The Incredible Missing Rekha Article or... Why can't a woman be less like a fish

In Sunday's Register, Rekha had the column I'd expected right on the heels of the Jetseta Gage tragedy. Her article on April 1 was downright reasonable, as I mentioned in this post. Must have been an April Fools joke. Yesterday she came through with the expected women as perpetual victim-class piece.

The funny thing is that her column is not on line so I can't link to it. Maybe Susan Curry actually read it twice and pulled it! I'll give you the lowlights through my ever so biased lens.

There was a feminist bumper sticker in the '70s that said, "A woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle." It's time to bring it back.

Ah... the 70's. My favorite 70's bumper sticker was "Gas, grass or ass, nobody rides for free." And no, I'm not necessarily suggesting we bring that one back. But at least it actually makes sense.

It's not that there aren't men who make excellent partners and parents.

Hey, that's mighty big of you Rekha... There are actually some women who are smart enough to keep their 10 year old daughter away from the brother of the man who you believe molested her.

The world wouldn't last much longer, or be much fun, without men.

Right back at ya Rekha, I feel exactly the same way about women.

But like narcotics, some men can be dangerous and have to be viewed with extreme caution, especially around kids. Face it: A woman is often better off, and so are he children, with no man in their lives than with some of the ones out there.

Except for calling men "narcotics" - hey, she couldn't help it... she was all sick and hooked on assholes - I mean for the rest, who can argue with it? I totally agree.

The body of the piece is pretty reasonable, except that she's writing this stuff as if it should be news to a any reasonable adult. She goes over the Street fire in Griswold. Street gets a total pass for being a bigamist.

So why stay with him, [her number 2 husband who was abusing her daughter] especially since she was also married to someone else? Fear for her life, or something else?

WTF!!!??? In Rekha's world view abused women are saints. This woman was a bigamist, but she had to have a good reason for it and it was most likely her first husband's fault. Men on the other hand are likely to be "dangerous narcotics".

Then three graphs on Trena Gage and none of the critical tone Rekha brings to bear on capitalism, Republicans, the military, the police. No, Rekha gives her the "Kofi treatment" and Trena gets a total buy. Then there's this:

Let's be clear: The real culprits are the abusers. Those are the ones courts need to get tough on and society needs to condemn. But it will also help children [whee!!! Ed.] if women can be empowered to feel independent enough that they're not tempted to bring a man they don't know well into their children's lives.

Yes Rekha, if they're just "empowered to feel" then all will be okay. It's not that they're stupid, or horny, or lazy... they just need to feel empowered.

What utter crap. This is precisely why I went off on this topic. You knew it was coming... you just knew it.

No one who isn't a single parent can know how tough a job it is economically, emotionally and physically. Support systems are few.

We need to throw more money at this problem. We need more support systems, so that women can achieve a stronger feeling of empowerment. Yep, if we just fund it enough, the number of disfunctional single mothers will plummet.

Societal cues don't help women's empowerment, from the sexy clothes that are marketed to girls beginning in elementary school to the national marriage initiative that suggests few conditions are worse than that of being single.

"Really ma, it was them societal cues what made me do the nasty with Cletus del Roy. Oh, mama I wuzn't feelin' empowered and falled victim to his narcotic charms."

And Rekha, (soto voce) I don't think that the marriage initiative is to lower the number of spinster ladies in the country, okay. I think it's aimed at lowering the number of single mothers. You know, the ones you just acknowledged have it so tough "economically, emotionally and physically...".

Rekha, how about real empowerment, like taking control of your life and not having a kid before you're ready. Look, there are absolutely women who are suckered by smooth talking creeps and get left holding the bag with a kid(s) and a shitty life. I have huge respect for single moms who work hard to raise their kids.

But, there are also many women who think very little of having a kid without a dependable husband. Whether it's a ploy to get a man to commit, carelessness or callousness, these women should be held to account and not given a pass because they're... well... women.

With birth control as accessible and inexpensive as it is, the odds of having a kid when you really don't want one is really, really low. And you know what...? No woman has to have unprotected sex. Hell, no woman has to have sex, period. They haven't passed the dildo tax yet.

Seriously, if we are going to embrace sexual freedom, we have to expect people at act like adults. All I'm asking is that we treat women as adults, with all of the attendant rights, privileges and responsibilities. Most of the women I've met were already there.

But in Rekha's world - sheep on the left and goats on the right... Abusers and victims... Fish and bicycles... whatever the hell that means.