Saturday Morning Recipes (Lib #1)

How the American Women's Lib Movement benefited Industrialists while Screwing Women (and their families) in a whole new way.

Saturday, June 18th, 2022

Dear Freedom Friends,

Full disclosure! I’m publishing this on Monday, the 4th of July, because…I woke up Saturday morning, madly inspired to write “We Have Choices” and didn’t think it made sense to post twice in one day. Also (as you can see above), this was actually drafted two weeks ago, and I knew I needed to sit with it a bit before it went out to all of you. The topics covered here are deeply relevant to two generations alive today. I know I can’t do them full justice in one Substack essay, but I will do my best. Hence, the delay.

Today (and every Saturday going forward), join me for new recipes discovered during my search for greater food sustainability, a smarter budget and (contrary to popular opinion) female empowerment. This week’s recipes are treasured, although new, and I’m actually extremely excited to share them with you!

(1) Actual, truly, I promise I’m not lying, homemade brownies that are *as good* in texture and flavor as box brownies, while offering you the opportunity to ensure the ingredients are brilliantly healthy, as well.

(2) Mint Roasted Garlic Snapes (no…I’m not talking about Professor Snape), although there were times we might have been tempted to roast him in garlic & mint?

Before we dive into these two recipes, let’s take a minute to think about food.

Specifically, consider how central food is to all of our lives. Weirdly, I think a lot of us both worship food and take it for granted at the same time. At least, in wealthier countries or comfortable households, where the lack of food is rarely an issue. Whining about not liking what you’re eating is simply not the same as going days without food and facing months more, with no escape in sight.

Food Is Life. And…historically, women ruled supreme over the kitchen. Their traditional arena of work within the family landscape has long been the center of the home, the bullseye of domestic power, the source of survival and long recognized as a primary domain of feminine influence and respect.

If this sentiment is surprising, you’re not alone and it’s no accident. Over the past century, the so-called “Women’s Liberation Movement” has driven into our brains a singular opinion well-expressed by the image and quote below:

Quote: “For the longest time, the kitchen was considered a woman's place, and their duties were limited to being a housewife and raising children. But even under these inhumane limitations, there have been women throughout history, who were forced by circumstances to take up arms and protect their lives and their land. One could say they did a much better job than men!” 

The above image and caption illustrates the myths of the Americana version of Women’s Liberation with a trifecta of denigrating messaging:
(1) A woman’s worth is based upon her ability to match up with or excel against men.
(2) A woman’s lot in life is worse than a man’s lot in life.
(3) Domestic work and child-rearing is not worthy of pride. It’s “inhumane.”

Let me address #2 first. If you dare to challenge this assertion, you’re cancelled, shamed, looked at with pity, attacked, reprimanded, ignored, labeled and silenced. If a man suggests that women have it good (look out!) and if a woman says so, she’ll be branded a traitor to her sex, a brainwashed victim or worse.

But, all the bullying aside, my question to you is this: what’s true?

Most of us have heard of Laura Ingalls Wilder and her children’s books about the experiences of her pioneering family, but how many of us have looked up her family tree? I did, years ago! Of those who lived to adulthood, the women made it into their 80’s. The men generally died in their 30’s-50’s. Why the gender gap? Well, who faced greater daily risk to life and limb?

Radical feminism sees an arrogant man taking center stage in this photo. Yet, from Laura’s writings, Charles Ingalls likely saw himself as a man who bore great responsibility to the women of his family.

When it comes to a gender differential in spheres of work, men’s work is inherently more dangerous. And with good reason. Men do the work that cannot be done with a precious child in tow. Glance back up at the first image in this essay, and you don’t see a baby strapped to the back of that gun-toting woman pirate, do you?

Our species, like all mammals, is fundamentally focused on the survival of the next generation. Our progeny. Our babies. Our young. When we look at gender differentiation in spheres of work (across time and space) we see that women’s work is that which is most easily combined with pregnancy, nursing and child-rearing.

Women get pregnant. Women carry the child. Women produce the milk.

So, women (along with their vulnerable and noisy children) must be protected. It’s not reasonable to bring an infant along when you’re goal is to silently stalk prey, fight off other predators poaching your kill or make war on your neighbors. Oh, and do I have to say it? Plowing is HARD.

Can a woman plow a field? Yes. Can she do it while heavily pregnant or stopping to nurse every two hours? Not so easily. These men do this work so their wives don’t have to…and they often feel proud to do so.

