by Paul Big Bear
Dear Friends,
Growing up, did you hear these words, “women are the weaker sex?” How about the old joke; “My dad can whip your dad.” “Big deal, so can my mom.” In reality, are women the weaker of the two?
Let us go back further to my grandmother, born before 1900, by the time I came along she was in her fifties, she was six foot tall and very involved in politics and business, my grandfather was six foot four inches tall. By this time in life he had worked his family’s business; they owned the produce section of Scranton, several blocks long and very busy. It sat directly in front of the train yard where the majority of what was sold in Scranton arrived. Train cars full of produce arrived all day and had to be unloaded mostly by hand, hard work, more was delivered by truck on the street and it too had to be unloaded, again hard work. That ended with the crash in the 20’s which lead to hard times. My Grandmother was busy raising two daughters, running a lake resort, and staying active in politics and the local business community. My grandfather looked for other means of work; he turned to something dangerous, stopping trucks, often in the dark of night, and checking bills of lading. Stories I have heard of his exploits say he was one tough son of a gun.
Meanwhile my grandmother was running her resort; six cottages, and the hotel (once a hunting lodge) with five bedrooms on the first floor and eight on the second. Renters were served two meals a day in the dining room that could serve (and often did) 60 to 100 people. Now to the weaker of the two all meals were prepared by her, start to finish. This was accomplished by hand, no electric appliances. Food was delivered and stored in an ice box (ice was also delivered), cooking was done on a coal stove. Dishes were washed by hand; clothes and bedding were washed in a ringer washer and hung on a very large retractable clothes line. While water was drawn from the lake into the house by means of a pump for cleaning purposes, drinking water was pumped and carried by hand. Kindling and coal was also cut and carried by hand to the kitchen. The only modern conveniences were; a vacuum cleaner, a very heavy Electro Lux tank model and a Mangle.
This was a large heated machine that consisted of a large roller that sheets could be placed into and would come out the other side pressed, what a memory sleeping on sheets air dried in the sun and freshly ironed, but I digress. Floors were mopped with a bucket and a rag mop. I have worked in law enforcement much as my grandfather did and I have been a chef and cleaned my home, under much easier conditions. So who is the stronger? Men have labored building, hunting, milling and going to war. When the men went to war the women stepped up by adding to their normal routines to take over the many jobs left vacant when the men went to war, many women also went to war. While the men fought the women stayed home to raise the families, keep the country going, and while the men fought for those they loved and left behind, the women worried and missed them. So who is the stronger? I say, if you measure by physical strength and cannot acknowledge the true strengths, you are the weaker. Right now I am taking my wife out to dinner in hopes of showing that I love her and thank her for being strong enough to make me want to be a better man.