In the introduction to her important book The New Jim Crow, Michelle Alexander admitted that, even as an ACLU lawyer, she had always been skeptical of claims that the war on drugs was intentionally crafted to target blacks. She’d recognized its discriminatory effects, of course, but only when she did her “deep dive” into the research did she recognize the extent to which drug policy was a product of intentional racism.
In much the same way, I have always discounted rhetoric about a “war on women.”Of course I recognize that cultural changes empowering women make a lot of men uncomfortable; I certainly notice (and object to) the arrogance of male legislators who are unwilling to allow women the same autonomy over our lives and bodies that they claim for themselves. And it has always been hard to ignore the prevalence of come-ons from the various boors and outright sexual predators. But I’ve also known and appreciated the large number of “good guys” who welcome culture change, respect women’s autonomy and understand and observe sexual boundaries.
I still think the individual “jerk quotient” of some men shouldn’t be used to label the entire gender. But I no longer dismiss the notion that a number of men are indeed waging a “war on women,” and I no longer underestimate the prevalence of misogyny, especially in the GOP.
This, for example, was infuriating. The Wall Street Journal reported that, during a conversation with its reporters, Senator Grassley was asked why the Republican Party has never put a single woman on the Judiciary committee. His response: women don’t want to do that much work.
Really, Senator Grassley? How do you explain the fact that Democratic women serve on the committee, and seem to be handling the work? Is it just Republican women who are lazy? Or is it–as Amanda Marcotte suggests in Salon–that misogyny is at the very heart of your right-wing politics?
It’s long been frowned upon to acknowledge this fundamental truth: Misogyny is at the heart of right-wing politics. Pointing out that hatred of women and a desire to keep them under the boot is an animating force of Republican politics is sure to draw pained expressions from many liberal men, certain that the feminists are being hysterical again. Surely feminists don’t think it’s quite as simple as that, right? Surely we understand that anti-abortion views are about a sincere belief that life begins at conception and anyway, Republicans aren’t serious when they say they’re going to ban abortion. That’s just something they say to rile up the rubes, to trick them into voting for the real agenda, which is about economics and taxes. Certainly you women can’t think you are important enough that oppressing you is a major priority for Republicans, right?
Marcotte marshals her evidence: the party’s ongoing support of a President who boasted of grabbing women’s genitals and who has paid several women to keep quiet about his behaviors; its support for Kavanaugh, despite credible accusations of sexual assault; and especially the tone-deaf, belittling and revealing responses to women’s protests by Grassley and others.
I want to make it clear we’re not going to be intimidated by these people,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said of the protesters“Harassing members at their homes, crowding the halls with people acting horribly, the effort to humiliate us really helped me unify my conference,” McConnell told the New York Times. “So I want to thank these clowns for all the help they provided.”
“When you grow up, I’ll be glad to [speak to you],” Sen. Orrin Hatch snapped at a group of protesters, equating grown women with children who need a scolding.
“You needed to go to the cops,” Sen. Lindsey Graham told another protester when she confronted him about her own history of rape, implying that he — with no information about her situation — understood her options better than she did.
Sen. Ben Sasse dismissed the protests by women against Kavanaugh as “hysteria” three times during the original confirmation hearing, when the focus was primarily on reproductive rights and before sexual assault became an issue.
Donald Trump, of course, is screeching on Twitter about how the protesters are “paid” and funded by “Soros,” because it is impossible for him imagine that women might actually have minds of their own.
Wonder why there’s a gender gap? I think I can clue you in.
Another example of the misogyny to keep women ‘under the boot’ or ‘barefoot and pregnant’ as the old saying goes is the hypocrisy of those who claim they are so upset by abortion but deny medically safe contraception and other reproductive health care for women who can’t afford it. So many women cannot persuade men to use condoms, and condoms are not as reliable as IUDs and birth control pills which protect women regardless of male preferences.
When Colorado provided free contraception to women, the abortion rate was cut nearly in half. Yet pro-life legislators prefer closing Planned Parenthool clinics altogether. I’m convinced that if Planned Parenthood closes, abortion rates will increase as will infections, sterility, and deaths from unsafe abortions. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
As John Gregg said when he ran for Governor, some people complain about Planned Parenthood. I am more concerned about UNplanned parenthood. That is the source of so many problems.
