The politics of being sex positive.

"A lady is a delicate creature that needs to be protected" This idea has been at the core of Western Civilization for more than 1000 years. We have made the definition of "lady" more inclusive. But the need to defend women is at the core of our culture.

What's interesting is that this principle is at the core of the rhetoric of both side of our political aisle. Conservatives want to protect women from immigrants. Liberals want to protect women from dirty jokes.

I do think that the idea of "protecting women" remains an emotional core principle of politics in any country that was colonized by Western Europe.

I was reading about sexism in poker (a topic that interests me). Poker is a historically male game. More than that, it is characterized by drinking, toughness, bluster, hubris... and crude humor all of these traditionally male traits are the reason that men (and now women) play poker.

When you read about how to attract more women to the game, or even about how to ensure women's success in the game... the call is to change the culture of poker. People want to eliminate the bluster from a game that involves throughing large amounts of money at people to get them to give up a winning hand. And they want to eliminate the crude humor from a game that is synonomous with Western ballrooms.

There are women who are very good poker players. They do so because they adapt themselves to the realitities of the game. I am not taken a back when a woman tells a player he has a small penis as she is calling his bluff.

If we want more women to enter tougher spaces; is the answer to make the women tougher? Or to make the spaces softer? I personally would not want to play a game with lavender scented cards.

The narrative of protecting women is an important cultural theme that continues to play out across the political spcectrum.