When Men Were Men & Women Were Women

Dannii and porn profits

pibulus — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 01:45:49 +0000

By Melinda Tankard Reist

September 20, 2008 12:00am

SO Dannii Minogue wants to bare her body to the world again in the name of freedom and self-realisation. The singer and talent show presenter is considering posing nude again for Playboy.

She first took her clothes off for the porn magazine 13 years ago, aged 23, and by doing so she shocked herself, apparently.

“But it was liberating at the time. I would do it again. If the money was right, then sure,” she said this week.

Minogue, who got her start on Young Talent Time, went to Playboy after her short-lived marriage to actor Julian McMahon.

“I had just had a marriage break-up. Most women go to the hairdressers – I did Playboy,” Minogue said.

Well she might think “freedom” but I’d call it “titillating men”.

What are young women to take from this?

Relationship with the man you loved and wanted to spend your life with has broken down? Hell then, just put yourself out there as a sex aid for every other man in the world. That’ll do the trick: you’ll feel empowered and liberated!

Of course, you’ll also be liberating and empowering the bank accounts of the worldwide sex industry.

Perhaps Dannii doesn’t know much about Hugh Hefner’s knack for trivialising female sexuality worldwide. Or that tweens are his latest market. The Playboy bunny now adorns pencil cases and doona covers. A Playboy make-up line includes “Tie me to the bedpost blush” and “Hef’s favourite lip gloss”.

They should be re-labelled “disgusting old man in pyjamas” lip gloss.

Girls are wearing the brand of the global sex industry. And they think “cute rabbit”. How disturbing. With Dannni’s porn-star poses and her false breasts, Minogue only entrenches this dehumanising industry.

Doctors are reporting more young girls are seeking breast enhancement. One in four 12-year-old girls wants cosmetic surgery.

A recent British survey found the majority of young girls aspired to be celebrities, lap dancers and strippers.

And perhaps the most disturbing of all, a 22-year-old American plans to auction off her virginity via the biggest US brothel. “We live in a capitalist society . . . why shouldn’t I be allowed to capitalise on my virginity?” women’s studies graduate Natalie Dylan said.

“I understand some people will condemn me . . . but I think this is empowering.”

There’s that word again.

Empowerment is now apparently pimping your virginity, wrapping your legs around a pole, flashing your breasts in public or giving sex jobs on demand.

And the pornification of society is affecting children. Try this for a worry: Six-year-old boys were running a “sex club” at a Queensland school. They bullied girls for sexual favours.

Studies have shown that after men are exposed to sexualised content, they treat women like sexual objects.

That’s what has become of the movement for women’s equality.

As a 15-year-old lamented in the book Sex Lives of Australian Teenagers: “We’ve come nowhere from the sexual revolution.”

Minogue could help girls like this by sticking to her charity work – clothes on.

Helping girls see that they can change the world, now that’s liberating.

* Melinda Tankard Reist is a director of Women’s Forum Australia

pibulus — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 01:08:40 +0000

Choice may be sacred, but it’s not always empowering

Rachel Hills
December 29, 2007

“We are just protecting women’s rights to take their clothes off,” was the Irish budget airline Ryanair’s response when it came under fire this month for a charity calendar that showcased its female employees, bikini babe-style.

The right to pose for photographs in skimpy clothes probably wasn’t what Mary Wollstonecraft had in mind when she wrote A Vindication Of The Rights Of Woman back in 1792, but for all its seemingly unintended humour, the statement is difficult to argue with.

Ryanair might have been looking to achieve more through the calendar than simply supporting the desire of some of its staff to disrobe, but few would argue that they shouldn’t be allowed to produce it. As the airline’s spokeswoman pointed out, none of the women who posed for the calendar were forced. It was their choice to do so.

Choice. There are few words in the English language that validate a course of action quite so seamlessly. To attack someone’s choices is to attack their very person, to suggest that you know better than they do.

For women especially, the word represents freedom and independence – and for good reason. Historically speaking, the feminist movement’s most significant wins have been about giving women choices about their lives: from deciding who runs the country they live in, to financial independence, to being able to decide when and even if to have children.

