Equal rights between women and men? I'm against!

There are many reasons that society need children. One of them is for the children to pay for the elder population's social security when they pay taxes as adults.

Another benefit is the perpetuation of the human race, though this is disputable given the state of the planet.

Having children costs women an estimated $500,000 to $600,000 in lost career earnings over a 30-year span. This drop in income is known as the motherhood penalty. It accounts for nearly 80% of the remaining gender wage gap, as men's earnings typically remain stable or increase (the "fatherhood boost") after having children.

The Earnings Gap • Annual pay: Working mothers earn a median of about $55,276 to $56,680 per year, compared to $72,280 to $76,388 for fathers. • Per-dollar ratio: Mothers make roughly 71 cents for every dollar earned by fathers for full-time work. • Career trajectory: A woman's income drops sharply after childbirth and often fails to fully recover even a decade later.

Key Factors Driving the Loss

• Workforce interruptions: Women are far more likely to exit the workforce temporarily or reduce their working hours. • Flexibility trade-offs: Unequal distribution of care work pushes mothers toward lower-paying, flexible, or part-time roles. • Hiring and promotion bias: Studies show managers are less likely to hire or promote mothers, or offer them lower starting salaries compared to childless women.

Long-Term Financial Impact • Retirement security: Lower lifetime earnings directly reduce Social Security benefits, pension accumulations, and individual retirement savings (401k/IRA). • Compounding effect: Missing out on peak career advancement years (ages 25–35) permanently flattens a woman's wage growth curve.

The physical costs of pregnancy • Gestational changes: Alters cardiovascular, endocrine, and musculoskeletal systems permanently for some. • Childbirth trauma: Includes pelvic floor damage, tearing, or surgical recovery from cesarean sections (C-sections). • Chronic conditions: Increases risks for long-term issues like urinary incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse, and chronic back pain.

The physical costs of fertility

• Women undergo monthly cycles and major life transitions (pregnancy, perimenopause, menopause) where estrogen and progesterone drop precipitously. Men experience a slow, steady drop in testosterone of about 1% per year past age 30. • Bone Health: Women face a much higher risk of Osteoporosis and earlier bone density loss because postmenopausal estrogen withdrawal accelerates bone resorption. Men lose bone mass much more gradually. • Brain and Mental Health: Women face twice the risk of Alzheimer's disease and higher rates of mood and anxiety disorders linked to lifetime hormonal fluctuations and eventual estrogen withdrawal. Men have continuous, lower-level neural conversion of testosterone that provides partial neuroprotection. • Cardiovascular and Metabolic Health: Premenopausal estrogen protects women by supporting healthy fat distribution and lipid profiles. After menopause, cardiovascular and metabolic risks rise sharply, matching or exceeding male risk profiles as this protection wanes.

Women need to be rewarded for their service to society instead of being penalized There are many ways this blatant injustice can be redressed. For example, it should be legal that women be charged 70% of what men pay when buying. The price would be raised for men, and lowered for women in order for the merchant not to be prejudiced. Women should get grants every time they have a child. France lost a lot of population because of its two wars in the 20th Century. Their grants to families for children helped repopulate the country. The cost to women's health should be addressed systematically. Hence, women should have more rights than men because they serve society with their bodies. Imagine women went on pregnancy strike?! Society would have to come back crawling.

In the late 19th century, there were dreamers who thought that people should get money when they became old, or when they lost their jobs, that women should get paid leave when they had a child, that children shouldn't work, that housing should be salubre, that education should be free. People thought they were crazy.

I am such a dreamer.

Caterina Campodonico was a peanut seller in Genoa, Italy, who saved her hard earned money to buy herself a monument (above). Women, mothers, need to be celebrated.

The popularity of audiobooks and podcasts: I hear you! I see!

In Antiquity, people would read to others because books were spare and many people weren't literate. Those were the first audiobooks! Then in the 1930s audiobooks were recorded on vinyls for blind people.

Listening to audiobooks and podcasts lets our hands free to have a different activity if your brain can handle listening and giving orders to the hands at the same time. See below. They have become very popular.

But it's not just that. Our society resorts heavily on sight for the communication of information. We read instructions, handbooks, departure screens, street lights, maps, street names, directions. Official buildings, airports, roads, cities are full of signage. Train announcements are an exception and typically difficult to understand.

We use hearing to communicate between us, IRL. I love you, I hate you, I need you, I admire you, are all feelings that are often spoken. The pleasure of hearing music is different from that of taking in visual arts.

- I hear you!

- I see!

Hearing can also be associated with fear, a primal emotional: what are these steps running behind me? Why are these people screaming outside? Is this plane flying too low? What is this rumble, an earthquake?

Hence sight addresses more the rational side of our brains, and hearing links to the emotional.

When we listen to audiobooks, our emotions are more stimulated, because of the nature of our daily communications: seeing for info, hearing for emotions and impressions.

