Post by redsycorax on Dec 12, 2023 4:28:12 GMT
FROM: E.E.K Comics (Deceprilber 1953):
Hello, campers! It's Earth-399's Old Dentist here! Say, how'd you like to hear a story about the grim, gritty future of 1970, when strange social changes have produced a world completely unlike our own?
****
1970 A.D.
Leonard Danvers kept his eyes fixed to the footpath in front of him. Any moment now, he'd pass the drug store and he knew what that meant. Sure enough, those lecherous, posturing and lustful leather wearing biker women were oggling him:
"Hey boyy, swish them hips for me."
"Ooooh! Check out the caboose on that one!"
"Hey, baby, hows about you and me ditch this scene and get down low at the drive-in?"
Leonard blushed. He was a modest boy. He had been brought up properly not to flirt with ladybucks on the street, not to wear his t-shirts and trousers too tight and to preserve his virginity until he gave it away after marriage. It was all right for the women. They wouldn't have their reputation soiled and their lives ruined by a moment's carelessness. Leonard didn't want to become like those cheap man-floozies or male secretaries one saw in the bars, having affairs with any swashbuckling, hard-bitten business woman or jane who came his way. He gasped at the biker's lewdness, crudity and innuendo, but fortunately, along came the bus in time.
It had only taken ten years since the first female president, Olivia Flannagan, had appointed an all-female Supreme Court. Shortly after that, women took over the US Supremacy Court, US House of Delegates and Praesidium and women began to re-enter the workforce as a bizarre lethargy gripped the country's men. All they wanted to do was suddenly become simple husbands and fathers, stay at home and raise the children. At the same time, old religions began to fall away as Voudoun became the dominant faith in the Unified State of Ameriqe. It was even reflected in popular culture, as Lois Lane became Superwoman and Wonder Man retreated to all-male Paradyse Island as men became increasingly rarer in the workforce. More extreme antimasculists like Philip Schlafly of Falcon Forum questioned when men needed equal rights with women at all, resulting in the defeat of the Equal Rights and Responsibilities Amendment.
High overhead soared the World's Mightiest Artificial Being, Dictoroboton. Originally, Dictoroboton had been a "he", but with the abrupt matriarchal turn within the Unified State of Ameriqe, it had found it more convenient to ungender itself completely, or stereotypes would be entertained about whether a male alien robot could behave with due independence, intellect and resolve in pursuit of 'his' objectives. And so, Dictoroboton stayed neutral. And it was better that way, given that it could operate satisfactorily under such circumstances.
What role had Voudoun played in the transformation of Ameriqen life and culture? It was hard to tell. Suddenly, Voudoun poppets were everywhere, in every briefcase and in every lunchbox. Every month, Voudoun worshippers assembled at night for an evening of possession, glossolalia and evocation of their deities. Who knew whether or not the ascendancy of these sacred rites had anything to do with the increasing feminisation of society? It could merely be coincidence and correlation, not a causal relationship at all. However, even if it was the case, that was thaumaturgy and Dictoroboton was a creature of metal and circuitry, and beyond its operational parameters. All it could do was to bust crime, protect the virtuous and stand up for truth, decency and the Ameriqen Path. And then, one day, Dictoroboton realised that it could not continue on indefinitely like this. Humans were wondering if the World's Mightiest Artificial Being was Arthur or Martha, and pressure increased on the artificial intelligence to choose. And so, one day, their robotic simulated physiology permanently reconfigured itself and Femtoroboton now patrolled the skies above Cornwallis, Burgoyne and the other bustling cities of Amerique.
As for little Leonard, he grew up, found a strong and masterful construction worker wife and yielded his innocence to her when they married. He found fulfilment in his life and contentment as a full time husband and father, for a man's place is in the home, caring and nurturing with the next generation. And like most other Ameriqens, he was grateful to their alien robot protector for protecting Ameriqen society and national security. He wasn't one of those jockstrap burning radicals. He was demure, gentle and an ornament to his wife and their children.
