Feminism Makes People Sick

RUSH: Dadelut dadelut dadelut dadelut! ‘Why Feminism ‘Could be Bad for Your Health,” from the UK Daily Mail, our feminist update theme from moons ago.

(Playing of the Feminist Update Theme Song.)

RUSH: Actual audio from a pro-choice rally in Washington. ‘We’re fierce! We’re feminists, and we’re in your face!’ We sped it up a little bit and we put the laughter in it, and edited that all together. That’s the Forrester Sisters. The story from the UK Daily Mail: ‘For years, feminists have fought for equality, believing it is the key to a better society. Now researchers have found that parity between the sexes may be bad for your health. A study in Sweden, arguably one of the most egalitarian countries in the world, discovered that men and women who are equal are more likely to suffer illness or disability. Those who earn the same are also more likely to become unwell or suffer a disability. People who have management jobs, male or female, were also found to die younger than those with a less pressured lifestyle. Scientists looked at both public and private sector workers. They used nine indicators of equality, including the proportion of men and women in management jobs and average income. These were related to local figures for life expectancy, disability and absence from work through ill health. The study compared data from all of Sweden’s 290 municipalities. The scientists, from the Swedish National Institute of Public Health, said a possible explanation for the link between equality and illness is that men’s health may be adversely affected by a loss of what had been seen as traditional male privileges,’ or roles. So you emasculate a man and you make him sick! His health is adversely affected. You take away what he naturally is, you turn him into some linguini-spined wimp, and he gets sick all the time because he doesn’t feel like a man anymore.

‘They suggested that women’s health could be damaged by greater opportunities for risky behaviour as a result of increased income combined with the stress of longer working hours. But the study, published in the journal Social Science and Medicine, also put forward the theory that equality has not yet been fully achieved in society and that these effects are part of a transitional process on the road to fairness,’ and once we really achieve equality, then we’re really going to be screwed up. ‘The report said: ‘The results suggest an unfortunate trade-off between gender equality as we know it and public health. Sweden may have reached a critical point where further one- sided expansion by women into traditionally male roles, spheres and activities will not lead to positive health effects unless men also significantly alter their behaviour,” in other words, become less like men, which is what the feminist movement is partially all about.

Back to this business here: ‘People who have management jobs, male or female, were also found to die younger than those with a less pressured lifestyle.’ Do you remember the story we had not long ago? It was a big study out there that housecleaning decreases your chance of getting breast cancer. Remember that? Well, you take that study and put it together with this study, and you might be able to convince more women to stay at home and do the vacuuming and all the housecleaning rather than get into management gigs. That way men don’t get sick, women don’t know get sick, and voila! We’re back to traditional roles. The next thing up will be barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen. I doubt anybody will go there. Housecleaning is a good enough start.