Welcome to Debate Club

• Rules of debate Club:

• Everybody talks about debate club• Everybody has the right to talk in Debate Club• Everybody’s opinion is equal at Debate Club

Feminists

They’ve got it all?

Or have they still got…

• A long way to go?

An issue as old as time itself

• Basically, the question of Women’s Rights all comes down to 2 issues:

One: The Difference!

• Men and Women are basically different

The basic difference

• They have different ways of seeing

• Different ways of behaving

• And, most importantly,

different FUNCTIONS

This all goes back to…

• Prehistoric times, when men were :

• the hunters• (nutrition = wealth)• The fighters• (strength = power)

While women were:

• Homekeepers• Child-nurturers• Cooks

• In other words… the expendable stuff

One: The difference

• Well, some of it• A lot of it, even• But not all of it

Two: the power struggle

• As we have seen, strength means power:

• Religious• Political• Economic

But there have been alternative models

Ancient, pagan cultures revered women’s powers:

• Their life-giving role

• Their connection to Nature

• The cultural cohesion they assured

They worshipped godesses

• As well as gods…..• And even above gods…

Later this was seen as a threat to the

patriarchy

• Witch-hunts and Inquisitions suppressed these alternative ideas

And put women back in their place as:

• Decorative• Inferior• Dependent• Victims!!

And that’s the way we like them

• Even with a bit of “power”

Girl-power?Really?

No witches!

Just adorable

And useful….