Eagle Forum--couplet

[Jeffery]

I already posted this in the general forum but thought I'd post it here also:

"Mothers ought to stay at home,"
Eagle Forum ladies say.
Darn, if only they'd follow their own advice
On Election Day!

[patrice]

1. Yeah! That's what we need . . .

a reincarnation of Alexander Pope (without the health problems, I hope)!!

[Jeffery]

2. What do you mean?

Why Alexander Pope, and what does he have to do with Eagle Forum?

[patrice]

3. Alexander Pope was the great satirical poet of the late Enlightenment.

Like Calvin Trillin, but briefer, more productive, and more accessible to average readers. He was very popular. But like many poets his health was bad.

[Jeffery]

4. I looked him up

...on a search engine. Kind of interesting, and I hadn't known he came up with some sayings we commonly use today.

[patrice]

5. Pithy, pointed. Very useful in today's "sound bite" environment.

Must get to work.

Have a good day.

[patrice]

6. Did I get his historical period right?

It's been a long time since my under-grad lit classes. But that little ditty you quoted from the Eagle Forum (what is that, BTW?) reminded me of Pope.

[Nobody]

7. Tee hee

Isn't it convenient that Phyllis Schlafly, Laura Schlessinger, Barbara LeHaye and others like them tell us all what we should be doing, but they aren't doing it themselves? Oh no, they'd rather be making speeches, writing books, and hosting radio shows, nice high-profile, high-paying, high-prestige jobs.

They'd all be miserable if they had to stay home and pop out kids constantly while letting their husbands make all the decisions. Until they answer the question to my satisfaction why I should follow their rules and they get exemptions, nothing they say has any validity. And there IS no answer that would satisfy me. Hypocrisy has no excuse.

[Jeffery]

8. I've thought of that myself

Phyllis Schlafly especially, who got a Master's Degree and proceeded to run for political office, then she lost the election and started a talkshow. All the while spouting her "homemaking mother" gibberish. And then she was an anti-gay activist, but her son still works for the Eagle Forum and he is "as queer as a $3.00 bill", to use the old expression.

[Nobody]

9. In a fit of masochism I read her biography

I ended up coming close to throwing the book against the wall, but I made it through to the end.

She came across as one of those people who makes good use of the gains made on her behalf but would deny others access to the same. Because she's "different". She's not "like other women".

If you've ever read Susan Faludi's book "Backlash", she interviews a whole bunch of this kind of woman. Connaught Marshner actively dislikes women to the extent that she no longer considers herself to be one of us.

[Katherine Brengle]

10. Those were my favorite (and most frustrating) sections in Backlash --

the hypocrisy of these women. And the fact that their behavior so closely matched that of the wife in The Handmaid's Tale - they all really need to read that book.