Was the Economic Meltdown a Crisis of Masculinity Run Amuck? It's Time for Women to Step In

I beg to disagree. the gender should not be the one to blame it. We are stereotyping each other. This discussion will not be any helpful to us. Instead of pointing fngers to each other since no one will accept the failure, we must concentrate in finding means to solve the problems. At least we will be very productive. because if we dont act now, who will. There are many crimes that are happening today. one is, Payday lenders are becoming some of the most popular targets for crime. More and more armed robberies nationwide have been committed at payday lenders stores, and the incidents have been happening at an increasing frequency. Wichita, Kansas, was the location of five robberies committed in the last month, all of which are attributed to one individual, who just had his picture taken during one of the robberies he committed published. Wisconsin has joined the list of states with payday robberies, joining Kansas, Oklahoma, California, South Carolina, Texas, and Washington. Payday lenders should step up efforts to make their payday loan stores and employees more secure, even it takes some small short term loans.

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Women in Corporate Management are every bit the corporate sharks that the men who pulled off this bail-out piracy are. What is lacking in both genders is what is lacking in any Corporation: humanity.

So it doesn't matter whether male or female. Feminism is nothing more than The Big Nag, anyway. Just one more instance of women nagging men.

Trouble is that apparently, women expect the men to actively bring them in. And they nag men when they don't.

Men don't even bring each other in. Men on Wall Street are killers. Women say they want equality. But really they want whatever men have. So they want to be killers. Let them kill their own humanity. Fine with me.

The first time I went out to dinner with the woman who is now my wife, I ordered dessert for myself and my future wife turned to the wait person. "Oh," she said, "I'll just have some of his."

Right there, I got a huge insight into the nature of women and what feminism is about.

I don't know how other men feel about such things but I won't have it. "No, ma'am," I said. "You won't have any of mine at all. Not now. Not ever. So you had better order your own."

She got the picture.

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All of the perps are baby boomers. The generation of crooks that had crashed Wall Street 20 years ago is the same generation crashing Wall Street today, only 20 years older.

See anyone in their 30's in handcuffs like in the late 1980s?

No you haven't: we as a generation have been denied access to the upper echelons of corporate hierarchy necessary to be in a position to perpetrate massive wholesale fraud, by the very same baby boomers who refuse to - and now because of their own shenanigans can't afford to - retire.

I fully support equal rights for everyone, and I am truly amazed/disgusted that women STILL only get paid 80% for what a man does for the same work (and Jesus H. Christ, are we STILL debating whether or not homosexuals are human beings? Really?)

However, this recent economic downturn has been hardest on men; I guess it's the abhorrent 20% "vagina discount" on pay that makes female employees so attractive to corporate America. No wonder the Repugnicans fought so hard against the fair pay act: it'd increase corporate payrolls overnight.

So let's not forget who the real enemy is: the older generation who refuses move out of the driver's seat, because it sure as hell ain't my fellow genxers that are keeping women down.

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Personally I don't give a damn who will get the world out of the economic crisis so long as it is done. Be it women, men, aliens, green ducks with laser beams on their heads.

In the same vein I want to see the bastards who caused it at the gallows. Be it women, men, aliens, green ducks with laser beams on their heads.

I am unlikely to get either wish but it changes nothing, it is not about gender. It is about top 10%, primarly in US, ripping off the rest of the world. Until that oligarhy is gone, or at least weakened, there cannot be any changes or advances.

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Not a very scientific theory, but fun to think about.

In my experience, and as the article suggests at certain points, diversity tends to have a positive, neutralizing effect on the work environment. But the high risk/reward financial business attracts, breeds, and/or grooms a certain kind of person and behavior, regardless of gender.

The only difference might be that when they run off with their investors' life savings, they'll piss it away on shoes and spa vacations instead of hookers and private jets.

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My grammaw was a suffragist; no man loves women, as human beings and as women, better than I; my grammaw brought me up as a Victorian gentleman, and I'm prejudiced: I think women on the whole are all-round finer people than men (except for upper-body strength, for what that's worth.)

But… one of the great arguments for women's suffrage was that after women got the vote, there'd be no more corrupt, stupid, vicious politics– and thus, for instance, no more wars.