Choice equals power, and that means that with the right linguistic packaging, almost anything – no matter how controversial – can be presented as empowering.

Take cosmetic surgery, transformed from a curtsy to unattainable beauty standards into a procedure that empowers those who undertake it to look their best. Or Sex And The City’s Charlotte, who defended her decision to quit her job to try to have a baby by arguing: “The women’s movement is supposed to be about choice. And if I choose to quit my job, that is my choice.”

As Charlotte and many others like her would have it, any choice a woman makes is a positive, politically empowering one – so long as it is hers.

If feminism has allowed its sisters to choose to become lawyers, never marry and keep their grooming au naturel, why should they not equally be permitted to wear high heels, bake muffins or pose for swimsuit calendars – or as many women do, pick a little from column A and a little from column B? If that is what they choose to do, how are their choices any less valid, even any less feminist, than any other woman’s?

This kind of relativism isn’t entirely negative. It keeps the question of what defines feminism open to be redefined by the people it’s supposed to represent, and it doesn’t assume that the same set of solutions will work for every woman simply because of her sex.

But it also ignores the important reality that not all choices are positive or empowering – either for the person making them, or for society as a whole. Nor are all choices that women make “feminist” simply by virtue of the fact that they were made by women.

No one makes decisions in a vacuum, and our choices are shaped as much by the behaviour we see rewarded – by our friends, family, colleagues, the media – as they are by our own desires. Even before that, they are limited by government policy, our financial means, our individual strengths and weaknesses.

So it’s not surprising that, in a society in which women are valued largely for their appearances, many women would choose to trade at least partly on the way they look. Or that when women are paid less than and occupy leadership positions in far smaller numbers than men, women are the sex more likely to cut back on work to give priority to family life.

Equally, it is important to acknowledge that our choices have impacts beyond ourselves. Choice may be sacred, but it’s not a values-free zone. One arena in which we have begun to recognise this is consumption: we know that flying contributes to global warming, that our water resources are limited, that buying clothing produced by sweatshop labour is unethical.

Similarly, the choices we make elsewhere in our lives – how to present ourselves, how to conduct our relationships, how to balance work and life – have social and political implications. Our choices determine which behaviours are normalised and rewarded as much as they reflect the status quo. The decisions individual women make have implications for the status of women as a group. And some decisions will have more broadly positive effects than others.

This doesn’t mean that women should be denied the right to determine how they run their own lives, or that only certain ways of living qualify as “feminist” or “empowering” – what does qualify will and should remain permanently up for discussion.

But it does mean that our right to choose comes with certain responsibilities, and one of these is that we are prepared to defend our decisions in a manner that goes beyond “well, it’s my life, and it’s my choice”. Yes, we should be free to make the decisions we believe will make us happiest, but in doing so we need to keep our eyes open to the values that underlie them, and recognise that our choices have impacts beyond us as individuals.

Rachel Hills is associate editor of NewMatilda.com. Adele Horin is on leave.

pibulus — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 07:33:00 +0000

Welcome to ‘When Men Were Men, & Women Were Women’..

We are an institute focused on advancing the ideals of the masculine, but also femine past. We are actively engaged in promoting the days when men were real men, and fought for honour, and women were real women, who danced with grace.

We see a beauty and value in the time when men smoked cigars, rode horses, built cabinets and played poker. In the days when women cooked roasts, made clothes, dressed well and had tea parties.

We are not sexist. Our aim to bring back the division of the sexes in a proud and elegant manner.

We yearn for the days when women wore big dresses, sexy for showing just that little bit of leg, while men were strong and responsible, able to chop wood and sell fridges..

Overall, we seek to motivate our readers to take pride in themselves, their posessions and their abilities.

We will be presenting articles on how to make a martini, host a roast, wear a suit, knit a sweater, write a letter. etc.

We will also offer access to vintage articles and texts from out of print homemaker journals, and ‘how to magazines’.

We hope you find the site both interesting and helpful.

