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Hi Chris,
Unfortunately, the answer I give, to the situations you and I cited, will please only
the most patient and sadly disillusioned, such
as myself. It is my hope that folks who have
lost their illusions on some of these matters
can put things on a better balance in times to come.
Here's a guess. It defies conventional thought!
As Mark Twain said, "Why shouldn't the truth
be stranger than fiction. After all, fiction
has to make sense!"
During the Muslim Golden Age, when women had more power, the combined work of those men and women
produced an openness which, combined with the better qualities of Islamic lifestyle, enabled
a flowering of individual and community values
in education, scholarship, science, math and commerce. Women were able to determine their domestic destinies to a greater extent then than now. One of the choices we all make is mate selection. It might have been the style then, as it is now, for these liberated, intellectual woman to select more often a man who most satisfied their esthetic preferences -- probably even tended to be quiet rather than chatty -- rather than selecting a man who was diligent, rational and merely adequate in the "looks" department.
Liberality in those times may have meant that
one really hunky guy could be the husband to several women by their own consent, because it saved them the time required to maintain an intellectual relationship with those brainy guys
that talk too much and have psychological complexes. Much more fun for a woman to have a man with high sex drive who was rich enough to afford them! Of course, there is not a 1:1 correspondence in any system between those who produced the wealth and those who have the most currency.
So, with no disrespect intended for the women of those times, I think they frittered away the Golden Age by doing what most humans tend to do if they are unaware of the consequences: they served themselves in the short term. This changed the gene pool of the area...or maybe instead, it taught them all there was less reward in being a strong intellect and more reward in having a buff physique. Kinda like certain other times and places. And this created a change in male culture leading to today's culture there.
So that's why I have to go jogging tonight. See ya!
Mike
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