my maiden great aunt, who had a full career life, told me when she was 89 that she missed having children. Not a husband. But friends in later life when the kids grew up. There was more to this but it made me listen and i chose to have two children. i was never great with kids so i really went out of my way to follow lots of advice. Forward 50 years. My grand daughter told others to not bother to hand me the new baby ( her's) and she smiled at me. we have a great relationship but she knows i am not into babies.

i am retired , living on my super. I have never had to deal with mygov. i have both vaccinations, but working with mygov has been a nightmare. many of my friends are having the same problem. not all of us have an apple!!!

i was off work for 3 years just after having my 2nd child, after the hassles we went through when i had the first one and worked full time i told my husband either we worked something out or i didnt go back to work.

yet no one objects to men  dressed as a woman and making fun of "woman"s" traits. I find these shows offense and sexist.

things don't seem to have changed much, it was like reading my life. 40 years ago I felt that same, finally when my child was 3 he was diagnosed with severe asthma. He had been whimpering and crying because he couldn't feed as he couldn't breathe. I was also depressed and not coping , everyone said the same thing" you have had a baby, just relax all will get better"

it is sad that women don't have the support from a loving family. My parents discussed sex etc with me when I was 11. I had the importance of relationships explained to me and in fact my father told me men can be bastards with all sorts of scary stories.
I don't remember losing my virginity , I was told that was because I was an athletic person, but the first signs of a serious relationship meant my parents organised for me to get the pill, so I could make an informed decision

since I am 5ft high I fully understand the safety belt issue. At the moment I have bought a new car, I looked a long time for one that I could see over the steering wheel without resorting to a pillow of some kind. But no matter how high the seat is I cant adjust the seat belt to not cut across my throat.
Stairs are another hassle, I often feel as if I am climbing a mountain, I understand that the bigger the stairs the cheaper it is for the builder. I am sure tall people are equally annoyed
But seat belts are dangerous, there is an adjustment , why cant it cover a wider area.

I taught for 40 years, I loved my job and feel I must have been successful because of scores students obtained in external exams. But most of all I had numerous students contact me after they left school and tell me what they were up to and how they loved my classes.
But over those years I noticed the change in attitudes to teachers, often pushed by the government of the day , maybe to support a lack of increases in wages? I retired a few years ago, the amount of paper work to "prove" my teaching skill was becoming excessive.
Then the behaviour of some students made the whole lesson difficult, there was little support from outside the school , parents who complained over discipline to their child were supported by the department of education.
I faced parents telling me that I was after all just a babysitter, I put up with various "academics" who had never taught a class in their lives dictating what was taught in the schools and how to do it. eg my niece set up computer systems for offices, she was asked to help with the new computer curriculum , no one asked the computer teachers!!!!
Australia's education standard has slipped, yet no one of government level feel that this needs to be fixed, they shout it is all the teachers fault. I would love for some of these people to spend a week in a classroom. No matter how good a teacher you cant do so if there are students misbehaving. AND no a teacher isn't an entertainer , they don't need to do more to get the child's attention. The student has to have some responsibility.

There is so many opposing ideas in these comments, yes going vegan may, I repeat that, may reduce SOME of the greenhouse gases. BUt I would like to see if these people who are attacking farms go without any other little conveniences. Did they walk to the farm, did they have a mobile phone, what were their clothes made from!!!
We really need to stand back and plan!!! Yes we need a reliable energy source for our lives, lets plan this. Throwing misguided fake science around really isn't helping. Coal energy stations can be designed to put the exhaust fumes through devices that will grow algae and so on.
We need so chemicals we only get from meat, we are after all evolved omnivores
it is such a twisted subject it exasperates me that there is such media play for false information

cant see the problem with gay marriage, but isn't there also some sort of legal problems if you are gay and not married, eg rights for decisions in hospital cases.

fully agree there is still sexism, I have suffered it all my life, I am just saying not all men fall into this category and we should be supportive of those who are trying to change things. Often the problem is not just attitude but also rules that are in place. eg who ever decided that men's toilets should be the same size as the woman's toilets.
But we also need young woman to still be fighting for change

I was so obsessed with feeding my children the right foods, I also believed in explaining all. We had a great book that explained immunisation as little soldiers, so all healthy food were explained as needed for different parts of the body. eg Brussel sprouts helped build leg muscles.
30 yr on the child who refused Veges now eats only healthy stuff. The child who only liked healthy food ( don't give me too much meat mum please, I'll have more veges) now is obsessed with cooking all sorts of things and is over weight.

Was the attitude of the police because the person being abused had withdrawn an accusation in the past?
I am all for doing something about all of this domestic violence, and really think the new idea that police have to have a cam corder when attending such situations will be beneficial. But just gobsmacked that the courts and police are still so poor in their responses.
I f you can sue, then maybe posters, protests etc outside the courts.
I wish I could do more. I have never experienced or been in a situation where this could happen, just lucky I guess. Although my mother in law carefully explained to me , in front of my fiancé, how you wait until they go to bed and then beat them up with a cast iron frypan.
It was said as a joke but mmmmmmm!!!!!!

love your comment. However as I said before I have sons, and they are really annoyed at how often the women are the worse offenders.
i have taught / reacted with many young women who seem to feel that there isn't a problem and if there is the police/ lawyers/ protector of some kind will leap out of the woodwork and help them.
once into the work force they do not have that support of a womens group or other women to fall back on. We had the advantage that since it was all so new we had meeting places etc
Maybe this site could open a thread for people to write of rules that have been changed. It is not just attitudes!!!
eg My first principal, in her 50's, had to ask a male member of staff to go guarantor for her to get a house loan, even though she had over half the price of the house and made enough to pay it off in a few years
i couldn't get a loan for a car without my father or husband as a guarantor.
there must be many other "rules" that have changed

I often wondered why people would go away for a holiday. My thoughts were "they mustn't have access to a pool". The best thing we ever did was pay for a pool, yes we seemed to pay it off for years, but in entertainment for holidays it was worth it.
Since I was a high school teacher it was plan , plan , plan. With time for go outside and entertain yourselves thrown in. Then we had parent involved time (cards, jigsaws, board games) and look after yourself time.
My adult children recall these time as fun. And for all you doubters ,we did have computers/ tv/ playback devices for movies. The big thing is not to make yourself the childrens only entertainment organiser.
For c ar trips we used funny cds, (we heard the same onesfor years in a row, and the children would request their favourite)

As a mother of 3 men, and an active feminist since the 70's I sympathise with the author of this article. Yes there are lots that need to be done to enhance equality. That is what we should be talking about, equality!!!!
I find that my sons have suffered many problems because they are male!!!
Then I have found "sexist" woman and men in my lifetime. We seem to have a long way to go.

my niece keep contact with her lost step children, even though they moved a long way away. Then she started talking to their mother and found a friend. It seems he was a sneaky bastard that neither had understood.
Today 10 yrs later she is still friends with her ex step children and they visit

i feel that the point you are making is that it is annoying to be constantly assessed as if you are doing something strange. Times certainly haven't changed. I met my husband when i took up motor cross 40 yrs ago. Today he has just bought a road bike and goes on rides with a few friends. Only our closest friends have asked when i might join them (no thanks too busy) but often when my hub complains i wont many of his new acquaintances are surprised that it was even mentioned.

I taught science and way back it wasn't unusual for someone to ask "oh home science" . It is a mind set and what this toy and gender thing is really all about

plus if you think the boys are going to "do things with dad" you might be mistaken. I have 3 boys and only one is into sport like his father. The other two like totally different things and have done so growing up.