What happened? I'd love to believe the premise of this article, but experience has shown that premise to be wrong. Sorry, truly sorry…

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Woman and men do view the world through different lenses, and this is not a simple stereotype. (Not calling a rose a rose doesn't make it not a rose, eh?) Where Courtney's assessment fails, is the women at the top of these organisations have gotten their by acting as men. They get into a groupthink trance, and they make the same corporate-focused (as opposed to socially-focused) that traps men do...and they tend to make the same short-sighted, bottom-dollar decisions. We don't need more females, we need more real women...most of whom are smart enough to avoid business in the first place, no?

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There are corporate executives from both genders who have been known to screw up. Does Carly Fiorina ring a bell? While it is true that women are generally more patient and are a little more likely to ensure long term success, I won't say that all men are greedy and hasty to the point of running a company into the ground either. Corporate greed can infect anyone regardless of gender, race, religion, etc ... The executives of LB simply exploited the weaknesses and loopholes of the current unfettered capitalist system that's been fixed against us all for decades. Renaming the company would have made no difference whatsoever.

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In answer to the rhetorical question posed above:If it had been Lehman Brothers and Sisters, would the financial meltdown have shaken out in the same way?

Yes.

Whether or not it is an observable psychological fact that women would make less risky investments than men, the end result would still be the same. Why?

Because they all, men and women Wall Streeters, went to the same schools. They all work for the same bosses, financial companies on the way up and so on and so forth.

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Is not cool, no matter how you slice it.

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The whole phenomenon of gender rivalry was misconceived from the start, and as has been proven, successful women in business and politics are heavily masculinized, Pope Benedict recognizes this. With the collapse of 30 years of a neo-liberal way of life, women have now the golden opportunity to be themselves and to repudiate the 'trap' of
free market fundamentalism. At last men too can free themselves from the idiotic Machievellian enterprise of power per se, and be 'a man for others' in the manner of Jesus Christ, who understood and loved women for themselves and not for what they have. Women are different, though they share the same humanity as men, they are complimentary to men and vice versa, 'gifts' to each other to be hallowed and treasured. What we so sorely need today is a politico-economic apparatus that reflects this!

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Almost all of these financial services companies continue to have a culture that keeps women out. Sexual harassment, diverting the biggest clients, even women, to the men, use of the 'old boy network' to get into companies will continue to keep women out, away or chase them out from the higher levels.

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to keep people snarling and barking at each other. see through the BS already and stand together.

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It was only a matter of time, I suppose before someone introduced sex into this debacle. It might be wise for this individual to consider the Katherine Harris' of the world, or the two mouthpieces for George that were women, The Republican reps and senators that are women, and Ann Coulter, Michelle Malken and the list goes on. Women are fast running out of ways to lift there shoes into the collective male crotch. They hold many CEO posits, are seen in ever increasing numbers in boardrooms, and etc. Just for once it would be nice to face the MAJOR issues of the day, free from the clutter. This nation has far more important things to scared hell out of presently, THIS isn't one of them

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The premise of this article---that the economic blow-up is due to: gender? oh please!

I know plenty of women who are in business and finance and who strongly support a lassaiz-faire capitalism and a ruthless economic and social Darwinism. Fanatical Bush and Reagan supporters. And on the "flip" side of the coin--if you can call it that---there are plenty of female "Clintonistas" who strongly support the Blue Dog type of capitalism that the Clintons gave us. Many of them were strong supporters of Hillary and are still vehemently as anti-Obama as any Republican.

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It is also far more evil than some poor judgments, mistakes, boo boos, etc.!!!

There are indeed such things as conspiracies, and this is one of them!!! If Nazis could gas innocent men, women, and children, then this could well happen to:

The implosion of the world's economy is being orchestrated by our private Federal Reserve & the other private central banks!!! It's a scheme of the Illuminati/NWO/globalists to destroy U.S. sovereignty & usher in a one-world dictatorship!

