MALE VS. FEMALE?

IS THERE A BATTLE BETWEEN THE SEXES? NADAL DEFEATS FEDERER in MEN’S AND HENIN BEATS IVANOVIC IN WOMEN’S TENNIS, BUT THE SEXES DON'T COMPETE IN MOST SPORTS. OUR LOCAL BLUE STAR MOTHERS COLLECT FLIP-FLOPS AND CAKE MIXES FOR THE TROOPS IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN, BUT IT IS THE MEN WHO FIGHT OUR WARS. IN NORTH AFRICA, 200 YEARS AGO, A FIRST-HAND OBSERVER NOTED THAT WOMEN WERE "MERE NECESSARY SLAVES, "BEINGS WITHOUT SOULS," TO THE ARAB MEN. CAPT. RILEY WHO SUFFERED AS A CHRISTIAN SLAVE TO AFRICAN MOSLEMS, POINTED OUT THAT THE MEN WERE " HIGH-SPIRITED, BRAVE, AVARICIOUS, RAPACIOUS AND REVENGEFUL," BUT AT THE SAME TIME, " HOSPITABLE AND COMPASSIONATE," AND "PROUD OF THEIR INDEPENDENCE." OBVIOUSLY, NO BATTLE WAS POSSIBLE BETWEEN THE SEXES, ONLY BETWEEN TRIBES IN WHICH CASE IT WAS FOUGHT FOR STATURE AND SPOILS. ON THE TURF, TOO, THE COLT, GELDING OR STALLION HAS HISTORICALLY OUT-DISTANCED THE FILLY OR MARE.

THEREFORE, BIOLOGY IS FATE. MAN IS A MAN, MAN MUST HAVE HIS MATE AND SHE MUST KNOW HER PLACE. OFTEN REPEATED ARE THE THOUGHTS THAT "MOTHERHOOD IS WOMAN'S GREAT AND INCOMPARABLE WORK." OR " A WOMAN'S WORK IS NEVER DONE," OR "A WOMAN SHOULD BE SEEN, NOT HEARD." BUT THE "POWER OF THE ETERNAL FEMININE," OUGHT TO BE RESPECTED. IN DOUBT? CHECK OUT THE ON-GOING MEDIA COVERAGE OF PARIS HILTON, AMERICA'S 2007 HELEN OF TROY.