Chapter 1

“I don’t know why you don’t just tell ‘em off”

“Because” Janine tried to explain, “It doesn’t work like that”-

“Why not?” Mark replied. The look of perplexity on his face was more than just ignorance- it was judgement.

Janine had to calm herself and not give in to the flashes of anger that spawned inside- “I just mean, saying what I feel will get me fired. It’s not like I can get away with criticizing other people, I’m not...” Janine stopped herself short.

“A man?” Mark finished. His tone was incredulous- like he doesn’t already know the double standard, Janine thought.

Janine held her tongue, realizing they were going into dangerous territory.

But Mark was all too eager to continue- “That’s what you were going to say, right?” he pressed.

Not now, Mark. “It doesn’t matter” Janine replied, sounding defeated. She stormed away, ending the conversation.

“Because a guy can say whatever he wants and a woman can’t, right?” came the voice behind her.

Janine shook her head in anger- just drop it, you ignorant dumbass

“You sound just like one of those ‘Feminazis’, telling people that everything to women is unfair. That men are terrible, th-that men are just chauvinistic pigs” he stuttered. He waved his arms in circles for emphasis.

“You’re such an ass” Janine said, glancing his way before raising her hand to gesticulate that she was done with him. She shook her head again and walked away.

“Oh, I’m sorry” Mark replied sarcastically, “Did I hurt your feelings with the truth?” Mark watched her walk down the hallway into their room, and felt a twinge of remorse over what he said.

Mark just stared down the hallway, as if waiting for some sign- go in and apologize? Just let it go? Did she really deserve it?

In that instant, waiting for some inspiration to tell him what to do, he remembered an advertisement on the television which always riled him up-

Did you know that girls have a higher IQ than boys, and have superior multi-tasking skills? A young, attractive and overly-energetic teenage girl told the audience. But schools don’t encourage girls to pursue a career in science or business! The ad then showed a depressed-looking preteen sitting at a school desk, doodling on a piece of paper. Out of the side of the screen, a test is put back in front of the student, with a big letter “D” circled on top. Then a couple boys in the row next to her see it, and start to laugh-

But it doesn’t have to be like this, The spokeswoman voiceover continues. The depressed-looking teenager is seen walking the hallway alone, but meets with the attractive teenager, who puts her hand on the younger girl’s shoulder and leads her into a classroom. The classroom is brightly lit, with young, smiling girls of all ethnicities all sitting and facing the young girl. Some of them can be seen vigorously waving hello.

The camera looks back to the two girls walking in- Let our organization specially tutor your aspiring young student, to become the strong, independent woman she was meant to be!

The name of the organization, Women for a Better Tomorrow, was displayed on the bottom of the screen.

For Mark, it was not the idea that girls should pursue science, math, and other historically-male dominated careers that set him off; it was the smugness with which the spokesperson excitedly and derisively belittled the male sex. Not only was it smarmy and simplistic, but it was affecting the way girls perceived boys now. It had even made his own daughter call him stupid.

In the blink of an eye, Mark momentarily lost all compassion for his wife, and turned angrily away. He concluded that he was right, and that Janine was just avoiding her own prejudices.

Mark went to sit down in the living room, where the refurbished flat screen was waiting for him. As he turned the tv on with the remote, he felt a small sense of pride- after all, he was the only one on his block to have figured out a way to bring in movie channels over the air waves. He turned on the news, as he was accustomed to do.

Has President Sanderson gone too far with this latest move? Here to discuss this morning’s newest bill is our own chief political advisor, Ben Broussard, and Stacie McHenry, lead editor of Our World Times...

Ben, we’ll start with you, said the mediator. What is your reaction to what people are calling the ‘Man-hating bill’?

The other man on the screen, a bald man in his 30’s, replied immediately-

This is absolutely disgraceful, Bill. The president has gone too far with her ultra-feminist, man-hating agenda. Ben was shaking his head furiously as he was speaking.

The mediator continued- is there anything in this bill that you agree with?

Absolutely not, Bill. I’ve been covering The White House ever since the end of the war, and this is the most egregious piece of legislation I have ever seen, except for the Emergency Powers Act, which brought us into this predicament in the first-

If I may offer my opinion, Stacie interrupted, I think my colleague here is making mountains out of mole hills with this legislation, okay ... Dr. President Sanderson has finally brought the necessary protection that ALL women in this country deserve-

Oh, come on, Stacie!

