William Mandel wrote:
War a man thing? How about Margaret Thatcher and the slaughter of
helpless Argentinian seamen in the Falklands War? .... Because women
have generally been subject to male oppression, the number of female
rulers responsible for such slaughters is very much smaller than the
number of men, but it does not explain or justify the fact that they
acted as rulers, not as women.
JW reply:
I won't dispute your point, William, but I think that the idea that war
is a man thing comes from the fact that most soldiers as a rule have
been and are male, and that the military in most times and places has
been a male oriented institution. I also think that the evolution of
this may have something to do with physical attributes since generally
combat favors stamina, size and strength.
As far as the examples of women leaders that you put forward, I would
say that they were acting as leaders and as women. I do not think that
females have a blanket exemption from being agressive, brutal or cruel.
-- Jerry West Editor/publisher/janitor ---------------------------------------------------- THE RECORD On line news from Nootka Sound & Canada's West Coast An independent, progressive regional publication http://www.island.net/~record/
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