It's always amazed me that accepting women's intelligence is an excuse to eliminate courtesies of polite society, whether by choice of the woman or the man.

Men hold doors for women because it's a nice thing, a way of showing that they recognize that women may be wearing high heels or managing a purse or children or just a smile - that this gesture represents kindness and sometimes affection.

Just because a women uses her mind doesn't mean she has to hold doors for men or be angry when they are gentlemen. It works both ways. Any change in mental behavior sometimes takes an adjustment, but courtesy is always in fashion, and is often a mark of a specific cultural orientation.

I thought there ratio was 70 percent women and 30 percent men. Think about that.

Love,
Betty

Well said, Don.

As for women and men, they were different and it is the difference that creates the appeal. So long as women remain feminine, that appeal will continue. When the woman looks and acts like a man, they can expect to be treated as such.

I for one have never lost the courtesy of opening a car door, pulling out a chair, or standing when introduced to a lady. The appeal remains when I can see that they in fact are women. As for intelligence, many can put men to shame. Sometimes that intelligence is simply in making the man feel superior. No one can dictate what is proper in a relationship. We're all different.

I recently went to an Air Force Museum. There was an interesting display on woman pilots in World War II. More can be found at:

http://womenshistory.about.com/od/waspwwiiaviation/a/wasp.htm

Abe, I disagree. A woman is a woman no matter how she dresses or acts. It is something inside. I think opening doors is kind, however.

I remember thinking I didn't see much need for men to open doors for me, because I could open my own doors, and I have always had this mindset that if I could do something, I didn't need someone to do it for me. Well, I'm not completely recommending that mindset because I should have accepted more help through the years than I did.

Don, I hear your concern and that is nice.

I have no problem if women are kept from doing something out of concern for their well-being, but if it is just because they are women, then I have a big problem, as with the female pilots of World War II. They were doing what the men were but without the same recognition of military service to their country.

It is nice for women to be recognized for their intelligence, but I've never been smart enough to make a man feel superior, or too smart perhaps.

I never felt more devalued in my life than when my husband was in the Marines. The saying, "If the Marines had wanted their men to have wives they would have issued them," was embedded in our beings. Most of us gave support, but that was not considered worth much. I do not mean to sound disrespectful to the military because I am not. I was there for support, but that was not seen as valuable.

That has changed. My daughter's husband is a career Navy doctor and she has never felt as the Marine wives did long ago. (When I go to Marine reunions with my husband I am considered "an original issue wife," so it wasn't just my imagining.

Carol

I open doors for men and women all the time. I never thought of it as a "man" thing, simply a "courtesy" thing. I'll hold the elevator for someone who is heading toward it, too. Same as letting someone with only a few items in the cart ahead of me in the grocery store line when I've got an entire cart full.

For what it's worth, men can be raped, too. I know it's not a popular subject, but it does happen.

I have never been in the military, so do not have first hand experience of what that experience is like. I can only speak from my own personal experience with the people I know and the obstacles they have overcome.

Don,

In these changing times, where men and women fight side by side, it is up to the commanding officers to select the best soldiers for the job. As is the case with most women, some men are not strong enough to be part of special units. In danger areas the question should be: "Is this soldier up to the job?" not: "Is this woman up to the job?"

Outside of military life, women should be given the same equal opportunity. If they are up to it they get the job; if they are not, they don't. We have yet to see the first female President. This last election was a close call. Maybe, next time, a woman will make it to the White House.

A foxhole should never be home to a man, or a woman. War and death shows no prefrence for gender or age.

My original point, Nutter, was passed over: war is heinous, barbaric and archaic. You are right, no man or woman should be facing death while politicians make decisions. Politics today should have reached a level of sophistication where the distribution of resources, the end of hunger, and tolerence for differences make war a thing of the past: we honor those who have served and led the way to a more humane way of settling differences.

"Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me."

What I think of women in combat?

Go into an area of town you would not drive through during the day at 3:00 am without any weapons. Attack three 200 pound very strange looking men...if you can walk away alive...go join the army.

One female member said:

For what it's worth, men can be raped.

Let me tell you female members something you may not know...WE WON'T TELL.