There appears to be a real connection between intentional racism and misogyny. Both work to keep the white male in power over any and all who are different. And underlying both is that all time favorite fear, “If I share, there won’t be enough for me”, because there can NEVER be enough for the historically spoiled and self serving class that rules the world.
And just yesterday on this blog, two men came forward to (they believed) offer their praise of the local VA Medical Center’s care they received to offset my comments. Totally missing the point that my comments showed a blatant disregard for competent medical care for two women in my family by that same system. They also missed the fact that I reported the good care received by the VA of men in my family.
If those such as Grassley, Graham, Hatch and McConnell will look at their own support staff they will probably find that it is comprised primarily of women who stay in the office doing the actual work needed to allow them run their mouths and get overpaid for insulting and working against women, support those insulting women in general and ending all possibility of a living wage.
Compare every one of those named above to Tammy Duckworth and her loss while serving active duty in the military and the Senator Mazie Horono (sp?) from Hawaii returning to Washington, D.C., to cast her “NO” vote against Kavanaugh while suffering stage 4 kidney cancer. We can also go to the homefront where almost without fail; it is the woman who maintains the home, balances the budget, raises the children…many of them also working outside the family home.
I will go back to my favorite Dillys Lainge quote; “Women receive the insults of men with tolerance, having been bitten in the nipple by their toothless gums.” We give them life and sustain it until they are able to go out into the world on their own.
We have come through the Kavanaugh shitstorm; our heads bloodied but unbowed, now we must watch as Trump continues to denigrate Dr. Christine Blasey Ford who was forced by politics and media circumstances to bare the most terrifying time in her life to the world. She and her family are still in physical danger and forced to abandon their home, incur debts for legal and security protection and accept financial aid from others as Kavanaugh moves into the Supreme Court to assure wins for Trump’s racist, bigoted, misogyny, immigrant, gerrymandering cases to come before him. All of which has been the basis for Trump’s, McConnell’s, Grassley’s and the entire Republican MALE contingent on the Senate Judicial Committee’s biased, illegal fight to put him in that position.
VOTE BLUE!
We have different ways of looking at the world. Men especially those in high positions are most concerned with their own power. Women on the other hand are more concerned with reaching solution by working together. Powerful men look at the way women work together and call that weakness because we don’t have the same motivation to elevate one of our own to kick-ass boss status. This difference threatens the very way men have operated for millennia. Of course they react in a way to reduce the threat, hence the old, barefoot and pregnant, saw.
Thank you Sheila!
I was going to try to key something hopefully profound in regard to this catastrophe but I think and know that someone else will sum it up very nicely as is always the case and that I will keep my thoughts to myself this time for my own good. Being a Navy veteran who also served with the Marine Corps I have a vocabulary that is always in my head that I try to do my best to hide and keep under control. So, I think that it’s best that I do that today as we collectively explore all the various levels of complete and utter disgust.
Let us not forget the origin of this misogyny, which feeds it today–religion.
Nita,
You’d be shocked to learn how many contributors to this blog would give religion a pass on this and other evils it spews forth.
Having been raised by an authentic misogynist, I learned early on to tell the difference between ham-handed jerks and real misogynists. I have a problem with the #Metoo movement because they fail to differentiate, for example, forcing Al Franken from the Senate for occasionally being a jerk and lumping him in with the Bill Cosbys of the world. Please note that I am NOT a fan of Franken. I had reasons to wish him gone many times while I worked in DC, but being a jerk was never one of them. If we get outraged at everything, we won’t have the credibility to get outraged at anything.
We can and should be outraged by the actions and words of the old, white, Republican men on the Judiciary Committee. We should be even more outraged by the actions of Senator McConnell, who seems to be hell bent on destroying the Senate. It’s time to vote them out.
VOTE BLUE!