- The WMWM Team

P.S – WMWM is always on the look out for new material and content. If you have an article, website or graphic that you’d like to submit we’re happy to add it to our database and give credit where due. Drop us a line or leave us a comment.

pibulus — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 01:10:50 +0000

On being a good host and a good guest, taken from "The Magic Key to Charm" by Eileen Ascroft (1938)

pibulus — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 05:23:00 +0000

Here are some practical hints which every thoughtful hostess should remember for her guest’s comfort:- Among them are several ordinary rules of etiquette which you probably know already. But i give them to you because I think it is very important to know all the conventional rules of behaviour. When you are in doubt about about whether you are doing the right thing, you cannot express charm. But when you know the accepted conventions, you can either follow them naturally or think up charming variations of your own.

1. A spare-room should be just as comfortable as your own bedroom with a bed you wouldn’t mind sleeping on yourself.

2. Always tell your guest the times of meals and when the bathroom is free her first day, so that she fits in with the household.

3. Always see that all your guests know one another at a dinner or small party. Of course at a large gathering this is impossible, so introduce late-comers to a little group of people.

4. In case you are in doubt about how to introduce people, always introduce a man to a woman. A younger woman is usually presented to an older woman and an unmarried woman to a married woman. In the case of two young people, at an informal occasion it is more friendly to dispense with the Mr., Mrs., or Miss, and use the Christian name instead. When you introduce two people, don’t just say their names and then leave them to it, feeling you’ve done your duty. They will both be grateful if you give them something in common to talk about before leaving them. If you know they are both interested in something, say: “You ought to have plenty to talk about as you both like…” or “Miss Y has just got back from Switzerland.” Any little thing will do as long as it gives them a lifeline, to start a conversation.

5. Never let your guests bore one another. If you see a conversation in the throes of boredom, either break them up or introduce someone new into the group.

6. If you give a party, make an unobtrusive little tour round the room every so often to make sure no one is left out, or bored. But don’t worry people by inquiring if they have everything. There’s a great difference between a fussy hostess and a charming one!

7. If you have guests staying with you, don’t arrange something for every minute of the day for them. Most people like to have a certain amount of time to themselves.

8. When inviting people to dinner ot a party or even to stay, always state the time you expect them to arrive and if it is for a visit, state how many days you are inviting them to stay. it is also considerate to give them some idea of what plans you have made so that they will know what clothes to bring. In the case of a dinner or a party always say whether it is evening dress or not. This saves people a lot of doubt and possible embarrassment.

9. Devote one drawer in the spare room to all the little gadgets which guests so often need and forget to bring or haven’t room for in their luggage. Clothes brush, tooth brush, tooth paste, hair brush, and comb, hair pins, curby grips, safety pins, needles and cotton, scissors, notepaper, postcards, ink, a pen that writes, bedroom slippers, and a spare nightie. It’s great fun to be able to put someone up at a moment’s notice and produce everything they need out of a magic drawer.

10. Make your guests feel honoured and pampered by little attentions to her comfort. Flowers in her room, bath salts ready for her bath, tea in the morning in a pretty cup, a bottle in her bed at night if it’s cold and fruit by her bedside and a special case for her table napkin at table- they are all small gestures of charm.

11. Always have interesting books and magazines in your house for your guests to read. Keep a small, good selection in the spare room.

12. Never feel embarrassed because you cannot return the hospitality you receive. There is absolutely no obligation to do so. Entertain in whatever way is easiest and most pleasant for you. a tea-party or a sherry party can be just as much fun as as the grandest dinner or dance. Whatever you choose always make your guests feel that it is fun to have them. Never let them suspect that they mean extra work or trouble and arrange things so that they mean as little extra work and trouble as possible.

The secret of being a good hostess is an important one. But the secret of being a good guest is an even more important one. You want to be popular, don’t you? You want people to love you and seek your company.
A charming guest is invited again and again.
The chief qualities of a charming guest are a holiday spirit, a sense of humour, consideration for one’s host or hostess and the will to get on with one’s fellow guests.
A charming guest arrives looking pleased and excited to have been invited, with a look of anticipation of fun to come. She joins wholeheartedly in anything her host or hostess suggests and she’s always ready to see the funny side of things. And she infects her fellow-guests with her gaiety and friendliness.

here are some practical hints on how to be considerate:

1. Always be punctual. This is very important, as nothing is more annoying for a hostess than the lateness of her guests.

