I always ask them why they think typing on a computer is macho... i mean, programming and being a secretary both involve typing... so I fail to see why one is stereotypically male and vice versa. It's bizarre.

It's the 1880s they'd like us to be sent to. I'm about your age and it's *insane*. "Be a nurse, not a doctor"... "Your husband won't like it if (fill in normal thing to do)".... "Doesn't he control the money?" (WTF?!).... My mom told me stories about the days before my birth ---- when she couldn't have a checking account, or own anything, or so forth. My own dad said things like, "Be a teacher, that's better for girls."... Sure. Okay. And then I ignored him and the "Good Christians" that Jesus would kick in the a**e, and here I am. And I am a great wife, according to my hubby, so the GOP and the retro-incel-BS crowd can kiss my aging butt. :-) *picks up hatchet, heads to woodpile*

I'm 52 and got a degree in a formerly male-centric profession. My grades were excellent and I was hired by an international corporation right out of college. The number of people who told me I must have been hired only because of Affirmative Action because how else could a woman be hired into a skilled professional job position...

Anti-feminists always assume that "women" are some sort of unique species- they all speak with a united voice, or share universal 'female' values. It is dangerous to assume that feminists only need to convince MEN to change their behaviour. My wife is a talented golfer and her attempts to reform the participant rules at her club were met with more criticism from the female members than the males. And not only criticism, but nasty stuff too. Boomers have been conditioned for probably 70+ years to accept and internalise their "role" as mothers, wives and spouses. Challenging these roles- accepted as certainties by this generation- is challenging everything they know about their society and their own identity. It's dangerous ground. The trick feminism needs to learn is how to affect change without setting up one generation against another. I'm not sure we've worked out how to do that one yet.

I grew up in these times... people forget how terrible and tragic things were before Roe v. Wade. Single women couldn't even ask about contraceptives when they became available, and yet single women needed contraceptives as much as anyone. Men weren't stigmatized for fathering an out of wedlock child, but mothers of out of wedlock babies were ostracized, unable to find work or a place to live because they were "fallen". There have always been abortions; Roe v. Wade just meant that they were safe and legal. I remember when teenagers routinely died or seriously injured themselves trying to abort, and if they didn't die, they could be arrested. I volunteered as an escort at a women's health clinic in 1975... people routinely threw stuff and screamed in the faces of frightened teenagers trying to enter. These were horrible days. You can get some idea of what life was like before Roe by watching 'Call the Midwife', which does a pretty good job bringing those days to life.

It's maddening, isn't it? I called a plumber to come and do some work and asked for an estimate. He gave me the estimate and asked if I wanted to "get my husband's okay" to start the work. I said: "I'm the one writing your check, so the only person's opinion you need right now is mine". I was furious!