I have a theory about our nation's misogyny which may be too simplistic, but keeps coming back up in my mind. [View all]

[Biophilic]

From the mid 50s to the 70s American TV was peopled by "strong, often silent men" keeping law and order. Now I do realize that they were there because of prior myths of our culture, but we were inundated with these TV shows. There was rarely anything to counter these mythic shows.

I know I struggled a lot with getting passed their message when I was growing up. I still find myself falling into the thought patterns that men solve problems and woman are school teachers and saloon owners (if they're lucky).

I don't believe that Europe was nearly as inundated with this type of TV show. Probably because it wasn't nearly as important a myth for them. They had seen first hand what "strongmen" accomplished.

Yes, I know this is very simplistic and, of course, it doesn't solve our current problem of blatant and destructive misogyny. I've just often wondered what our nation would be like if we hadn't had TV propagandizing with a couple of decades of Western heroes.