The Elites/Illuminati/NWO/globalists are sick eugenicists who want a herd of merely 500 million sheeple in the entire world, under their control, to serve them under a feudalistic system!

http://www.endthefed.us/

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While it is true, as Nicholas Kristoff wondered in the New York Times, that we all might be better off if “Lehman Brothers” were “Lehman Brothers and Sisters,” it is not the case that women in positions of critical position making would be any different than their male counterparts. This was about greed and consolidation of power and constructing an insulating barrier between money and the general population. Women have just as much capacity for empire as do men, just look at the history of England; Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth. Even a man woman partnership isn’t any guarantee against abuse of power, William and Mary of Orange, which this is, after all, what this is all about.

It is true that, in the United States because of our Protestant origins, women have taken the back seat and their voices muted. But to suggest that Kacki Zehner would be any better than Henry Paulsen or Lloyd Blankfein at steering world investments hardly scratches the surface of identifying the problems beset by the United States.

In all things, a man-women partnership brings to the table the best talents of both of them because both have different hardwired perceptions with regard to preserving the family unit, of which a financial organization can viewed as an abstraction. But the problem isn’t who is at the helm of Goldman Sachs, it is the existence of Goldman Sachs itself.

Consider this excerpt taken form Wikipedia:

“ The Federal Reserve's approval of their (Goldman Sachs) bid to become banks ended the ascendancy of the securities firms, 75 years after Congress separated them from deposit-taking lenders, and capped weeks of chaos that sent Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. into bankruptcy and led to the rushed sale of Merrill Lynch & Co. to Bank of America Corp.” I think that this excerpt correctly identifies the problem behind the financial meltdown. It isn’t just problems in the financial sector and it isn’t problems caused by a male dominated financial sector, though I feel that the melding of male and female minds always produces the better result, but it is systemic failure at all levels of government to stem consolidation of power into the hands of the very few.

If you want to know courageous women stepping up to the plate where men have fallen down then you should know the names of Mindy Kleinberg, Lorie Van Auken, Patty Casazza, Monica Gabriella, Lt. Col. Karen U. Kwiatkowski, Col. Ann Wright, and many many others. The first four in this group were some of the founders of the Family Steering Committee for the Investigation of 9/11. Why don’t we, when talking about women stepping up to the plate of leadership, mention these women, because after all they are some of the most courageous in our society. Why instead has the debate been reframed as the result of the risky actions of a male dominated financial sector rather than the result of corruption at the highest levels of the government, the military and the financial sector working in collusion? What we should be debating is what can be done to eradicate that corruption, and that implies an investigation of 9/11.

Finance companies operate in the world of existing resources and how to control and market them. Oil is the most profitable resources available on the planet, as a result of an automobile only transportation system, and it is a resource that is dwindling rapidly. The confluence of dwindling supply and skyrocketing demand makes this resource the most cherished prize on the planet and the bankers who operate the oil companies will do anything to acquire access to those resources, whether they are headed by women or men.

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the delusion that women are the benevolent moral altruistic and correct beings of the two is the SECOND GREATEST LIE EVER SOLD.


you need look no further than the enablers of these "evil" than these men's wives.

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I have to think that for whatever reason it certainly seems to be empirically true . Case in Point who were the great enablers of this
mess Greenspan, Summers and Rubin . Who got it RIGHT Brooksley Born and her reward was to
pushed aside by the aforementioned UNHOLY TRIO .

Who seems to have Right NOW Elizabeth Warren and yet two out three of Obama's Economic Advisers are the Same Clowns that screwed it up. We can add Geithner to list because as President of the New York Fed he did NOTHING

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Men control the military, government, and most large corporations. Personally I don't care to blame a particular sex on various calamities in our world. I just wish the men in government would place some new regulations on Wall St., on the investment banks, commodities traders who are nothing more than non-productive leaches, and the military-industrial complex. The majority of men are far more agressive than the majority of women. It's just the way we are wired. Women are a large percentage of the population but are only fractionally represented in the government, economy, and military. Nobody can convince me that if women had an equal amount of say in how "things are run" that we would have the same results we see today.

