General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: For those women who think objectifying women as sex objects is OK [View all]Squinch
(50,949 posts)the great post about how the feminist advances of the 60's were ones that obviously benefitted men as much as women, namely readier and freer access to sex without the fear of pregnancy.
The post didn't say it this way, but my thought reading it was, "Yeah, but let's face it. In the 60's, women were still making all the sandwiches."
The advances that came after that, workplace equality and political equality and equality of opportunity, were ones that threatened men, that men didn't necessarily like. Suddenly they were in competition, and a way to reduce the effectiveness of a woman you are competing with is to suggest in as many ways as you can that the value of women is purely sexual. Keep the women from advancing where they compete with you and you never have to make the sandwiches. I think that is the passive aggressive impulse we are seeing here, so it's still in effect today.
So I think in the 60's, women thought that seeking the attention was the ultimate freedom. After that, keeping the attention in the appropriate places was crucial to the increases in our equality.
I see this same dichotomy between myself and my oldest sisters who are a half generation older than I am.