2. Never outstay your welcome. If you’re asked for a certain length of time, leave then. Only stay on if your host and hostess are really pressing. At a party never stay right till the end. Leave when the bulk of the other guests leave.

3. Never forget to show your gratitude for hospitality. The conventional bread-and-butter letter is such a cold, stilted acknowledgement, I always think. A very charming way of saying “Thank you” is with flowers. a tiny posy of flowers with a tiny note, “It was a lovely evening; thank you so much!” is a gesture which will delight any hostess.

4. Always try to fit in with a household where you are staying. Follow the ordinary routine, and make as little extra work and trouble as possible.

5. Help your hostess by helping to keep other guests amused and interested, and always be kind and sweet to everyone you meet in her house.

6. Don’t expect to be amused every minute of the time. Remember that your hostess probably has to attend to the ordinary running of her house. Either offer to help her or be prepared to amuse yourself for a certain time each day.

7. Be ready to enjoy yourself, and let your hostess know that you are having a lovely time.

8. Never give your hostess’ servants any extra work unless they volunteer to do some little thing for you. It is usually nice to give them some little appreciation of your gratitude when you leave. Give it to them yourself with an expression of thanks. It is much more charming than leaving it for them on the dressing table. Never let the amount worry you. It is the gesture that matters. Give them what you can afford, however small.

9. Be just as careful of other people’s things as you would of your own- even more careful.

10. If you are invited to stay it is a charming gesture to take some little gift for your hostess. Flowers are always welcome, or, if she has children, perhaps a toy or chocolate.

11. Observe absolute loyalty to your hostess while under her roof, or when once you have accepted her hospitality. Never criticise her to others or allow others to criticise her to you. Never criticise your fellow guests while you are under her roof, either.

12. Try to be a “credit to your hostess” on all occasions. See that you arrive nicely and appropriately dressed for whatever occasion you are invited. It it is a visit, take the right clothes with you. If you are not sure what you will need, write to your hostess and consult her. Never let your hostess down by bad behaviour or rudeness.

pibulus — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 13:36:00 +0000

Something very sad has happened to love.

..As obvious that sperm and egg make baby- so too does love protect him.

Men who do not love are weak. A point not made for sake of mere character assassination, but from scientific observation. The chemical response triggered by a threat to ones dearly loved produces a formidable force easily articulated in one sentence- Mess with my baby- and I will kill you. This extends further to the protectors and providers of our babies. Mess with my woman, by god, I will kill you.

Like the lion or the silverback, not only does he mean it, he’ll have the adrenalin to back it up. True love does something to a man. It makes him tough as hell.

So where did all the strong men go? Now exists an age in the Western World of the epidemic abandonment of woman and child. The exhausted, single mother struggling to maintain all the child raising duties an entire tribe once performed, is not an unfortunate exception. She is the norm. A far, desperate cry from women’s liberation.

What happened?

Imagine, just for a moment that the black rights movement in America was fiercely responded to by the establishment press- with the mass production of racist imagery. Masses upon masses of images of the African American naked, splayed in all thinkable positions, and then some unthinkable. Splayed naked and degraded purely for the consumption of white man.. Images scrawled over and over and over with the words “dirty filthy c#ck sucking niggers

The damage would be the envy of every aspiring Klan member.

Imagine then for a moment, you are black.

Imagine that almost every white person you know fully embraces this deliberate attack on your people, and has their own personal collection of racist catalogues hidden under their bed… To fill the mind with just before the lights go out.

How could you take a white as a lover- when they so clearly appreciated the degradation of your entire people, as a means to become sexually exited? A white who places their own gratification so highly above your own liberation?