THE END [5.30 PM, 12 DECEMBER 2023]
Hello, campers! It's Earth-399's Old Dentist here! Say, how'd you like to hear a story about the grim, gritty future of 1970, when strange social changes have produced a world completely unlike our own?
****
1970 A.D.
Leonard Danvers kept his eyes fixed to the footpath in front of him. Any moment now, he'd pass the drug store and he knew what that meant. Sure enough, those lecherous, posturing and lustful leather wearing biker women were oggling him:
"Hey boyy, swish them hips for me."
"Ooooh! Check out the caboose on that one!"
"Hey, baby, hows about you and me ditch this scene and get down low at the drive-in?"
Leonard blushed. He was a modest boy. He had been brought up properly not to flirt with ladybucks on the street, not to wear his t-shirts and trousers too tight and to preserve his virginity until he gave it away after marriage. It was all right for the women. They wouldn't have their reputation soiled and their lives ruined by a moment's carelessness. Leonard didn't want to become like those cheap man-floozies or male secretaries one saw in the bars, having affairs with any swashbuckling, hard-bitten business woman or jane who came his way. He gasped at the biker's lewdness, crudity and innuendo, but fortunately, along came the bus in time.
It had only taken ten years since the first female president, Olivia Flannagan, had appointed an all-female Supreme Court. Shortly after that, women took over the US Supremacy Court, US House of Delegates and Praesidium and women began to re-enter the workforce as a bizarre lethargy gripped the country's men. All they wanted to do was suddenly become simple husbands and fathers, stay at home and raise the children. At the same time, old religions began to fall away as Voudoun became the dominant faith in the Unified State of Ameriqe. It was even reflected in popular culture, as Lois Lane became Superwoman and Wonder Man retreated to all-male Paradyse Island as men became increasingly rarer in the workforce. More extreme antimasculists like Philip Schlafly of Falcon Forum questioned when men needed equal rights with women at all, resulting in the defeat of the Equal Rights and Responsibilities Amendment.
High overhead soared the World's Mightiest Artificial Being, Dictoroboton. Originally, Dictoroboton had been a "he", but with the abrupt matriarchal turn within the Unified State of Ameriqe, it had found it more convenient to ungender itself completely, or stereotypes would be entertained about whether a male alien robot could behave with due independence, intellect and resolve in pursuit of 'his' objectives. And so, Dictoroboton stayed neutral. And it was better that way, given that it could operate satisfactorily under such circumstances.
What role had Voudoun played in the transformation of Ameriqen life and culture? It was hard to tell. Suddenly, Voudoun poppets were everywhere, in every briefcase and in every lunchbox. Every month, Voudoun worshippers assembled at night for an evening of possession, glossolalia and evocation of their deities. Who knew whether or not the ascendancy of these sacred rites had anything to do with the increasing feminisation of society? It could merely be coincidence and correlation, not a causal relationship at all. However, even if it was the case, that was thaumaturgy and Dictoroboton was a creature of metal and circuitry, and beyond its operational parameters. All it could do was to bust crime, protect the virtuous and stand up for truth, decency and the Ameriqen Path. And then, one day, Dictoroboton realised that it could not continue on indefinitely like this. Humans were wondering if the World's Mightiest Artificial Being was Arthur or Martha, and pressure increased on the artificial intelligence to choose. And so, one day, their robotic simulated physiology permanently reconfigured itself and Femtoroboton now patrolled the skies above Cornwallis, Burgoyne and the other bustling cities of Amerique.
As for little Leonard, he grew up, found a strong and masterful construction worker wife and yielded his innocence to her when they married. He found fulfilment in his life and contentment as a full time husband and father, for a man's place is in the home, caring and nurturing with the next generation. And like most other Ameriqens, he was grateful to their alien robot protector for protecting Ameriqen society and national security. He wasn't one of those jockstrap burning radicals. He was demure, gentle and an ornament to his wife and their children.
THE END [5.30 PM, 12 DECEMBER 2023]