Good stuff, people! We have managed to avoid flying off the handle here, and brought forth some very valuable comments and insights. Margaret, I particularly appreciate the things you have said...well thought out and well put.

To get back to Peter's original question...I think on the whole that women (and people in general) are given better treatment in the folk field than in most other styles of music. I have seen song circles where the men dominated the situation...those were usually in bars, and they were not what you would call a "folk" scene at all. I don't see men dominating anything in the Orillia Folk Society (Jennifer Ives is probably our most active and influential member, all things considered).

There has been an extraordinary increase in the number of superb female singer-songwriters lately, both in the folk scene and in music generally.

I actually think that men are in a bit of a slump lately in this respect...partly because I think men in general are so utterly confused about what is their appropriate role in society (and relationships) now that they are downright demoralized. I kid you not. I've had numerous conversations with other men about this very problem. I'm not demoralized, but a lot of my cohorts are. How about that, eh? They say that the only people you can make jokes (and I don't just mean nasty jokes) about any longer are blondes (maybe...) and white males. Extraordinary, isn't it? There's a whole lot of paranoia out there.

Alice - I agree, being a parent is the most important thing a person can do (and the most challenging). Nothing else matches it...not being a president, a general, a CEO, nothing. Parents deserve far more help and recognition than they get from this society. They no longer have the extended family to help them, as was the case in so-called "primitive" cultures.