My example is from the middle east, not the Americas, fwiw.
You are aware that most marriage contracts actually do require the consent of the woman, right? She may be pressured, she may not have a lot of choices. But she certainly has the opportunity to object, and to make matters awkward if her consent isn’t obtained.
I have described biblical marriage as similar to slavery, but a wife was a privileged and high-status slave who had a lot of legal rights. For that matter, even ordinary biblical slaves had a lot more rights than US slaves. Slavery through history covers a pretty wide range, and while all of it is bad, when you just say “slavery” to a group of Americans, they will naturally think of the especially nasty form of slavery we had in the US.
Among the Haudenosaunee the men were/are the chiefs; but the women chose/choose which men are the chiefs, and can depose them if displeased with them. These things are often more complicated than they look at first glance.
(There’s a vehement argument right now because the person currently claiming Cayuga chieftainship refused to be so deposed, and got the US Federal government to agree with him; and has been doing a number of things the legitimacy of which is disputed. His claiming the office at all is also disputed.)
Women were so smart.
Even given the disadvantages of not having penis we have succeeded. Against the odds.
We have a ways to go.
The recent politics have set us back, a bit.
I refuse to be classified as 2nd class just because I’m female.
Right on, sister 
No, that’s how it is now. In the past we are talking about if she disagreed she could just be beaten until she did what she was told.
We were talking about the 1950s, not the 1850s. The only part of that that’s true is that marital rape was legal. Women had the vote, could get a job and own property. Opportunities were limited and domestic violence too frequently ignored, but forced marriage was hardly common, and women were certainly not slaves.
Why are you so obsessed with portraying women this way?
For the same reason he’s obsessed with the idea that conservatives want to murder all non-whites and nuke the Third World for Jesus - it absolves him of any responsibility for trying to improve things and it feels comforting to imagine that everything is going to plan, even an evil plan, than to think that nobody’s in control and stuff just happens.
The comfort of despair and helplessness is cheap.
Eeyore would say to lighten the fuck up.
@Der_Trihs, I’m going to say this in the spirit of this thread, which is about (when possible) constructive criticism. Get out. Go DO things about the situation. Volunteer, stand in front of city hall with a sign, whatever. Do something. Because you are largely preaching to people who agree with you, if not to the same degree. But it helps MORE to do something to change those that DON’T already agree. Then report on your success (or lack of) with that. We’ll be more sympathetic, I promise.
What are you doing?
Me? Donating (monthly recurring) to ACLU and Planned Parenthood, keeping my father from voting his prejudices for Trump, went to the 4/5 March, trying to find time to go the 4/19 March, writing letters (physical paper kind) to my city and state reps in my light blue state to remind them that they may want to cave to Trump but that I’ll hold them accountable in the local elections, helping keep my friends and family that agree with me politically from slipping so far into despair that they give up resisting (this is a lot of work sometimes!).
Oh, and just in case Der_Trihs is right, well, I did replace my emergency supplies, pantry stockpiles, N95 masks, and ammunition.
Or if you’re asking why I’m talking to Der_Trihs, well, the thread is to deal with one off crazy moments for those not so far gone as to need a dedicated thread. And no one has actived any old DT Pit threads, so we apparently feel he can be saved.
Or I may be a glutton for punishment, I kept trying for DrDeth, and I even volunteered to help here. So, I’m plainly nuts.
You know what? I’m sorry for asking.
So in “Giving homeless people money” in Great Debates, miserable idiot Czarcasm makes up something ugly about me and throws in a bonus insult. Czarcasm, I gather that you like to be obnoxious, like an ape flinging dung, but do you have to be so fucking stupid about it? A monkey is smarter than you and has better personality to boot.
If you disrespect bread, which is central to my ancestral culture, I consider you lower than a snake’s belly. Jagoff.
I saw that post. Yeah, that was some top tier assholishness.
Isn’t that pretty much every culture?
Bread isn’t so central in Chinese cuisine. Rice and noodles are the main starches.
~Max
I was going to say the same thing about Japanese culture as well.
Most of the rest of the world has some kind of bread-like product (wheat-based flat item) though as a staple.
Bread good.