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is that women have NEVER really been given or been allowed to have substantial leadership positions. While we bicker about sex and sexism, men continue to run and ruin the planet. If I could snap my fingers and every leader, from city mayors to state and federal senators and representatives to political strategists were suddenly women (heck, I'd be satisfied if you just chose random women off the street), I believe that within one year, this nation's priorities would be inverse to what they are now... to all our benefit. Military funding would be at the bottom instead of the top. Health care, child care and environmental restoration would be at the top instead of near the bottom. The minimum wage would rise and the top wages would be capped. Man and woman ARE different. We DO look at the world differently. We DO have different perspectives. After men running the U.S. for the past 200+ years, maybe it's time for women to run this country for the next 200+ years. Then, and only then, will we have enough perspective to comment on who did a better job. And, considering the alternative (leaving men in charge), I'll take women's leadership right now. And I'm a 56-year-old man.

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... you can't forget her.

She was a large part of the 'Free Market' ideology that arose from the growing neocon influence in the 80s. Thatcher/Reagan/Mulroney... they changed everything in economic policy that has led to the current collapse.

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I thought the total absence of women from the parade of corporate executives before Congress to be remarkable. Funny how they couldn't find a single woman to sit in her chair and squirm and lie while questions were fired at her. Anyone questioning the breakdown of all the rules during the Bush Admin. was fired. That also included alot of men. Regardless of the reasons the absence of women was quite obvious. ANNA

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Sorry... I happen to know our"Realestate Agents" here in our town and 80% of them are women, driven by greed and the quick buck.
Greed , like all human vices is not gender specific.
Neither is morality or ethics something that women have "exclusive proprietary rights " to..if fact women can be as aggresive and as maculine or even more so than a man, so even "masculinity" has nothing to do with being male. As we say here sometimes.. " a man in a womans body" .. to close.. one of the most famous "man in a womans body"..Lady MacBeth " The raven himself is hoarse
That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan
Under my battlements. Come, you spirits
That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here,
And fill me from the crown to the toe topful
Of direst cruelty!"
Remember, this is a woman speaking.....
So this article is a non sequitor..its pure BS.

The genius of Shakespeare was that he was able to grasp both genders equally well and also showed that the attributes of masculinty and femininity were and are transparent to the sexes.

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CONGRESS IS DOING A BAD JOB OF HELPING THOSE IN DIRE STRAIGHTS DURING A DEPRESSION

Looks like getting screwed is the new American dream- Now in another Great Depression, the powers behind the scene are destroying our nation. While Wall Street has pulled off the biggest robbery in history, bringing down the world economy, congress is nowhere to be found. Puppet presidents seem to be the norm now. So I am urging all voters not to reelect those reps who are not working for you. Blue Dog Democrats are the worst.

While Medicare, Medicade and Soc Sec have already been looted, they are roaring ahead with funding for Iraq and Afghanistan. But the safety nets that we all paid into all our lives are now in danger of being cut.

In 1974 I got 65 weeks of unemployment.

Was Income Really Up? From investor report John Mauldin

More and more people each week are thrown into very dire circumstances when they fail to find jobs and lose the benefits. Care to wager whether, when Congress comes back from vacation, the time people are allowed to be on unemployment will be increased? We better hope so.

Now, let's turn our attention to today's headline. Income is surprisingly up. That has to be a green shoot, right? Well, not if you look at the underlying data.
Personal income from wages and salaries was down $12 billion in May. So how did income go up? A large increase in "government social benefits" and a decline in personal taxes accounted for all the gain, and then some. The increase was the effect from the recent stimulus package, which is (for now) temporary, and not the result of a recovering economy. Hardly green shoots. It is just borrowed money from another (government) source. In principle, it is not much different than home equity withdrawal, except that taxpayers are on the hook.
And those government subsidies are going to increase. What it shows is that the average duration of unemployment is at a 60-year high, and rising. It is now at 22.5 weeks.

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And the mega-banks have to be stabilized, they are too interconnected in the financial system we are all dependent on. After they are well, they should be broken up into smaller pieces so this cannot happen again - -- found a cool site; Balkingpoints ; incredible satellite view of earth

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I want to apply your ideology to the teaching profession. The majority of teachers are women -- especially at the elementary level. The US ranks approximately 30th in math and science proficiency through out the international community.

Would it be fair to say: "Is The Education Meltdown A Crisis Of Femininity Run Amuck? It's Time for Men To Step In."

