Getting Guys & God out of the crotches of womankind

[nolabear]

17. Do y'all know where the term "old wives' tale" came from?

Well gather 'round, little DUers and Auntie nolabear will tell you. Waaaaaaaaay back in the day when women had babies at home with the help of midwives...or "old wives" as they were called, the menfolk began to realize that, going from house to house during times of high stress and emotional disarray, as babies' births were wont to be, those women were likely to get a pretty good idea what kinds of things went on in the households. Women would tell them their troubles while in labor, children would reveal things, women would die from having had babies they couldn't bear or from uteri that were worn out, and sometimes women would let the old wives know that they would do anything not to have to go through this again. That kind of knowledge, of being able to rat out the cheaters and beaters and neglecters and rejecters gave them a lot of power.

This did not sit well with the menfolk, and admittedly some of the womenfolk as well, so it became popular to sow seeds of distrust around the old wives, first convincing as many people as possible tht old wives told stories that had no truth to them, that they were untrustworthy, and that it might not be such a good idea to have them be in charge of birthing babies when doctors...exclusively male doctors...clearly had a better understanding of how to handle matters that were far beyond the capacity of simple women.

And of course there was that whole "burn her as a witch" thing but that's a story for another time.

Women have power. We can't keep letting others (women and men who don't believe in us) take it away.