Do Women Need Men?

There was a slogan in the early days of the feminist movement that went something like, “A woman needs a man as much as a fish needs a bicycle.”  I was part of that generation, that also said, “Don’t trust anyone over 30,” among other things equally foolish.  I seem to remember that whoever said that, about not trusting someone over 30, was a rock ‘n’ roll star that still tours, now in his 60’s.  I wonder if he’s changed his mind?  For my money, the only good thing that came out of the sixties was the music.  I just wish more performers and Hollywood in general would just stick to their craft!

My former showbiz life coincided with the breaking of the so-called glass ceiling, which was quite real for a long time.  Many women were now reaching the corporate and other hierarchies that had heretofore been denied them.  However, instead of bringing their feminine instincts, skills, and traits to these newfound positions, many were adopting the worst of the existing masculine behaviors and habits.  They were going to be just as tough, just as hard working, and just as ruthless.

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Just A Guy That Misses His Heroes

heroesI’m just a guy that misses his heroes. When I grew up, it was easy to know the good guys from the bad guys.  In some cases they actually wore white hats.  Or, in my first exposure to a movie hero that I remember, it was Steve McQueen as Hilts, the motorcycle-riding, Nazi-defying loner who comes through, in the end, for the guys, in The Great Escape.  He was the epitome of cool.  I thought policemen were also cool and politicians looked like JFK and were to be respected. Nostalgic times, for sure.

But, it changed.  Changed with the sixties, changed with Watergate, changed with Vietnam, and more.  The legacy of those years is what our children now live with.  Who are their heroes?  Do we really want them worshipping all the NBA superstars who are covered with tattoos and whose personal lives are best left for the tabloids?  My sports heroes were like Sandy Koufax who stood by his principles and didn’t pitch a World Series game on a religious holiday of significance to him.  read more