Today we have increased gender equality because of the lessening of reliance on physical labor and overall physical hardship needed to survive in the world. The prehistoric world was likely one of greater physical hardship, not less.

Sure it was, but what on Earth makes you think that lessened women's status? Do you have even the slightest notion how heavy children are to lug around all day? How physically laborious it is to crawl and stoop and duck around digging up roots, seeds, grasses, berries, insects, etc.? How much work it is to plant things? Carry water? Drag household items around, repair huts and stone houses, and all the other countless tasks that would have to be performed in a hunter-gatherer or primitive farming community? I suppose the females lolled around while the males did all the heavy lifting?

Good grief, pull your head out. The physically frail, weak and helpless little woman incapacitated by pregnancy and childbirth and with barely the strength to life her arms over her head is a fairly recent player on the scene, a luxury of the contemporary world, and would prove herself a useless drag if even we modern humans lost even a fairly small thing such as our capacity to generate electricity.

My point, Kelly, was to call into question the assumption that prehistoric women's unfitness for heavy labor made them automatically low-status because there isn't necessarily any evidence that there ever WAS a significant difference in the call for physical labor. NOWHERE did I imply that there was a powerful matriarchy that was suddenly lost all over the world. Only that JMS's point lacked evidence. Just like the "all-powerful matriarchy" claim.

Or, perhaps it's just because men weren't/aren't the brutish, raping thugs you're assuming they were/are!

Slider, I'm thinking YOU probably aren't a brutish, raping thug, but if you want to look back at Homer... um, well, those men pretty much were. And were glorified for it. At least, the warrior-class ones were. It was politics that kept those guys from taking over Ithaca and raping Penelope, not the fact that they were a bunch of nice guys who moved into the palace to help with the tidying up. They all had each other by the throat and couldn't settle on who would get to take everything over.

When Odysseus showed up, they were trying to settle the matter with a little sharpshooting contest. If O. hadn't won, it's not likely that Penelope would have had any more choice about accepting him than Cassandra had in accepting Agammemnon over in Troy.

And after having to put up with all that stupid swaggering, it's a wonder the ladies weren't running off in the night to go live with some nice, laid-back shepard.

I'm glad to see the Edwardses continuing with a project they've already worked so hard for despite this tragic news, instead of throwing over all of their plans in order to live out a Very Special Episode of Battle with Cancer similar to what one sees on Lifetime TV. This is evidence of character and courage, nto selfishness. Their kids will be fine, and have a strong family history to refer to when it comes time for them to start their own lives. Bravo!!

LW, you you are suffering from a possibly terminal case of nice. You really need to learn to embrace your inner bitch. Take up your own territory. Defend your space. You don't have to be violent or 6'4" or male to learn to BE ASSERTIVE. You just have to learn that you DO ahve a right to exist and you DON'T have to give a flying fuck about making a bunch of whiny bullies "feel bad" or "look bad", or whatever.

I, too, found your blog in about two minutes. One thing I will say, you would never have gotten to 3L is you did not have some inner tenacious bitch somewhere. You just have to learn to say "NO!" and mean it.

I suggest you start with your disgusting roommate. Throw his ass out. What a pig. And don't listen to these people who say it's "wrong" to fight back. You CAN learn to fight back (even physically, if you want, since most men don't have clue how to fight either you won't run into trouble fighting back too often). You CAN learn to be in charge of your own personal space. Being a woman is not equivalent with being a victim. Find a feisty, no-bullshit female counseling professional who can help you learn to be FEMALE, not merely FEMININE. Good luck!

Why Edwards strikes some as "phony" or "fake" is mysterious to me, but there's no argument against such viscerally based opinions.

I often thought the same thing in 2000 and 2004 when I was hearing from people around me how "sincere" and "genuine" and "empathetic" G.W. Bush was. And how he had so much presence and integrity. I couldn't fathom that perception in the least. Pointing out the smirking, the derisive nicknames he had for everyone, and his tendency to talk down to people (especially noticeable in the way he overenunciates words with more than 3-4 syllables) didn't ever seem to change anyone's mind.