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From: cbd@iham1.UUCP (deitrick)
Newsgroups: net.singles
Subject: Horses, Women, and Freudian Clap-Trap
Message-ID: <459@iham1.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 8-Oct-85 10:23:48 EDT
Article-I.D.: iham1.459
Posted: Tue Oct  8 10:23:48 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 12-Oct-85 13:31:36 EDT
Distribution: net
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories
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>In article <180@ihlpf.UUCP> bithead@ihlpf.UUCP (bithead) writes:
>>
>>I've often wondered why so many women have this fascination with the
>>equine(?) species. The answer is probably Freudian. A man may say
>>"no!" but the horse won't (with the possible exception of Mr. Ed).
>
>Of course.  For some reason, people have a need to control things,
>to make them do as they please.  The thing being controlled may be
>a horse, a sports car, a computer, an airplane, a piano, or many other
>things.  Some aren't satisfied with controlling things or animals,
>and try to control other people.  This usually doesn't work out so
>well, whether the control-ee is a slave, a subordinant, a child,
>or a spouse.
>
>The horse may not *say* "no", but he/she may not obey you, either!
>They do have minds of their own.  The computer may say "Permission
>Denied", but there is always the "su" trump.  If your date says
>"Permission Denied", there may be no way to change his/her mind.
>
>Question I have is: Why do we have such a need to control?
>
>Snoopy

I've pondered the question "Why do so many more women than men ride?" for
more than five years. I've heard all the Freudian hypotheses ("it's a penis
substitute; you know, power between the legs." "it gives females something
to mother without the commitment of marriage, etc") and I think they're all
bullshit. I believe that riding is predominately female is because MEN THINK
IT'S SISSY!

This discussion is about English style riding - hunt seat, dressage, English
pleasure. The image of English riding is a competitor dressed in formal clothes
and riding an immaculately groomed but plodding horse in an enclosed arena. It
appears that all one has to do is sit up on the horse and look pretty. That's
hardly "masculine" and so most men go looking for something a tad more exciting.
Part of the problem is riding's image, but the other part is men's unwillingness
to violate the rule that says they have to be "masculine".

(The reality of riding is quite different. Riding, when done properly on an
athletic horse, requires skill worthy of any professional athlete. It also
requires a lot of nerve. Send me e-mail if you want details.)

If you go out West to, say, Montana, you'll see that riding is not considered
effeminate. Riding a horse to work cattle or as a means of transportation in
rugged country is as masculine as any other activity generally considered a
male preserve. Just ask any cowboy.

The real question, then, is "What makes you feel masculine/feminine and why?"
as a discussion elsewhere on the net is considering.

					Carl Deitrick
					inp4!iham1!cbd

	"Heaven on earth is to be found in the pages of a good
	 book, the back of a horse, or the bosom of a woman"
					-Unknown