As the son of a Mexican American who was of almost pure Native American stock (and served 20 years faithful service in the Air Force,) and a mother of Swedish, Swiss and English descent I have experienced a lot of what people like yourself, ms. Kennedy have always ‘discounted’. Living in Rapid City SD, the Bigotry, the being counted as the back of the room kid… being the one who was always trouble – because I was busy reading encyclopedias instead of doing math, Always the kid that lost the fight because there was no one on my side to begin with. I got to the age of 30 and something happened, after a failed marriage, a life of being told I was the one going to hell.., something in me awoke: and I said to myself ‘why am I the one who is always wrong?’ Going to hell, yes I was: My life was hell because those who were part and parcel of it all couldn’t see their bigotry any more than they could understand the words of god they claimed to be so enamored with in their bible! Blind Naked and Ignorant. We all are, in some way. However the truth comes out. That ‘God’ that they beat you over the head with – might just be beating them over the head in reality: you will always be found out. See like Chuck Grassley they cannot hide their true intentions – it comes out. Why do you think Mitch McConnell was ‘so proud’ that he could tell Barack Obama to his face ‘no’? Because he is a bigot and hates African Americans – for that matter, any one not ‘white’ enough for the bigots standards as well. So what should we expect of them, on Women’s issues? They are a bunch that come from what should by now be an obsolete mind set – they will die soon (they are all fairly on in years) , they are a bunch of old ‘white men’ – so they want to do all they can now, to see this continue – its a program of ‘stuff all the ‘n—–s’ under the foot of the white man’. Prove me wrong! If they could they WOULD repeal the 13th Amendment(.)
Given the right microphone placements in the halls of government – I bet you would be greatly surprised (or not) what you might hear. That is fact. Until we find a way to put these ideologies of Hate to death once and for all among us – it will only get worse. These people wouldn’t know anything of compassion or fairness. They are people that have to be put out of our future(.) And you notice most of the biggest bigots are people who come from centers of black and other ‘Minority’ oppression? And places where you find concentrations of White Power types… The old money – there is the real ‘white power’.
P.S. I bet with the right network you could hear what they say: remember the incident with Tom Daschle’s office took six weeks to ‘decontaminate the House and Senate offices’>? but only took two weeks to do the entire DC Post Office complex! The men in contamination suits all over the place- boggles the mind with the possibilities doesn’t it? Considering the administration we had then! Six weeks… makes one wonder what the Russians and Chinese have done in that way so far? (sorry… just got to thinking… old hackers ya know…)
Men and women are different. I grew up with three sisters that were busy curling their hair before the bus came in the morning and would beg me to feed the horses. If I didn’t they would escape in search of food and we would be out looking for hours to find and put them back in when I got home from school. I can make a conclusion that girls are lazy and never grow up. How stupid that would be. So many out of frustration and anger make comments that are dumb and become easy targets.
It doesn’t matter what party or affiliation men come from. Bill Clinton has several women he harrassed or had sexual misconduct with. Ted Kennedy never faced a day in jail for manslaughter as he left his secretary to die.
I don’t want women to believe that they can trust men period. Men have to be called out individually and certainly taken to task.
People making misstatements must be trained not to hide their comments but evolve into a proper way of thinking about women.
Maybe Sheila should run as a liberal republican chuck certainly couldn’t make that claim about her being lazy. My brother in law filled me in on some the real concerns about our newest Supreme Court judge.
My wife three years before we met sat on her kitchen floor as her first husband put a loaded gun to her head telling her she was worthless having lost her hair and breast to cancer. She rose from that to blaze her way into education winning several awards lifting others up from their disadvantaged circumstances.
Another example is my own godson who was a music minister and marketing executive decided to stay at home as his wife earned the bacon as an engineer. As women step forward, men need to be called to account for their misstatements and malaligned opinions. Liberal men in many ways are going to be more forward thinking as they have evolved from traditional roles. Conservative Men need to “ give honor to whom honor should be given” without the stigma of tradionalism tied to it. It took Job (of the Bible) to go through several trials to change who he was. He went beyond tradition and gave an inheritance to his daughters as well as his sons.
Some of the comments being made about these statements is just the fire needed to make changes in our society.
I have mentioned this before, but believe that it is worth repeating –
We women can be our own worst enemies. When women choose to back the men in their lives and prefer to be subservient to them, they are the worst enemies of their fellow women.
Until all, or at least the majority, of women band together to lift us all above male misogyny we will not be able to gain any power that should rightfully be ours. Women who choose to believe the false religious teachings that take place every Sunday in church are a major part of the problem.
Years ago in adult Sunday school classes I frequently questioned the Bible and stated that much of it made no sense today. It seemed quite obvious to me that much of the Old Testament books were written by men who wanted to maintain their control and power over others. No one could argue with the points that I was making. It seemed so obvious to me.
I would love to inject my ideas into the Sunday school classes of local evangelical churches, but I have no doubt that the women would be the first ones to attack me. Those women are taught from a young age that men are to be the rulers and their behavior, no matter how awful, is to be tolerated and supported.
