Are we really like that?

[The Squatter of Amon Rûdh]

It's good to be back in a discussion with you, littlemanpoet. As always you make some good points.

nevertheless the world Tolkien lived in - during the 30s and 40s epecially when he wrote LotR - was as I have described

Ironically, this earlier period, encompassing as it did the Second World War, saw huge numbers of women entering work for the first time: They worked in munitions factories, hospitals, the auxiliary military services and on the land, and an attempt to force them back into the home when the men returned was not popular.

If anything the 1950s were less equal, not more, although I concede that Tolkien's view on this subject was not mine, at least insofar as his definition of the character traits of men and women is concerned. It could equally be argued that men will always seek to control and dominate nature, whereas women are nurturers; but these views are only half-truths. In fact people are individuals, and the broad generalisations invariably fall down when applied to specifics, perhaps excepting Tolkien's own marriage. Neither knowing nor particularly wanting to know about Tolkien's private experiences with his wife, which I have no doubt he would not have liked to see published, I cannot comment any further.