one in the US has been drafted since Vietnam. But 18 year old men still must register by law or face severe penalties if they do not.

I enlisted in the Navy as a way to get through college, so I served my country, as have thousands of other women. What I find highly entertaining is that the guys who register for the draft, and then use our not having to register for the draft as reasons not to allow us equal rights, are often the very same guys who did not serve in the military, even though they had to register. Furthermore, no one has been drafted in over forty years! Tell you what. Give us equal rights first and then we will happily register for the draft as our way of "giving back."

I'm glad that you chose to serve our country. You're correct, there hasn't been a draft since Vietnam. However, men are still required by law to register and face severe penalties if they do not.
What legal rights do you not have as a woman that I have as a man?

As a man, I would like to remind you that it was the republican men of congress in the 80s that killed the Equal Rights Amendment because they didn't want women to be drafted.

And I've never met an actual feminist that has ever been against signing up for the draft. You know, because they want equal treatment in the military and that would kind of hinder that. Perhaps you need a break from the internet.

The ERA was killed for alot of reasons, the draft being just one of them. It sounded like a great idea, but if it passed, women would be treated exactly like men and would lose any sort of preferential treatment.

Yeah, feminists are all for the draft. That's why I always see them protesting in front of the recruitment office and the post office.

You're right, maybe I do indeed need a break from the internet. ..........

I'm back. Wow, that was fun.

Seriously though, what rights do you think you're missing out on? I want to be on your side but I just don't see how you're not afforded the same legal rights and protections as a man under the law.

I honestly think that feminists suffer from some sort of collective Munchhausen syndrome. They want the status of an oppressed group and use their "suffering" as emotional currency.

You stated that you were in the military, how were you not treated equal to the other male soldiers?

Do you really want to be treated exactly the same as men? I have noticed throughout my life that people are generally nicer and more accommodating to women. Men, typically white men, are met with disdain and apathy despite having serious issues. The majority of the homeless, suicides, and workplace deaths, to name a few, are men and no one gives a shit.

Women can't do #8 any more in a lot of jurisdictions, but then again, neither can men.

Nobody should be allowed to do #8. It's gross and selfish.

Really? Not even by themselves in the privacy of their own homes? If someone wants to commit a slow suicide with tobacco, then it's no skin off my back.

#8 Smoke in Public Places. When are private homes considered to be be public places?

I have heard that people who live in public housing, people who live in nursing homes that take Medicare, and people who have dictatorial landlords are not allowed to smoke inside their own homes. And I used to work for a company that would not hire smokers, period. Sure, you could drive recklessly, molest your kids, beat up your wife, or get drunk or stoned in your own time, and no one would say anything, but God forbid that you were a smoker.

Nice strawman arguments. Every one of them. "I have heard", heresay and not supportable. "People that live in nursing homes" - Where flammable gasses like OXYGEN is in use. I have never been in a nursing home where smoking is allowed and that is because of the above. "Dictatorial landlords" - imagine that. A property owner who doesn't want to have to pay to clean up after smokers or listen to complaints from other residents plus have the added worry about additional fire hazard. And lastly working for a company that doesn't hire smokers. Every one of those things (except maybe driving on company time, which would get you fired) and if the police get involved, you might be losing your job, are unenforceable by the company, except for maybe drinking and weed smoking. And of those two, guess what? The weed smoking will get you fired in most states. Imagine that. A company doesn't want to have to pay for the long term effects of smoking nor having their employees smelling like old ashtrays as they talk to customers. Oh, the horror. SMH....

What Sterling said.

You didn't make it clear that you were referring to public places. You made it sound like you were talking about. smoking anywhere. Perhaps you should clarify your sentences better.

Anyway, what if no one else is around in that public place? And is the gross factor a good enough reason to ban a bad habit? What about people who pick their noses in public? Gross, yes, selfish, yes, but not a heavy policing priority.

Maybe you should have ready #8 before jumping down their throat, or was that too much to ask for.

I did read it (I did not, however, "ready" it), and the comment still seemed to me as if the poster were trying to make it apply to all areas, public or otherwise.

Also, the nose-picking analogy remains unanswered.

You see, I'm really tired of being told to be my brother's (or sister's) keeper and fret over whether a bunch of strangers decide to give themselves emphysema. That's really the key issue for me.

You are exactly correct, I read that comment the same way.

Maybe it was the comment she was answering not the story. Maybe you should know that before jumping down her throat, or is that too much to ask for?

I said "Nobody should be allowed to do #8". #8 says "Smoke in Public Places". What's not clear? Please return your degree and/or diploma to the institution that issued it.

You do realize that second-hand smoke can affect the health of those around you, right? Or have you been living under a rock for the past 30 years?

(That would explain a lot.)

Nobody should be allowed to dictate to businesses what rules they must have, it's gross and selfish. Let bar owners decide if they want to allow smoking, and let individual adults decide if they prefer to go to ones that do. That goes for smoking other substances, too.

Enjoy your lung cancer. And that of your children.

I was denied a house loan in 1976 because I was a single mother who was divorced. I had a good job and had been a customer of that bank while married. After my divorce all of a sudden I was not deemed a good credit risk. I pitched a fit in the bank, swore at the banker and threatened to call the State guys down on him.....I got my loan. What bunch of BS.....

>Married women in ancient Greece weren't allowed to watch games that involved men competing naked
>A 12-year-old boy in modern America can not only be raped by a woman and given no justice because the law doesn't recognize it as a physical possibility, he has to pay child support for the offspring he is never allowed to meet not because he is less fit for parenthood than his rapist is, but just because she doesn't want him to see the kid. She can decide that. Because she's the mom.

#patriarchystronghere

Someone is trying too hard. Is all this rage because your religion is messing you up?

I see this comment has been edited since Disqus notified me by email. You decided I wasn't the type to be desperate for sex, I guess. Ha. I wish my religion gave half a bother about real social issues of the day. Church discussions still use gendered pronouns in place of "victim" and "perpetrator." Would you like another shot?

For the record, I don't think any adult has any business screwing children, religion or no religion.

Oh man, razz made another comment that ended up deleted.

"You have so few responses that you get them through email?

And they are so important to you that you get them through email?

LOL"
Did you realize how dumb you're being? I've seen plenty of straw man arguments, but these are the straw-manniest, if you will. Your second chance at your first stupid comment ended up being a critique of my Disqus settings. In awe of your thoughtfulness, razz.

Are you high?

Are you capable of legitimate refutation?

I'll take that as a yes.

The ancient Greeks competed naked to keep the women out, once one of the mothers of the athletes disguised herself as a man so she could watch her son compete. When she was found out everyone who came in had to do so naked as to confirm their sex. The ancient Olympics were NOT a spectator sport, it was only for the athletes, they were the only ones (and their trainers of course) who were allowed to watch. Furthermore the ancients were not bashful about nakedness, not at all, the naked athletes was to confirm their sex and prevent female spectators from disguising themselves. That is all.

The law of chastity states that sexual relations are to occur only between a man and a woman who are legally and lawfully married to each other, so there is no reason for single women to need contraceptives.