And then if you do lay down with the white… how can you believe they do not take you as their own, personal little nigger? How in any sense of skewing the obvious can you find the faith to believe that they may indeed respect you? Or even love you.

No, it’s not a black and white issue. At first glance it’s male and female issue.

Just a few short decades ago women finally managed to seize the main stage and like terrorists made demands. The right to work. To be paid for our labour. Help around the house. And most predominately we asked to be treated with respect, and not as pieces of meat.

The establishment response was fast and furious. A kick in the teeth-but almost understandable. At over half the population, carrying more than two thirds of the population’s work load, society as we knew it simply couldn’t run as it did, should women be treated a little more fairly. Rich men grow fat off the free labour of the disenfranchised. They had to do something.

As quickly as women seized the stage it was snatched straight back in an immense retaliation, personified mostly by the words dirty, filthy c#ck sucking sluts, and the mass production of overtly crude and sexist imagery, to be sold to our husbands, boyfriends, fathers, brothers and uncles.

They got us where it hurts the most. And it hurts, because with a resounding “I’d buy that for a dollar!” those who should protect us, rolled over for the establishment and brought its’ retaliation home to us. Hid it under the bed. Put it on the wall. Stashed it next to the toilet.

A far cry from respect indeed. One step forward and we were thrown hard against the wall. We were being taught lesson.

It hurts women all right. It hurts a lot. For a while we’ve tried to go along with it. Reconstructed the ashes of still smouldering bras to create the padded, wired push up bras we thought would please. Ripped the hair of our bodies with hot wax. Spent our hard won money on endless beauty products. Undergone the knife so that some qualified man could make better breasts than the “ugly” ones provided by nature.

We kept quiet about women’s rights. The last thing a young girl wanted to be seen as was a feminist. Perhaps it was a convenient lack of education… the fact that no one taught us in school that our very few rights were only very recently hard won and never to be taken for granted…that women forgot to keep on defending themselves.

Women made hard the effort to be good. To submit. To woo our men back. To emulate. To be as good as the paper on their walls.

For above any need for respect and emancipation was the biological imperative to find and keep a mate who will one day protect our babies.

We’ve even started bleaching our anuses.

It hasn’t worked. Our men have left us anyway.

The backlash against women worked perhaps better for the establishment than they ever could have guessed. At first glance, it would seem that it’s man against woman. But ever the conspiracy nut- I can’t help but discern a pattern far more prejudicial.

What old man sat lonely at the local, drinking to a back drop of gamblers and dog races, returning home to an empty house… is wealthier than the twinkly eyed grandfather swarmed by the adoration of little people? The knowing familiarity of an old woman who can remember where he’s come from? Who he is. Grandchildren who will time and time again pull his finger. Cuddles. Laughter. Love.

Men have been sold the lie that the primary function of a woman is to provide sex, the best part of sex is ejaculation, and everything else is a complication to be avoided. They have been lied to, and those who have fallen for the lie are stripped of their honour, and their noble, heroic role as fathers. As strong, tough as guts men. They have been tricked. No longer do men protect families. They protect something far more important to the establishment. They protect the economy.

It makes sense.

When subjugating the people, the last thing the lords want is a furious silverback ready to kill for the sake of his woman and child. An independent hero strong of heart and honour is an inconvenience to the kings. It is a wise tactical move to poison his love.

So you brainwash him.

You don’t need her. Here, have this magazine, it’s got everything you need. It’s better than her- look at her ugly cellulite. She’s Disgusting. Men don’t settle for cellulite. You want to be a man don’t you? A real man? Real men want sex, sex and more sex! Women don’t look like that- they look like this. Here, look at this picture. We’ve sterilized it for you. None of that horrid nature stuff here. And don’t you like her fun bags- we made them ourselves! As pretty as plastic she is. You don’t need a woman you can do it yourself. That’s right, go on, no one’s watching. Now be a good boy, have a little look, wipe yourself off and get back to work.