When we read, we can go back to a paragraph if we got distracted and missed its meaning.

When we listen, we usually don't bother to rewind. If a passage is of no interest to our psyche, our brain just blanks it out. It makes a selection according to our personality when we typically read every single word in a book.

Our society is extremely rational. We believe in science. In efficiency. In productivity. In organization. But a whole part of our psyche is dissatisfied by all this rationality. We're also emotional creatures.

Conclusion is that listening to podcasts and audiobooks is a more emotional experience than reading a book, fulfilling our craving for less rational experiences.

What about watching fiction on screens? This is also an emotional experience because we tend to identify with the protagonist. Hence we undergo the same feelings, and we compare the decisions we would take with the protagonist's: no, I wouldn't try to sneak on the villain from behind, no, I wouldn't tell my boss to get lost, no, I wouldn't wait to ask her out.

When do people listen to stories: Commuting and Driving: People frequently listen to podcasts and audiobooks during morning or evening commutes, road trips, or while riding public transit. News or short-form podcasts are popular during morning drives, while longer-form content or audiobooks suit extended road trips.

Household Chores: Cleaning, doing the laundry, washing dishes, and making food or coffee are prime times for audio. Listeners report that audio content makes routine chores feel faster and more engaging.

Exercise and Outdoor Movement: Going for a run, walking the dog, hiking, working out, or weightlifting are popular windows for solo listening.

Bedtime and Relaxation: Many people listen in bed to wind down or fall asleep. Apps often feature a sleep timer (such as 30 to 40 minutes) so the track stops playing after the listener drifts off. Long-form fiction or soothing podcasts are common here, though listeners sometimes risk falling asleep before finishing a chapter.

Crafts and Hobbies: Gardening, weeding, knitting, or working on DIY projects provide a steady backdrop for hands-free listening

Firsts: When did people start going on honeymoons?

Departure for The Bridal Tour, by Jules Girardet

We perceive honeymoons as a romantic tradition for newly weds to enjoy each other. And sometimes to recover from the stress of preparing their wedding!

Well, that's not at all how it started, alas. It was initially all about social conventions and status.

19th-Century "Bridal Tours": Upper-class couples in Britain first began the practice in the early 1800s by taking a "bridal tour". They traveled together, sometimes joined by friends or family members to visit relatives who had missed the wedding. That does not sound terribly romantic.

Shifting to Solo Travel: By the 1870s, couples started traveling alone instead of bringing an entourage. It became a way for affluent families to show off their wealth and social status. Maybe they enjoyed themselves too.

Mass Tourism in the Late 1800s: During the Belle Époque in the late 19th century, railroads and the growth of the travel industry turned the honeymoon into a widespread leisure voyage rather than a family-visit duty. And more people could afford it, as it was also more affordable to take the train than a coach, or one's own carriage with coach and all.

20th-Century Expansion: With the rise of the automobile and commercial aviation in the 1900s, middle-class couples began visiting dedicated romantic hotspots like Niagara Falls.

But the word appeared before the tradition, at least as we know it now. In the medieval times, couples were gifted a month's supply of mead (a fermented honey drink) to encourage virility and conception, though the actual vacation trip did not emerge from this ancient custom.

Where did they go?

The European "Grand Tour": For the wealthy British and American elite, Italy (specifically Venice and Florence), Paris, and the Swiss Alps were the ultimate romanticized targets. Lord Byron’s poetic travels heavily inspired couples to see Italy as the epicenter of romance.

Niagara Falls: In North America, Niagara Falls emerged in the 1830s as the first true domestic honeymoon hot spot. Rich newlyweds flocked to see the epic natural wonder, eventually earning it the official moniker "The Honeymoon Capital of the World" by the early 1900s.

Following World War II, a booming middle class and expanded car ownership completely democratized the honeymoon.

The Pocono Mountains: Located in Pennsylvania, this region became the new American capital of love. Resorts like The Farm on the Hill opened in the 1940s, and by the 1960s, properties introduced iconic heart-shaped bathtubs and champagne-glass whirlpools. These resorts operated almost like social summer camps for newlyweds, featuring group activities and communal dining.

For the Hollywood elite in the 1950s and '60s, desert enclaves like Palm Springs, California, became the preferred destination to escape the paparazzi and lounge by modernist pools. Meanwhile, international jet-setters began populating spots like St. Tropez, Acapulco and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico which exploded in popularity after Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton famously visited.

Commercial aviation and all-inclusive packages shifted the honeymoon focus entirely toward relaxation, privacy, and tropical climates.

By the 1980s, Hawaii, Florida, and the Caribbean became the dominant choices for standard couples. In recent decades, couples seeking ultimate seclusion have looked to far-flung destinations like the Maldives, Bora Bora, Bali, and the Seychelles—characterized by private overwater villas, infinity pools, and idyllic beachside dining.