the review of the book on Woodhull spoke of her many interest, sufferage, spiritualism and free love. it is hard sometimes to look at one movement with out being influenced by another. the free love movement uses the term free love, to promote the idea that love should be free and unshackled by law.
150 years ago, a woman, had no means to find cause (adultry) and even if she found it, no money or right to hire a lawyer on her own behalf, to sue for divorce. she was shackled to a man. (the further west you go in the US, the less this was true. Several of the western states had much more liberal laws) Divorce was so unspeakable, they used free love as code words. No one was then, and almost no one is now "In favor" of divorce. but we have come to see that it should be allowed. It is a rare thing to find someone who is happy about the idea of divorce. we might dislike our ex spouse, but feel sad that we ended up divorced.. divorce is unpleasant, (even if the thought of live with out our spouse is pleasant!)
just as, in this day and age, no one is Pro or anti abortion. the two sides have aligned themselves as "Pro choice" and "Pro life". abortion still has enough of a stigma, no one want to call them selves "Pro Abortion". and the other side, want to come across as positive, too, so they are not Anti anything, but Pro life.
It a good arguement. who wants want to come out and say they are anti life? Language is, and always has been used politically.
those of us, who have been members of "the fairer sex", the weaker sex, the better half, all know these terms (and others) are used to define women as different, less complete than men. they can, and are, used intimitately affactionately, (just as SWMBO can be), but the same words have been used to restrict women. we could do pages of them.. only some times, the users of the words are so sure, the words are OK-- and that women(or others) are just being hysterical.. they brush the whole thing off as being hyper Politically correct.
shade of what tsuwm said in another thread.. the words can mean what ever you want them too..
