Progress?

On occasion, I'll hear a woman of my age say something to the extent of "I'm not a feminist."  A 30-year-old single woman, with a college degree, a full-time job, living on her own, with her own assets and real estate, is not a feminist.  She's okay with this, and that right there means that she's some type of feminist.  Otherwise, she'd consent to an arranged marriage orchestrated by her aunt, or move into her brothers house to be the elderly spinster aunt for her nephews.  At least that's what would be expected in before 1955. 

Sometimes we don't think about how far we've come towards gender equality until we really reflect.  This week, a study came out on men and women and multi-tasking at home after the workday has concluded.  Yes, women do more work at home, but men are still involved in child-rearing tasks.  That's progress. 

Yesterday, Herman Cain suspended his campaign for president in light of multiple allegations of sexual harassment and a possible mistress.  Of course, there's no way you could have a national political career with these types of skeletons in the closet.  At least not these days.  Warren Harding had 4 mistresses (and probably an illegitimate daughter), and Grover Cleveland admitted to fathering a child out of wedlock.  That's just what powerful men do.  They are so powerful that their sexual prowess cannot be contained by the banns of holy matrimony.  No one well-bred woman would consent to THAT much sex.  Even 20 years ago at the Clarence Thomas hearings, it was implied that Anita Hill was asking for it, that she had put herself in a position where she would be taken advantage of, and men need a space to be manly man-like men.  There was an attempt to classify Herman Cain's accusers as being financial ne'er-do-wells, but few people were buying that logic.  Which is good.  Maybe we're making progress.