Germaine Greer said "If men could have babies, abortion would be a sacrament". She felt that the worlds inhabited by women and men overlapped
in some places, but in others women were entirely left out of possibilities of influence and power. Greer felt that women were able, as equals of men, to make decisions, craft a world and move on. Men only got in the way (at best) and at worst were active saboteurs of women, individually and collectively. Women could, and should, rise up and seize their worlds, make changes and walk away from most men. A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle, so to speak.

Betty Freidan talked about the eternal struggle between things feminine and masculine, and how that has formed the world as we know it. One can look at objects from a feminine or masculine perspective (Eg., a bayonet, a cup of tea, a skyscraper, a kind of chair), and then consciously made decisions about how to change these things, and ideas, so that more of the world is included into a zone of comfort around the thing or idea.

Freidan also talked about how women often feel that, to be successful, they have to be more like men rather than feel acceptable, complete and worthy as people and as women. (This struggle is well-demonstrated in what is sometimes called the "Queen Bee" syndrome, of women in business masculinizing themselves to be successful.)

You may also contact me directly at martin@aller-stead.com