Islam teaches women are inferior to men, in fact, are to be subservient to men and are often treated as chattel rather than human beings. The best women can expect in Islam’s “Paradise” is to continue serving men.

A proper perspective of women is the gift of Christian Western Civilization that has eventually given women status not to be found among Muslims where girls are emasculated by circumcision and “honor killings” still continue. And while the more enlightened Muslims attempt to discourage such things, the status of women in Muslim nations continues to be at best according them dismal second class creatures never to be the equal of men. As to the question of equal value, women are still far removed from men as reflected by their lack of representation in the UN where women in leadership are a rarity.

Well, maybe women should be more like men? Why can’t a woman be more like a man? Men are so reasonable, so fair; all in all we men are a marvelous sex. So Professor Higgins sings the praises of men in My Fair Lady, and most of us men find ourselves applauding this most astute summation by the Professor of the admirable qualities of men, qualities quite beyond dispute, leaving not a few of us wondering, as he, why can’t a woman be more like a man?

Alas, in the end poor Higgins realizes he has become accustomed to Eliza’s face, accustomed to her ups, her downs, her smiles, her frowns, and with a heavy sigh opens his door, walking into what has become an empty and cheerless house, a drear, empty and cheerless life; Eliza having become dear to him without his seeming to be aware.

Even Higgins’ mother has applauded Eliza having given her son his comeuppance, “Bravo, Eliza!” For too long her son had thought too highly of himself, had smugly thought women to be inferior and given to inanities, paying too much attention to their hair, their appearance and tea parties, of not having a mind capable of weighing the subtleties of the higher thought processes of men, of not having minds capable of coming at the really important ruling issues of life.

At the end, Higgins having admitted to his need of Eliza in his life, of her having conquered his prejudices against women she brings him his slippers and he settles back into his chair, both Eliza and he seemingly content an arrangement has been accomplished, one in which both a man and a woman are content in the scheme of things and a well ordered life will go on.

Well, these past decades since My Fair Lady have wrought some changes, and in my opinion not for the better when it comes to relationships between men and women. There are few women today who would bring Higgins his slippers; more likely they would shy them at him as Eliza had done previously. But if that is all they see in that final scene they miss the point.

We would do well to ask ourselves as a society why life should be a competition between men and women, and just when did it become such a competition rather than, as Henry and Eliza finally realized and accepted, the compatibility and honoring of differences?

As science increasingly provides some of the answers concerning the differences in brain function between men and women, it is unlikely this will dispel the need for the accommodation Henry and Eliza made for each other. However, they first had to realize and accept their need for each other, that each was incomplete and unfulfilled alone.

Granting it appears whimsical, though it is not whimsical at all to me, if this need for another in your life is there how much better the accommodation to the compatibility and honoring of differences than a competition, and a competition in which neither can be the “winner.” But the great musicals resulting from Christian Western Civilization which has produced the greatest advances in the arts and sciences the world has ever known were not possible in nations given to “keeping women in their place.” We might as well expect Mexico to build and launch a space shuttle as to expect musicals like My Fair Lady or Gigi to ever come from any Muslim nation.

In Braveheart the King of England says “The problem with Scotland is that it is filled with Scots.” Muslims certainly agree, and I suppose Muslims, Mexicans, the ACLU and haters of talk radio and conservatives in general would say of our nation “The problem with America is that it is filled with Americans.” These people simply do not want an America filled with Americans, at least not the kind of Americans that want to secure our borders and put our nation ahead of the interests of other nations, that believe English should be our national language by law and don’t believe we should cater to minorities demanding special privilege on the basis of race or perversion. But listening to politicians from Bush on down these seem also to believe the problem with America is that there are too many Americans, an attitude that was certainly reflected by so many politicians after We the People made our voices heard against the bastardized euphemism “immigration reform.”

But not really getting the message, the haters of Americans are now saying the will of the majority of Americans having been heard in wanting secure borders and an end to any talk of amnesty for illegal aliens will cause “Latino backlash” at the polls. Are We the People really expected to believe Latinos will dictate American politics? If so, I can’t think of anything that could create a greater hatred for Latinos! Politicians are as much as telling us Latinos are going to declare war on the great majority of Americans! It does seem the fear mongers using race to intimidate We the People are incapable of turning the page in their book and reading what follows.

Sadly for our nation, the great musicals were as Wodehouse so well pointed out the last time poets worked in America. It may turn out the lack of poets and the great musicals of Western Civilization they produced will prove to be the cause of America’s plunge into an illiterate darkness. But for those of us who were able to turn the page those years ago and read what was to follow the story did not have a happy ending. My generation understood there was no need of the lovers to even kiss in two of the greatest musicals to ever be produced; some few of us even noticed the chiaroscuro effect of the heart formed by the muted light in the courtyard of Gigi. But such subtleties are the purview of poets, and the whole world seems to be suffering the lack of poets.