I have been reading some Kipling this morning. Mansfield mentions The Female of the Species in Manliness when he discusses Darwin. You might also glance at If-- and then, inevitably--since I had a very early stogie (cheap cigar, same root as the town in PA named Conestoga, where they first made those covered wagons; I guess the cigar was quickly associated with the Conestoga wagons, and also, by the way, with rough, heavy shoes that were called stogas)--The Bethroded. Enjoy your morning. It was four below this morning; not much better now.
Thanks for the link. My wife had been looking for a copy of The Elephant’s Child. I don’t think she’s seen Female of the Species. It will be interesting when she does.
The Kipling reminds me of C.S. Lewis’s description, in Mere Christianity, of sex differences in the relations of men and women (as husbands/fathers and wives/mothers). Sorry for the long quote, but I think it’s worth it:
"The relations of the family to the outer world - what might be called its foreign policy - must depend, in the last resort, upon the man, because he always ought to be, and usually is, much more just to the outsiders. A woman is primarily fighting for her own children and husband against the rest of the world. Naturally, almost, in a sense, rightly, their claims override, for her, all other claims. She is the special trustee of their interests.
The function of the husband is to see that this natural preference of hers is not given its head. He has the last word in order to protect other people from the intense family patriotism of the wife. If anyone doubts this, let me ask a simple question. If your dog has bitten the child next door, or if your child has hurt the dog next door, which would you sooner have to deal with, the master of that house or the mistress? Or, if you are a married woman, let me ask you this question. Much as you admire your husband, would you not say that his chief failing is his tendency not to stick up for his rights and yours against the neighbours as vigorously as you would like? A bit of an Appeaser?"
Four below, but negative 22 with the windchill. Enjoy your stogies.
Dick Stanley: Tell your wife that this edition is terrific, faithful to the text, and beautifully illustrated. It has kept my children’s attention from the time they were toddlers and they still request it more than anything else I read to them.
You will have to be the judge of whether or not to share The Female of the Species with her . . . though it may be prudent to have someone else suggest it.
Is The Female of the Species an indirect argument for Hillary as President on the grounds that she would be strong on defense?
Female: If only "deadly" were the same thing as "strong" . . . men might finally understand women and neither of us would need the other. But it isn’t. So this isn’t.