It’s important to pause here to mention that I do not come to my opinions from a well-labeled echo chamber. I’m an agnostic, I believe women and men are absolutely equal (when pursuing what they inherently want to be doing), I have NO gender expectations and NO religion-based beliefs or directives to follow. What I care about is people thinking for themselves and not automatically accepting what’s offered to them. I equally challenge the traditional demands of old school religions & communities AND new social movements attempting to dictate what are acceptable choices for women to make.

I grew up in the hey-day of Americana Women’s Lib. Hollywood never stopped pushing it down our throats, schools eliminated Home Economic classes and an endless media storm of derision and pity was directed toward any woman who worked in the home. She was either sad and pathetic, or lying to herself, because what woman of any worth would actually want to spend her time tending to her family’s domestic needs?

What exactly is men’s work and women’s work? Did you know that in many traditional knitting cultures, the women specialized in spinning wool into yarn, but it was a “man’s job” to knit the actual sweater? In many middle eastern and Indian communities, the women specialize in spinning the thread, while the men weave the carpet. Again and again, we find that the Americana version of Women’s Liberation has been like many other social movements - inherently manipulative and willing to tell tales that support their narrative…while ignoring those that don’t.

This is an amazing book! Before you jump to assumptions, it’s written by a woman who got her PhD by the age of 26 (if I recall correctly, lol) and was well-established in her career when she and her husband took a hard look at their “successes” and began to think outside the box. The book covers a great many things, including the excruciatingly well-executed ad campaigns directed at housewives (and later, liberated working women).

Http://theradicalhomemaker.net (my laptop is at the day spa and I’m composing on my phone) - I’ll embed this link later - for now, Shannon’s work is phenomenal. Want a dose of female empowerment and self-worth (whatever you choose to do?) visit her website…

Probably without intending to (I’ll give them that) most American participants in the Women’s Lib movement fell into the habit of utterly devaluing traditional sources of female power, insisting that “to achieve what men can achieve” is to prove one’s worth and adequacy. I grew up listening to my mother’s generation, as they encountered this new feminist terrain. As humans tend to do, the desire to achieve something new was partnered with an equally strong urge to diminish and denigrate the old - namely, what women had excelled at for centuries. It’s as if we couldn’t have both, so out with the old (crappy) and in with the new (perfect), was the ever-present message I heard again and again and again.

Without a doubt, my grandmother’s generation didn’t have many choices. That’s true. Laws rendered them forever children in the eyes of the court, banks refused them accounts (without a husband or father’s co-signature), inheritance was denied to them, and so on and so forth. THESE were not failings of women. THESE were failings of men to properly honor women and appreciate their tremendous value…on the legal and business front. Religion also cast a patriarchal spell upon the world, imposing strict limits upon female opportunity and power. So, were there problems? Yes.

But. Sadly. The Americana version of Women’s Liberation (in particular) has largely failed to address the problem of “undervaluing traditional women’s work” while succeeding at attaching a harsh stigma to women who want to focus on the domestic side of their family ecosystem. How is that liberation, when you go from being forced to do one thing to being forced to do its opposite?

I’m not sure if this is a joke or not, but it surely illustrates #1 quite well. Are MEN being pictured as they sit down on a toilet along with a woman? No. The woman is being portrayed as gaining an overall betterment of life — by copying men. The fundamental message of this image is that MEN ARE better than women. It’s time for us (women) to play catch up. And that angers me, because it’s complete BS.

As an aside, there is growing evidence to suggest that squatting is the best position for women and men, if your goal is to fully void your bladder. Young men are fine either way, but men with prostate issues will do better squatting and you’re far less likely to splatter urine all over your feet or legs (something many men avoid mentioning but actually dislike about the “stand up” method of peeing). Do we, as women, really believe we’ll improve our lives by splattering ourselves with urine, increasing our risk of bladder infections and losing the biological benefits of loosened sphincter muscles when we squat (as Mother Nature or God intended)?

Look at dogs and horses. Males and females pee differently and for purely biological reasons. Can you imagine trying to “liberate” your bitch (female dog) by teaching her to lift a leg? I mean, hey. You do you, but please consider the message you’re sending. To suggest, directly or by omission, that women are of secondary value if/because they naturally squat to pee…is not a good message.

Don’t do it!

Now…check your email (or browse Our Thoughts matter) for Part Two where the actual recipes await!