A few years ago I read about German sociologist Georg Simmel. He wrote a century ago about women and the public square. The public square, he argued, had been created by men for men. But with women coming into the public square, they would transform it to suit “a more feminine sensibility.” Ever since then my mind has been pondering what this means. And then suddenly this week I realized. It is not working, this public square with a more feminine sensibility. What’s more it will never work. And this has to do with the radically different way in which men and women experience “honor.” From Honor: A History by James Bowman: [T]he basic honor of the savage -- bravery for men, chastity for women -- is still recognizable beneath the surfaces of the popular culture that has done so much to efface it. If you doubt it, try calling a man a wimp or a woman a slut. Now, the whole point of today’s public square is to adapt the male honor...(Read Full Article)