Women's Equality- a Dilemma on the Horns of a Conundrum.
I have never understood why women are not treated equally. They make up 53% of our population, so how come the minority can inflict a lower pay level for equal work? How come men, who are born of women, who have mothers, sisters and aunts, and who spend a large part of their waking hours thinking about and talking to and about women, feel that they are somehow superior? The vast majority of males are constantly on the prowl to find a female to mate with and spend their adult years with and who will mother their children.

Recently I came across a study that might not be right, but made me do some thinking about this problem of female exploitation. A great Scot's Sage (male) maintains that the basic difference between males and females is derived from their role in the Clan. In the beginning, a male, standing in the entryway of the cave or hut, looked outward to the hunting areas in the middle and far distance. To maintain his status as the main provider, he had to go out and hunt these areas. The female, standing in the same entryway, looked inward to the hearth. To maintain her status she had to tend to the family, with occasional forays out to gather edibles in the near distance. Women had little or no free time in the hunting gathering culture.

The change to a farming culture saw the man still looking outward, but only to the fields in the near distance. The woman still had the inward responsibility of the hearth, plus she now had a food garden, animals to provide milk and various types of fowl to maintain and manage. She fed the family until the crop could be taken off and sold. She had almost zero spare time, but had shouldered a greater share of the workload in the partnership. It is said by many that have studied Canadian women on the frontier that, without the women working along side their men, the west could not have been developed. In the early days here in the west, a very large percentage of men had two, or even three, wives, because women were just worked to death.

Urbanization showed little gain in free time. A male store-owner looked outward to the customer. The woman still had the hearth to maintain and had to work in the store and usually do the books until late at night. I have no statistics to back up the hunting-farming culture workload for females, but I do have some collected in the early 1900s.

As Canada entered into the early 1900s, for a middle class woman to maintain her household with the technology available ("labor saving devices"), meant facing FIFTY HOURS A WEEK of hard grueling labor. Clothes had to be boiled, scrubbed, wrung by hand and hung on a line regardless of the weather or season. Hauling wood or coal for the stove, emptying chamber pots, baking, sewing, knitting and even re-soling shoes were but a few of her tasks. Sunday was not a day of rest as a huge meal had to be put before the family and then the dishes were waiting in kitchen without running water.

At the start of our 21st Century we have scads of labor saving devices. Every thing from a baby's burp to a clap of thunder is available to the modern housewife. The people who study this stuff claim that today. it takes FOUR HOURS a week to maintain a household for a man and a woman. Somehow kids were not considered work! If you have visions of the modern woman having 168 hours of free time every week, think again!

The man in our Century is still standing in the door looking outward to the far and middle distance, because, even though he works a minimum of 40 hours a week, he knows some one is now hunting HIM. It's the Bill Collector who wants payment for all the labor saving devices that have been bought for "the Missus." The woman in our Century still looks inward to the hearth, with an occasional glance up from her sales catalogue. She too wonders if that is Visa or Master Charge ringing the doorbell. She must find a new and better labor saving device in her catalogue so she can get some rest. Her 168 hours of free time is smoke and mirrors! She has to hold at least one job to work at least 40 hours a week plus traveling time for two thirds of the salary a male gets for the same job.

If my math serves me correctly, the Step from the Cave through the Farm and into the 21st Century rings something like this. If you put in your personal time and add it up, you may have better luck then the ladies I hang out with.

Each Week:

• Sleep 7X8= 56 hours.
• Work 5X8= 40 hours.
• Traveling time to work 5X2= 10 hours.
• Shopping and paying bills. Total 5 hours.
• Time at VETS average once every two months
• Hearth and home. Only 4 hours, due to "Labor Saving" devices.
• Cubs/Scouts/Guides/Brownies Volunteer time. 2 hrs a week plus two hours preparation.
• Driving kids to every thing going on. 5 hours.
• Separating squalling, fighting children.
• Home and School meetings.
• Buying gifts for retiring/showering coworkers.
• Dusting, no labor saving device for this or ironing.
• Hugging kids and putting on Band-Aids.
• Dyeing hair and make up time (your call)
• Picking up Cleaning.
• Picking up after others! (Like forever)

I'm not to good at math but it looks to me like a minus number has evolved from all these labor saving devices. Just think what a dull world we would have without women. Why they love us I'll never know!

The 4 hour figure was a actual statistic put forward by an Advertising Agency study; proclaiming how much better life is today because of the distributions of labor saving products in our "Brave New World." I'm not so wise as these Adverts. Guys but I say it's more than skewed. I bet a man did the report!

Signed; the Galloping Geezer
Jack C. Downey CD
Send comments to: Jack

---

Comments from readers:
A phone call was received from the wife of the "great Scot Sage's theory" on men and women in the Clan. The dear lady confirms that "men better look out" and that the four main labor saving devices that she has, gives her all the free time she needs.
They are:
1. Butler/Chauffeur.
2. Maid.
3. Nanny.
4. Gardener.

These, with more than occasional help from "the Sage" have added spice to her life and she does not feel in the least bit exploitated. I stand corrected, the Advertiseing Agency, male executive was right "Labor Saving Devices" are a great boon to modern women!

---

Get Involved!
Your Ideas are Important!
Content is contributed by various Canadians and does not necessarily reflect the views of canadianculture.com.