I don’t believe that at it’s core it’s about anything outside of self. What right wing politics is is authoritarianism, that’s what attracted the faithful to the church of Rush Limbaugh, it’s what determines all of their hates and it’s what their politics is based on.
They need entitilement. They can’t compete without a built in cultural head start and they remember being born with that and want to return to it.
What women and blacks and others of all different stripe recall as progress over our lives authoritarians recall as regression, loss of entitlement, return to the same starting line as everyone else.
Authoritarians believe that for all of you others to be as deserving as they are you have to be like them and accept that the differences between you and them as flaws.
They have no reason to change. They are the superior ones. They are entitled to be boss. They deserve power. They are the ones who resist all progress, all change.
Agent Orange is their king for good reason. He is the epitome of their culture.
President Trump and Senators Grassley, McConnell, Graham and Hatch have not left a shred of evidence that they respect women. As a matter of fact, they’ve left nothing to show they like anybody except themselves.
These men seem to have the impression that citizens of the U.S. breathlessly await every word spoken by the fabulous five. Perhaps they would be better off following Senator Hatch’s words to female activists last week. “Grow up.” Or perhaps they would be wise to follow the advice of a Republican friend of mine: “Stop talking.”
If you need an example of how this misogyny is propagated here is my most recent experience.
I attended services at a local Catholic church recently and had to listen to the readings describing women as an appendage of men in Genesis, then the New Testament reading about divorce and then a homily telling the congregation that divorce was forbidden, marriage was only for men and women, followed be a detailed critique of Justice Kennedy’s opinion in Roe v. Wade. Then we were told that our country became “secular” with that opinion and relativism had taken over our society. The sin of pride caused the Fall and continues to influence all matters contrary to the Bible teachings as God’s teaching is absolute.
Then we were called to line Meridian Street to call attention to the Right To Life, protecting fetuses and ignoring the vessel. And that is all we are valued as, vessels, appendages, not intrinsically valuable individuals with personal autonomy.
I have not been that angry since a nun told me I wasn’t “pure” enough as a female to enter the sanctuary. Only males and consecrated women were allowed.
Powerful men have and will always view women as mere appendages, arm candy, sexually available to them at their choosing. Not all men are like this, but as we have seen time and time again, many are. Do they become powerful because of their lack of moral character and ability to objectify those they step on as they rise? It seems that many do. Grassley, Hatch, McConnell, Cruz and many other Republican Senators are just the tip of the iceberg.
JD – how on earth were you able to sit and listen to that evil being spewed from the pulpit without standing up and shouting out against it?
JoAnn, I did not oppose your comments, but your remarks today indicates that just because two men commented that they received excellent care at the V.A. that they were uncaring about women. And my last comment to you tried to point out that I was not discounting your point. So much for your BLUE vote.
Those who would be failures without the head start conferred by entitlement are now running the country thanks to their entitlement and by the grace of others similarly entitled.
Those of us who are now second class citizens as a result of their entitlement will rise up and take back progress or live as second class citizens in a backward country forever.
It’s not up to them at all but us.
Can we? Will we?
JD @ 9:52 am. I also was raised a Roman Catholic as Boomer. At one time we prayed for the conversion of Jews and we were told anyone who was not a Roman Catholic would go to Hell. The Bible Thumper’s had similar beliefs. Conversion was always a necessity to avoid Hell.
The religions of the Middle East had and have at their core Male Supremacy and Authoritarianism. Some liberalism has been sprinkled in here and there. However, the “Holy Books” provide one example after another Male Supremacy, Authoritarianism and sanctioned brutality to non-believers. Thus, it should not be a surprise to anyone that the Reactionary-Right Wing-Bible Thumping Republicans are all on board with the idea of “others” are not equal.
President Agent Orange is the logical culmination or manifestation. Lies and insults are brushed aside, in fact he is cheered on. No matter how much President Agent Orange debases and degrades the Presidency, Pastor Pence will be standing behind with his plastic smile.
The elected Republicans now know President Agent Orange has captured the hearts and minds of the Reactionary-Right Wing-Bible Thumping Republican base – They are terrified of his wrath.
