Man Flu...

Sorry about the radio silence - I've had Man Flu. It's much more serious in women, of course, as it's crossed the species. Nevertheless, I've struggled into work and got through the week.

It did set me thinking, though, about how flippant the sexes are about each others' different Ways of Being. I should warn you that I'm quite Politically Incorrect at times. I actually don't see anything wrong in one gender tending to be more nurturing and - well, motherly - whilst the other is more hunter-gathery. I don't see anything wrong in someone of either gender enjoying expressing the traits ascribed to the other gender - I know some great male 'mothers', and some ass-kicking hunter-gatheresses.

And to be perfectly honest, I don't see anything wrong in men saying they feel really, really crap and asking for a bit of TLC from time to time. If that's what it takes for them to be able to be vulnerable, why not?

I think it's true that women tend to get on with life despite how they're feeling - historically, babies needed feeding and men couldn't do it - simple, huh? But goodness, how many men unflinchingly shoulder responsibilities without making a big deal of it? The irony being that we'll never know, cos they don't make a big deal of it.

I'm tired of people pretending that the two sexes are able to function identically without it having any impact on society. I'm sad about all the damaged children I see because of our 'I come first' culture. I even sometimes suspect that the Feminist movement has destroyed any chance of a cohesive society, God forgive me - and I don't say that lightly. I am happy and proud to vote, to earn my living, to pay my way... but deep down I wonder what price we're paying for women's relatively new-found ability to be pseudo-men.

This is dangerous ground, I know. I know about the oppression of women down the centuries. I understand the concept of 'the problem that has no name' (see Betty Friedan: The Feminine Mystique). I am aware of the abuse of millions of women who until very recently suffered in silence, and in fact many still do.

And yet - as a woman - I still can't shake this hunch that when I look at society, see how women are abused in new and different ways, deal with children whose lives were shattered from the start, and above all marvel at the utter lack of self-respect which allows young women to collapse, drunk and knickerless in the street in front of cameras... I can't shake this hunch that we've lost out.

So - sue me..?