With equality comes accountability. If we're going to blame men for certain problems in society, then women should also be held accountable for their contributions.

I would love to here your thoughts. My experience with feminists suggests the foundation of your movement is based on victimization. When a person thrusts themselves in the role of victim, they usually have zero concept of accountability.

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Nancy Pelosi??

What happened at BS, Lehman (Wall Street) had more to do with de-regulation laws and loopholes created, configured, lobbied (and sold) for -and voted on by both genders.

Don't fool yourself. Greed and Graft afflict the sexes equally.

The headline of this article is bothersome.

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How about beginning this whole thread over with:
It's The Testosterone Stupid!

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very much missing the point, and quite sexist as well!

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Woman are just as capable of greed, woman are just as capable of war, woman are not some enlightened group of humans that would make everything right if only they were in charge!

Margaret Thatcher is a really good example of a POS imperialist female world leader.

Cristina Kirchner, the current President of Argentina, is another good example of a corrupt, greedy FEMALE world leader.

Power and greed is corrupting, I don't care what kind of sexual organ you possess.

And I can't stand feminists and woman who keep trumpeting this ridiculous and plain ignorant point.

During the presidential primaries in the US, I knew of so many women who were supporting Hilary Clinton because she was a woman in addition to being a Democrat, two of the dumbest reasons I've ever heard for wanting to vote for someone.

You don't learn about a person's character from their gender and self-imposed labels.

Seriously, women, what the hell. Quit letting gender blind you so much, you're smarter than that.

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Do these things sound like the desires of a majority of men...or women?

Do a majority of American women desire wealth and fortune as much as their male counterparts? From my understanding, experience and observations the answers is a resounding YES!

This article is ironic and hypocritical at best and just plain divisive and contentious at worse. Where are the facts, evidence, science, rational arguments, or logical reasoning in this article? This is just another fluff piece at AlterNet to try and paint all "progressives" as feminist, vegan, Democrat, porn-hating extremists. WTF???

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having more women in positions of power could not possibly make matters worse. I would like to see it happen. America was built on the concept of checks and balances, on the notion of countervailing powers. Our governance should comprise the full spectrum of humanity. There should be equal numbers of women and men, equal numbers of each ethnicity and culture, equal numbers of the various genders, and ages, etc. I am sick to death of rich white men running this insane asylum. More women, yes. Many more.

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Let the record show that women, when infected by the ideology that ran our economy to ruin (for the working classes), are just as careless as men in pursuit of the Green God.

Let's not blame this on testicles.

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Just in case you haven't noticed: Obama's pick to head his health care team, Nancy-Ann DeParle, worked for Lehman Bros.

Female sharks get promoted by male sharks. Cooperative, gender-identified, win-win gals don't.

And, yes, I'm a feminist, but I don't believe that women are better-behaved than men in situations where gals can get away with bad behavior. I do recognize that predators attack smaller people so they don't get torn to pieces, and that smaller often means female. Predatory men attack other men, businesses, taxpayers--you name it. We fight predators, and if men get a better deal from it, that's fine. From rape to ripoff mechanics, both sexes do get victimized and we want an end to victimization in general, not the ability to define victimhood as female.

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Stereotyped gender roles, i.e. "masculinity" and "femininity" are largely a product of the culture and time people grow up in. Such gender roles have varied widely across time, in different cultures, and among different individuals of the same sex. Thus, "masculinity" and "femininity" are not biologically inherent to being a man or a woman. Consequently, women in charge would likely not differ greatly from men in charge, as you would get a wide variety of personality types and ways of doing business, just as we do now with men.

The idea that women are more inherently moral is a ludicrous one and I'm surprised that people are still trying to peddle that bill of goods in 2009.

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a tyrant with a penis and a tyrant with a vagina are still both tyrants...

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Are greed and crookery masculine traits?
WTF is this supposed to mean?

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For the company I mean.

What is the proven benefit for a COMPANY when it comes to female as opposed to male leadership exactly?

Don't give me the bog standard "different perspective blah blah" burp, what exactly is the scientifically proven benefit for a company in having women as managers?

