The Writer's Almanac tells me today is the anniversary of the birth of Barbara Pym, English author (1913-1980)
https://fearfunandfiloz.blogspot.com/search?q=Pym
Decades ago, I looked at the book by Ashley Montague, "The Natural Superiority of Women" (1970). Just today, I learned that the Israeli male geneticist Sharon Moalam has a new book "The Better Half: The Genetic Superiority of Women."
If there is a raid and women are stolen, raped or killed, it interferes with the coming generation. We sometimes say that living things have two jobs: stay alive and reproduce. There is plenty of evidence that humans have done their jobs too well and that we currently have too many humans on this planet. But we are now designed by past conditions and it is true that males and females as well all come from the bodies of females.
Our females are often born with features that make them attractive to our males. Besides being the source of mothers and future generations, we have learned that the sort of mother one has and the nature of the mothering we each get is a big factor in how we each turn out and live life.
I am certainly not a Barbara Pym scholar but I have read a couple of her novels. She tends to focus on "excellent women", women who are quiet and are actually the support of a church or other local group. Her women may or may not be married, may or may not be mothers. They tend to be steady people who know the course they want to follow and do so.
America can be an exciting place and it is a place where effort and striving are prized. Many Americans seem addicted to strong excitement and heroic tales. One problem with steady excitement is that it trains the eye and the mind to overlook important continuous giving since it involves no murders or car chases or explosions. Excellent women may indeed excel in very important, life-giving, spirit-enhancing ways that go unnoticed and unheralded.