Surely there are more factors in the abandonment of child that seems endemic than simply just pornography. But one must surmise that the continual and unrelenting pressure on a man to view a woman only as a piece of meat and not as a mother, to see a breast as play thing for boys, and not as a natural god given gift to babies… surely this must have some effect on his psyche. Surely mans abandonment of the family must have some connection with the establishment presses unrelenting encouragement to do so. Surely, when told over and over and over and over, that a woman has little more value than the sum of her obvious body parts, some men may come to believe it.

The ruling elite are a crafty bunch. Cast your mind back to the deliberate destruction of the tribe. The construction of the nuclear family- A breeding division capable of sustaining a work force but lacking the political clout and the brute force of the clan.

But even with the nuclear family, there was still a world of daddy’s to answer to. Fathers who had something worth fighting for. Mothers who would defend those men. Children who grow up to do just the same. The masters had still not brought the masses to it’s knees.

Divide and rule. The family simply had to go.

Perhaps there was never a time when the rulers sat chuckling in the board room crafting ruthless plans to polarise the sexes, disintegrate families, and capitalise on the damage done. Perhaps by accident they got lucky.

But with the unfathomable amount of money spent by the financially elite on predicting, manipulating and controlling the market, one thing is beyond speculation. Our masters must by now have noticed… the mass produced degradation of woman and family serves them well.

A worker without a family is a vulnerable target indeed. A single man who has nothing to work for but his master is the perfect working unit.

A single mother without a spare moment to defend her self is the ultimate subdued feminist.

A child forbidden from seeing two humans make love yet exposed to an endless catacomb of dirty sex and plastic breasts is the ultimate labour reinforcement.

How is a child to know any better when all they know of sex is found in mens magazines and moments snuck online? A child who is educated to see sex as a naughty, filthy embrace, a woman as a toy, how may they ever grow up to understand that sex may be exquisite.

That it may indeed be an act of honour and respect.

One must wonder about a society that censors love.

One must wonder at whose benefit comes this loss of true connection?

Certainly not man, woman or child.

Strategically If you’re at the top- keeping man and woman at odds with each other is a smart move.

Devided- never shall man and woman stand strong together and throw revolt against the masters who feed off us.

Sex is not dirty. The nude is not dirty. The body and all of it’s expression is a wondrous playground.

Mass produced pornography however is a thing of it’s own. It is deliberately destructive and extraordinarily efficient in widening the gap between male and female. It crawls into bed with us. It weakens our ties. It works overtime teaching men that women are worthless sluts. A dime a dozen. Teaching women that men are worthless pigs.

It does not take too much to brainwash the trusting.

Ours is a society of lonely men, exhausted women, abandoned children, and an ever booming market.

It would be simplistic to believe that pornography is a little present to all men, for men. It is a stronghold in the corporate arsenal. A cog that cracks the whip that drives the beast to pull the chains.

Men, pornography is not made for you. It is probably made to make it simpler for the ruling elite to use you. It is not a trophy to be proud of. While you have been trained to believe that it is by nature that you think about sex every three and a half minutes, perhaps you might be suspicious enough to observe that this is directly proportionate to the rate at which the establishment exposes you to overt sexual imagery.

They may wave the carrot, but you don’t have to pull the cart.

In abandoning your families at the command of your masters, you leave behind you the full, unbridled strength of a father. You cannot know what it is to be fully a man. You become a product. A product to whom products can be sold to. In the unrestrained effort to convince you that women, besides the sex they offer are worthless, you have been harnessed as a work force answerable to no one but your bosses. Protective of little but the companies you work for. Providing only for the economy.

You have been hijacked and stolen from your women and children. From the extraordinary opportunity to be a daddy. Your opportunity to be loved until the very last time you close your eyes.

The lie, the damned lie that men who love are pussy whipped will reveal it’s fraud only too late when the man who never truly loved dies hopelessly alone.

Daddy; we miss you, we want you, we need you. we love you.

We forgive you.

Our beautiful, strong courageous men lost out on the battle field, we are waiting for you.

Come home daddy… come home.

pibulus — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 01:52:00 +0000

“Clothes make the man.
Naked people have little or no influence on society”

– Mark Twain

“Fashion passes, style remains.”