Do you know why none of the raging feminists are out there fighting for more lesbian CEOs? Or more gay CEOs? Or more transsexual hindu CEOs or some other group that are clearly under-represented in corporate management?

Because THEY are not part of THAT group themselves. Cynically, this is not a fight for fairness. The top jobs with top salaries are few, and the people who want them are many. That means you have to fight for you right.

Is it fair? Nope. What else is new?

The actual deal is this: men win out because we've worn the pants since jesus was born. Because of this, we've shaped society so as to maintain this advantage. Women want the power we have, ergo there's a war for power. Failing to get ahead women have thought up the idea of discrimination and legislation to win this battle. Who knows, it might just work. Just be clear about something, it all boils down to who has the power and who doesn't. The people with power want to hold on to it, the people without want to get it. Simple.

In actual fact this is NOT a fight to help an under-represented minority in the workplace, it's a clever way for a specific group of people to broker more power for themselves. That's why you don't see any of these lady business-suit clad go-getters fighting for lesbian-vegans to get promotions.

Closing thoughts. Men have the power. If you want it, you'll have to come and get it. If the roles where reversed you would give us NO quarter and we all know it. What, you think a building full of women will make for a more successful business? Seriously ladies, what would you prefer in your office. 20 guys, 5 girls or 20 girls 5 guys? There IS a reason little girls play 2 and 2 in daycare you know... Three will always be a crowd.

Best of luck.

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involved banking and finance, and women also want their superfluous luxuries, McMansions, SUVs etc. Women are just as greedy as men are as far as money is concerned.

On the other hand the Iraq War - with Bush standing on the aircraft carrier in his flightsuit-with-codpiece saying "Bring 'em On" - THAT was probably and example of male Machismo run-amuck.

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Say goodbye to the age of individuality and welcome to the age of collectivism. Why can't feminists see men as individuals and stop engaging in communal blame? Your essay reminds me of Hitler blaming Jews for the economic crisis of the 1930's. Stop blaming everyone else and worry about your own contribution to society.

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...Sarah Palin, Michelle Malkin, Laura Ingraham...I could go on. I realize that the above are not hedge fund managers, CEOs or bankers. I was going to mention Carly Fiorina, but another poster beat me to it.

Since I'm a an "Old China hand," I'll add Empress Dowager Cixi, China's worst emperor ever.

The point is, when it comes to shear greed, idiocy, cruelty and right-wing nuthood, men do not have a monopoly. It's true that women have fewer opportunities to ascend the throne (both in business and politics), but when they do, they've proven that they can be equal opportunity sociopaths.

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I guess the economy would be more stimulating after all. Imagine having a woman who can give me all the food in the world while I get to eat, sleep, watch more tv and play more video games. Now if only Washington would hurry up and give us more tax cuts !

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The title: No.

The subtitle: Yes.

It's possible that males are inherently more aggressive, and that quality made things worse. But we now have plenty of evidence (Margaret Thatcher, Indira Gandhi, Martha Steward,etc.) that women in the same position, with the same self-interest, do the same things men would. We just aren't that different. I thought that was fundamental feminism.

So until we change the system and its rewards, changing the people will have very little effect.

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Yeah didn't do anything then and they'll do it now?

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NO.

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All those subscriptions to "Better Homes and Gardens", 95% of which belong to women.

But, as usual, guys get the blame?

Oh, that's right... feminists have contempt for any meaningful public debate.

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The real meat in this article is that women-run hedge funds significantly outperformed male-run hedge funds over the last 9 years, 9.06% to 5.82%. So there's something real here, not imaginary or ideological.

One off's like Thatcher or Gandhi are just that; they have to out-male the males to even survive. But in a woman-run fund, she just has to out-perform the market, not male co-workers. That's a very different kettle of fish. When women have substantive decision-making power that does not ultimately rest on men's approval, you get something very different.

I say let's give it a chance! As one man in Iceland put it (after the male-run banks had lost all his money), "Please, I just want a woman to look after my money from now on . . . ." What did he know that led him to say that? That the males treat business like a cross between a video game and a pissing contest, and women (when they are in real power and don't need men's approval to stay there) treat business like somebody's family depends on the returns.

Red State Gal
RedStateFeminists

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