Steinem pointed to ancient cultures including Africans and Native Americans and said it's not true that women have always been dominated over the course of history.

aetheralloy · 2010-10-07T23:48:28+00:00

Steinem said all issues raised by the women's movement now have the support of a majority of people, and structural changes are being made.

Well I guess she can disappear quietly into the night now that the work is done! Unless it means no more paid speaking appearances and book deals.

Wait...

Before you flame me for a bad joke... She also said..

Steinem agreed, adding, "Laughter is the only free emotion."

melb22 · 2010-10-08T09:21:56+00:00

All societies have been patriarchal in the sense that the tribal councils were run by men. It's true, though, that some tribal societies in Africa and Asia have been matrifocal and matrilineal. That means that inheritance passed through the female line and that households were formed around the mother's place of residence rather than the father's. The reason for this is that in these societies female sexuality was not closely regulated. Therefore, men could not be sure of any children belonging to them. They could, however, be sure that their sister's children were closely related. Therefore, these societies were "uncle" rather than "father" societies. Men in these societies naturally preferred to hand down property to their sister's children.

I've written a brief post on this here.

nanomagnetic · 2010-10-08T04:04:47+00:00

That was a poorly written article. Did you even see that copy? Good lord. Lower-case names, the conversational tone, the god-foresaken quotes the reporter used? I didn't sense any background research going into that piece.

Seems fitting that the reddit headline is just a lift from the story.

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