Today’s comments confirm that most religious teachings are misogynistic bullshit spawned by the ancient Judeo-Christian culture that arose in the Middle East 7,000 years ago. Throw in the more “modern” Muslim offshoot and you have the embedded power element of men over women. They did that back then to control their “property”. They’re still doing it. It’s what and who they are.
Republicans, of course, embrace this ancient notion in order to control the votes. Their donors embrace this notion because it helps them control wages to women…who they would prefer not work at all so their voices were even less important.
So, the churches, the Republicans and the power/profit mad capitalists are the culprits behind the misogyny that plagues our species around the entire world, not just here. If women protested in say Afghanistan the way they protest here, they would be stoned. Here, however, the women will be the saving element of democracy, because the old, white men in power are too inept to understand what they do.
I appreciate all of the comments on another spot-on piece by Sheila. Living in South Carolina, a redder-than-red state, I sometimes wonder if I am just 1 of a very small minority that wants people to move beyond living under religious, racist, misogynistic. white male dominated world views. Everyone on this blog holds views similar to mine and I get support by reading this blog daily. Then we have an election, or a Senate hearing and I am once again left wondering where are the people like me and why do we have so little influence?
For all of their railing against Islamists or Muslim fundamentalism, these guys have so much in common with their so-called enemies, it’s scary. Both groups are working towards their own version of sharia and keeping women in a role subservient to men. Imam Rush Limbaugh has called for a fatwah on “Feminazis”. Southern Baptist conventions are essentially misogynistic festivals seeking to keep women in their place by accusing them of witchcraft if they voice any dissent. A supposedly educated man, Congressman Todd Akin, espoused some medieval theory of “legitimate rape”. What’s next for this group? Legalizing “honor” killings? All of this is backward, repugnant thinking that should have died out long ago if evolution is really working. It appeared we were moving in a positive direction before Trump, but it seems these Neanderthal attitudes were merely being suppressed before Trump came along and “legitimized” this behavior once again. But real men know this is not how we’re supposed to act. Real men know that being tough is not oppressing women or bullying anyone. It’s much tougher to stand up for what’s right, to admit when you’re wrong, and to accept the consequences of your actions. Trump and his ilk are small men with small ideas. They are the dying branches of human civilization, the failed experiments of Nature, and a grim reminder of the sins of our past that we are trying to move past. The world will be a much better place once these dinosaurs die off.
I tip my hat to Monotonous’ comments of 8:54. They were brutal, honest and enlightening. I hope everyone takes the time to read and maybe even re-read them today. Thank you sir!
Two points for me today: First let me say that I have had the opportunity over my career(s) to work with a large number of women and I have found that a motivated woman is every bit the equal to a similarly motivated man. Full stop. I have taught women and know how well they learn. I have been taught by women and know how well they can teach. If some women have a weakness it is that they have been told that they “can’t” for so long that some of them believe it. Once they see that they can it is remarkable to behold.
Second: Males, and especially and in spades, Republican white males, crave above all things money and power. They are capitalists of the first water and their desires, both money and power, are driven by pure unadulterated greed. They don’t dislike their “opponents,” they hate and despise them. In the end they will lose I believe, destroyed by their own evil. I may not live to see it happen, but it WILL happen. There are now just too many women and people of color who have begun to see through them and to despise them, and to whom I say, “Bravo.”
Third: (Okay, I said two, but then this must also be said) We must to everything we can to hasten the destruction of this capitalist greed by injecting the tempering influence of social programs. Republicans will gag on them and lash out as they always have, but this is the hill we must choose to die on if necessary.
Fight on sisters! Fight on black and brown and red sisters and brothers. Never surrender!
Chuck Grassley’s comment sits at the same level of hubris and irrationality as that of the Chinese ambassador who was being interviewed by Steve Inskeep recently on NPR. Inskeep tossed a few softball questions then suddenly asked why Americans are not allowed into Tibet (where the Chinese are working to destroy the culture and any remaining sense of Independence). Startled and apparently at a loss for an answer, the ambassador replied that the altitude of Tibet is so great that it would be unhealthy for Westerners to go there. “It’s too high up for Americans.”
Mindless assertions have replaced what were once intellectual arguments used by Republicans. Since they’ve stopped caring about any goals unrelated to the extension of their power or the acquisition of more money for themselves and their constituents, the Republicans have fallen back on the code-word-of-the-day approach to governance. Today’s word, if you are not watching the news, is “mob”. Trump and McConnell and other Republican intellectuals are confident they can convince Americans, before the end of the news day, that all Democrats are part of a mob trying to take over the the country. How pathetic that they will convince some simply by endless, coordinated, intentional repetition of the lie!
