Would the world be a less aggressive place...

[monkeytrousers]

...if women had the power?

Judging from the testosterone flying about on Mumsnet lately, somehow I doubt it..

Don't know the answer monkeytrousers, but think this needs bumping to the top of the heap because I'm sure there are lots of others with an opinion

Having managed to stomach a bit of a thread about the whole cartoon furore, I was wondering if a thread inviting conversions to atheism would help or just leave me needing a name change.

Of course it would. No question.

Not with me around it wouldnt to be sure.

Tarantula, that neatly leads me into my next proposition of it begging the question, if women had the power, would it make them into men?

..I wouldn't risk it Lio

TBH I think it would be a more aggressive place as women in general will not put up with a lot of shit whereas with men they let it fly over the top of their heads.
But it would be a much more happier place as there would be no poverty or hunger.
but saying that look at maggie thatcher the milk snatcher or was she a sad twit

Of course not. There have been many societies in which women took precedence over men in decision-making and leadership terms. - there's no record of them turning into men as far as I am aware. And the concept of one party necessarily having to have "the power" over another in order for a relationship/family/society to function is arguably a masculine construct anyway.

Turn into men indeed. Pshaw.

Undoubtedly.
Why are you so surprised thoguh by women who show a bit of passion about something other than Gina Ford and Touche Eclat???

[mystified emoticon]

I don't know. I have worked for some terrific female bosses, and male ones for that matter, and some crappy ones (ditto)

They would still be working within the basic frame work, I would imagine, so would things change that much?

except for me, of couse as I am too stupid to have a mind of my own

What "basic framework"? Who designed it? Whose agenda does it serve? And is it unalterable?

If women were physically stronger than men and men had the babies, would sexism still exist?

Where's the testosterone been flying around on mumsnet? What have I missed?

no, I don't think that it is unalterable, but it would take quite a long time, and it would be exceptionaly difficult for one country to totaly change all of its hierachies etc if the rest of the world was still running on the same capitalist lins IYSWIM

Women are physically stronger than men in the only way that counts in a modern setting - we are constitutionally and immunologically stronger and we live longer. Male "physical strength" is no more than a biological curiosity nowadays. And as to men having babies - that's a bit of a non-concept IMO. It disrupts the standard definition of what is a man far too much for a sensible answer to be found. The physiological, hormonal, sociological and psychological changes which would have to take place for men on a majority scale to assume the childbearing role make a mockery of the whole debate. You can't seriously discuss whether or not "sexism" would be an issue in a hypothetical scenario in which neither of the sexes retains any of the traits which distinguish it from the other in reality.

i doubt it - power does funny things to the nicest of people.

besided can you imagine bombing a country just becuase your kids pissed you off and you had PMT.

quite frankly i should never be in charge of a country

MB, the original question refers to "the world" - that gives scope for a much larger and deeper debate than just whether or not we should have all-women shortlists for parliament, or more women in top City jobs. The whole infrastructure is built on a presupposition that men will control women and serve their own interests first.

To be honest - I was hoping for a bit of light relief on this thread..humour me

..but not the kind of light relief I may be expecting if I was a bloke of course

Oh

This was always one of the debating points within feminism in the 70s (which I a old enough to remember )

Noweverdays I am not so sure that women are so very different

like your argument greensleves - tell me more, i thught it was all aabout the money

Was it Robin Williams who said if women ruled the world there would be no more wars, but intense negotiations every 28 days?

Well..... in my very humble opinion.... I take "basic framework" to mean "capitalist society". Capitalism is a classic example of the kind of mistake the unbridled masculine tendency will make. It is a system of mass organisation based around greed. Greed is one of the manifestations of the impulse to power, which I see as being much more a masuline aspiration than a feminine one. Money is such a powerful instrument of social control, whole societies are built around it, because it explicitly links quality of life with competition and power over others. In my view had women been in control of resources from the start, the abstracting of the value of goods into "currency" would probably never have happened. Our world would be totally unrecognisable from the one we live in. Poverty and deprivation are in fact cruel and unnecessary by-products of capitalism - there is no shortage of resources in real terms. Had we not as a species locked ourselves into a system which denied us access to the sustenance offered by the planet unless we jump through a series of sophisticated hoops - designed to create advantage based on ability to jump higher and more accurately than the next men - there would be no need for famine or homelessness.

But then, I am a nutter!!!

No it fu*g wouldn't - orrright?
POYT.

It would be a better place without Mumsnet no doubt! All our children would finally get the attention they've been screaming behind the bars of their playpens for, houses would be clean, husbands/partners would be able to spend more time with their partners, the UK alone would save millions in electricity, I could go on!

Ban Mumsnet!!

I think you'd have to look at early matriarchal societies to see how they ran things.

My house would be much tidier without Mumsnet