– Coco Chanel (1883-1971), founder of Chanel

“I’m interested in longevity, timelessness, style
- not fashion.”

– Ralph Lauren, fashion designer

“Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable
that we have to alter it every six months”

– Oscar Wilde

“The only moral one can draw from history is
that it is much better to invent a new fashion
than a new social theory.
The fist may improve the appearance of men;
the latter will only bring about a revolution”

– Carlo Maria Franzero

pibulus — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 01:50:00 +0000

MB> “What makes a real man? be careful now…..”

Goddess, you want me to write an essay that could end up at least
100 pages. Do you really think that is fair of you to ask of me?
How about if I just list as few of the many qualities that a “real
man” “should” posses? I can think of hundreds: here are just a few:

A Real Man holds high ethical ideals without compromise.
A Real Man is emotionally balanced. He should be able to laugh
and cry as he damn well please, and not give a shit what other
people think of him.
A Real Man can be laughed -AT- as well as laughed -WITH- and not feel
insulted, demeaned, or belittled. Words don’t breat bones!
A Real Man shares his feelings with those he cares for.
A Real Man has grace under pressure and does not panic in a crisis.
A Real Man is responsible for his actions and inactions.
A Real Man takes on the burden of responsibility for those who
-cannot- shoulder a responsibility themselves *providing* he is
asked to and agrees.
A Real Man marries for life.
A Real Man surrenders his marriage gracefully if it does not work.
A Real Man loves and honors his spouse above all else.
A Real Man honors and respects *ALL* women, be she Queen or harlot.
A Real Man is sexually and emotionally responsive to his spouse or
girlfriend.
A Real Man is attentive to his spouse sexually, paying attention to
what pleases her and what does not.
A Real Man is one who respects his spouse’s wishes when she says “Not
tonight, dear.” He does not whine, plead, or beg.
A Real Man understands that it is not his job or duty to please
anyone other than himself, which includes his spouse, and which
also includes his spouse sexually.
A Real Man desires to please his spouse and children before himself
out of love and not guilt or a “sense of power.”
A Real Man supports his spouse in her successes as well as failures.
A Real Man is kind to himself.
A Real Man does not lie.
A Real Man does not steal.
A Real Man does not cheat.
A Real Man is tolerant of dissenting opinion.
A Real Man is NOT tolerant of hate, bigotry, ignorance.
A Real Man never strikes child, woman, or man, for ANY reason, unless
in self-defense.
A Real Man is well-educated.
A Real Man is well-read.
A Real Man is clean and well-groomed.
A Real Man can cook, clean, iron, wash dishes, change a diaper, and
stay home while his spouse works for a living.
A Real Man is kind to animals and children.
A Real Man helps those who ask for help.
A Real Man knows when to help someone who needs help but doesn’t ask
for it.
A Real Man does *not* help someone who needs help when asked not to.
(I.e. a Real Man respects other’s decisions).

A Real Man is all these things AND SO MANY MORE. Too many to list. Not
one has to do with loving imaginary playfriends. Real Men love those
who love them, and don’t NEED invisible friends.

– David Rice

Pablo’s book of the month

pibulus — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 01:24:00 +0000

Sophie’s World by Jostein Gaarder

A good tour of philosophy with an increasingly engaging and surrealist storyline that makes the reader ‘part’ of the book. Goes through philosophy from its beginnings by Aristotle, Plato and Socrates through to Marx and Neitzche. Tho too condensed at parts, definitely a good starting point in order to get an overview on our philosophical journey as a species.

Sophie’s book of the month

pibulus — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 00:33:00 +0000

The Triumph of the Airheads by Shelley Gare

Ever felt as if someone’s stolen your brain- numerous examples of idiocy, buffoonery in high places, ‘famous’ nobodies, decisions that defy all logic? The question is why? How come our world – yours and mine – has been taken over by morons? How come questions are answered by a ‘whatever’ shrug, or not answered at all … while you’re put on hold? Multi-award-winning journalist Shelley Gare reveals the answers in her insightful, funny, and scary new book.