Seems to me as though the patriarchy is weakening, at least somewhat: witness the strong focus on women's rights of the Cairo conference, compared to the last population conference. However, there is some provocative stuff that folks on this list should be aware of in the book "Generations: The History of America's Future, 1584 to 2069," by William Strauss & Neil Howe, ISBN 0-688-11912-3 (paperback). Very briefly, they have identified a four-"stroke" generational cycle to history/culture, which basically includes one inner-directed generation, one outer-directed generation, and two reactive generations. The key observation of relevance here is that the inner-directed generation always provides greater roles and freedom for women, while the outer-directed one moves in the opposite direction. Here is a sample quote about the "Puritan" generation, the first inner-directed generation they discuss, which includes people born 1584-1614: "Wherever the radicals of this English-born generation set up their 'reformed' communities--in Amsterdam, Geneva, America, or London--women assumed roles of conspicuous activism and leadership. In the 1630s, several New England women became popular lay preachers, and the charismatic Anne Hutchinson gathered such a powerful Boston constituency that she nearly toppled Winthrop's leadership. Anne Bradstreet today remains the most celebrated American authoress born before the Transcendentals." I haven't really read the book in detail, so I'm not sure if they provide any reasons for either this elevation of women or the subsequent retrenchment that regularly takes place. If anyone else on the list does, I'd be very interested to know more. However, I don't think this is a circular movement, but rather a spiral one, in which the advances of the past tend to serve as a foundation. For example, the battle for women's suffrage presumably will not have to be fought again in the U.S. Tom
