WOW, that was fun. I knew I'd tick off every male here and they'd rise right to the occasion. You're all predictable. I turned another-all-male-rant here into a sexist pretzel fest! Fun, fun, fun!
But please give me a little break. I DID agree that Boxer WAS disrespectful to the General, that's a moot point. I also agree that he
probably meant no disrespect to her when he used \"ma'am\", although I do think that she should have been called 'Senator' in the first place. She IS one after all and she earned that title, whether you like it or not. The General should wake up and live in the present.
Sorry TechPro, that's the trouble with English. Too many words have different meanings depending on the person's perspective or life experiences. I have heard the term 'Madam (title here)' used also as a form of title, but NOT one I would frankly use (to closely associated with 'whore' and the old societal paternalism in my book). I've also heard the term 'Madam Prime Minister' used as well, so it's not irregular, neither is 'Madam Senator'. Since I'm just an ordinary pion in life, 'Mrs' or 'Miss' will have to do when I'm addressed by a stranger. By the way, don't members of the military call or refer to themselves as 'sir', even if that member is female? I've heard female officers addressed that way by those of lesser rank.
Back to Barbara Boxer's rant. I was ONLY trying to explain WHY she may have reacted the way she did, not excuse it. Females think with emotions most of the time, much to our detriment I'm afraid. Even I'm guilty of that a lot of the time, here as well. You males think with your gonads most of the time, so don't give me grief about women's right-brain thinking.
But seriously guys, women of my generation DO remember the olden days of our paternalistic society and let me tell you,
IT REALLY SUCKED BIG TIME FOR WOMEN! Even as a child, somehow, the way my mother was forced to live in subservience and stay at home to make babies and please her husband made an impression on me. It made me sad to see her so unhappy (she admitted it to me years later) with her status in life and I wondered why the status quo was that way. I was even repulsed at the thought of having to do that in my future life! Her only choices in the job market back then were secretary and teacher or some other job unbefitting a MAN. So ......
THANK GOD FOR THE SIXTIES! YEE HAA! So tough luck
BOYS (No offense. Sorry, couldn't resist). If you haven't walked a mile in our shoes, don't call us 'femi-nazis'! That really shows your colors and that you have NO EFFING CLUE. I'd like to shove that expression up where the sun don't shine in Rush Limbaugh!
To show you what makes a modern American women mad (this one will piss Bee off), I just saw a TV news article about a show in Afghanistan called 'Afghan Star'. One of the contestants was a woman who was singing. That was marginally OK to the males of the audience UNTIL she started to, GASP, DANCE! Good God! The males of the audience actually said OUT LOAD that she should be PUT TO DEATH for her heresy! Nice Democracy we've created there! Women still have a long way to go in areas the world to get out from under the iron thumb of males.