Is misogyny closer to the heart of right-win politics than racism? Republicans are deeply proud of their flexibility. To a man, they can switch to whatever brand of divisiveness or hatred is bringing in votes on any given day. Their only ethical standard is “Does it work to win votes?”
If the answer is “yes”, then the fact that they are contradicting yesterday’s position is irrelevant. Most of Trump’s base is so bereft of factual information that they will support his actions even if what he is doing is threatening to their life or health (shall we put coal slurry into the streams of West Virginia? Yes, of course. Yay!).
@Irvin – Your response to @JoAnn Green as well as those of the respondents she mentions strike me much like that of people whose response to #BlackLivesMatter is #BlueLivesMatter, that is, by missing the point. Her point was that attempting to refute an assertion of systemic bias against women by offering as counterexamples the good experiences of two specific men is neither persuasive nor relevant. Anecdotes are not data. One might as well try refuting the assertion that this maladministration is full of white supremacists by saying “but Ben Carson!”
Systemic bias these days isn’t as blatant as a “Whites only” sign – it’s designed to be invisible to the beneficiaries and ideally to the victims as well. And it apparently worked on her respondents.
Warren; I got back on here to point out to Irvin that he had AGAIN provem my point for me. Glad you could see it, too.
With all of the religious hyperbole that is almost without fail; part of every political issue now controlled by the evangelicals, their favorite and biggest money-making holiday is almost upon us. It is only days ahead of the election and the beginning of demands to only greet any and everyone you run into with “Merry Christmas!” Believing it is the American way. Has anyone noticed throughout the past decades that it is only Christians who use their professed religion as a sales pitch to further enrich manufacturers, department and big-box stores and fill their coffers to overflowing by spreading Christmas cheer and Easter joy? Just sayin’
VOTE BLUE! I did!
Wow! What-self centered opinions. BLUE HA! Irvin
All:
I erred greatly in my comment of 12:19. I should have said that the comments of Rev. Manuel Colunga-Hernandez were “were brutal, honest and enlightening. I hope everyone takes the time to read and maybe even re-read them today. ” I apologize to him for my error and to you all as well. Sometimes I need an “edit comment” button . . . in my life as well.
I am a Vietnam combat veteran (draftee type), my experiences so far with the VA have been good. Am I wrong for pointing that out??? Some of my comrades from Vietnam who suffer from Agent Orange have had to fight the Government and VA tooth and nail.
Sometimes a comment is just that – A Comment with no ulterior dark motive behind it.
No, you’re not wrong. The system is working well for you, that’s great. But that doesn’t mean the system isn’t broken. Most systems work well for someone although it can sometimes be hard to identify who that “someone” is.
One difference between conservatives and liberals is that conservatives tend to say “it’s working for me, so it’s fine the way it is” (or “it’s not working for me, let’s burn it to the ground”) whereas liberals tend to say “whether or not it’s working for me, we should make sure it works well for everyone”.
Irvin,
Self-centered? Really? What is your positive contribution? Are you going to go full-judgmental on those who are trying to grapple with a lying, hateful president who supports misogyny, corruption and violent, murderous dictators? How self-centered is that?
Vernon, have you read the two comments that I posted yesterday regarding JoAnn’s s post about the V.A. All I said was that I had received great care from the V.V and found no fault with her views regarding treatment members of her family had experienced. All of this has to do with her less than nice comment in her post today. Irvin 🙂 + this has nothing to do with the creature in the W/H
let the republicans sing the old song,as they,those fat,white haired geezers. thinking America is thiers to keep. as a former city boy,and grew up,in a house that was my grandfolks way,and it was respectful. middle class,union,and with a air of advancing those who wanted to. race was never a issue,as was,women working. we have seen what the ignorant and ill informed,hand us,and they in turn,hand it down. living in a white working class world,i see change,but its not on a highway,more like a county road. if women come to the work place,give them the same respect,equal pay ,equal work load,and expect,to help everyone,without regard to what job you have. when men take it upon themselves to act like some superior being,then its time to have that meeting,and make it official,no one is above anyone,even the suits.. though promotion may mean more to do,and decide,never make it a point to be above anyone.now,,wheres that shovel?