No, it’s true Ben- statistics show that before the war, women were FIVE TIMES more likely to be raped than men, and men committed the overwhelming majority of rape crimes in the U.S. at that time.

Ben, your response? The moderator inserted, prodding the flabbergasted political advisor

Well, yeah ... but what about all of the false accusations of rape that women perpetrate? Huh? Where is your sense of justice for those innocent people WHO WERE JAILED for no reason?

Ben, Stacie continued, the numbers don’t lie- In 1997, the Department of Justice found that only 8% of rape accounts were unfounded

You mean the women LIED, Stacie. Tell it like it is.

I am Ben, if you would let me finish- Only 8% of rape accounts were determined to be unfounded, and if you consider that over 85% of police officers back then were male, then the true number has to be drastically lower than that.

So now you’re saying that men can’t cops?! Ben screamed at the screen

I never said that, Ben- don’t put words in my mouth

“Yes you are, you bitch” Mark snarled at the tv. Mark couldn’t believe how stupid people in this country had gotten-

“Can’t they fucking see what’s happening?” Mark asked rhetorically. His impotent rage kept him glued into the news channel, soaking in the country’s damning news.

After a while, Mark got up from the living room couch, and walked into the kitchen, still fuming over the direction the country was heading-

“Fucking cunt president, someone outta slit her throat” he grumbled, making himself a sandwich.

Ever since Marilyn Sanderson had taken office 3 months ago as the country’s first female president, it seemed that the feminists were getting their way- first with the Equal Pay for Equal Work Act, then the minimum sentencing for male perpetrators of sexual harassment under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and now today’s amendment to the 1995 Violence Against Women Act, which prevented men from accusing women of false rape charges, punishable by jail time.

It was all a part of the Feminazi movement, which sought to undermine the rights of men in the country by acting like they were protecting women. They say they want equality, Mark thought, but they want domination. Those lesbian bitches won’t stop until every man is locked up.

Mark brought his sandwich back to the couch, and continued watching the end of America as he knew it...

Janine went to work the next day, trying desperately to keep everything inside-

Be strong, Janine. Just leave home at home. You have enough to worry about at work.

And it was true- Janine was the Chief Financial Officer for a small lawyer firm in New Philadelphia, located a comfortable 50 miles west of Old Philadelphia. Her firm represented all sorts of clients- accidents, insurance claims, personal injury suits- you name it, they did it.

But that was normal for lawyer firms in this day in age- ever since the start of the war, very few people went to study law, and almost 20 years later, demand was still much higher than supply.

Which also meant that lawyers were extremely busy-

“Janine, did you get the year-end financial update from our sister branch?” a tall, elegant blonde asked Janine.

“Uhhh, yes, I think so” Janine responded, unsure of herself. The other woman just looked at her-

“Janine, we need to have our fourth quarter financial report ready by next Friday” she stated in a slightly incredulous tone, implying that the deadline was deadly-important.

“Yes, of course Ms. Bolton” Janine quickly responded. She kept her boss’s eye contact for as long as she could muster, and after an eternity, Ms. Bolton finally walked away, her heels clicking loudly on the tile.

Phew. Get yourself together, Janine told herself.

Making her way to her office, Janine thought about Wendy Bolton, the CEO of Bolton & Daughters-

She’s so beautiful, and strong ... I wish I could be like her.

Of course, Janine would’ve needed several cosmetic surgeries to look like Ms. Bolton, and that was something she told herself never to do. I mean, what kind of CFO would I be if I wasted money on a boob job? She thought.

Maybe I could dye my hair a platinum blonde, like hers, she thought, looking at a mirror.

Janine was still very young at 32 years old, with straight brown hair that reached down to her neck, and soft features that belied an inner fierceness inside her. Having been raised well by her parents, she learned to work hard and keep her head down, staying humble no matter what.

So when President Huxson asked the women of the country to do their duty and produce sons to help fight the war, Janine married her best friend, Mark D’Accurzio, 11 years ago. Only 9 months later, Janine and Mark had a little girl named Emma, and Mark was enlisted to fight in the Filipino Front.

Janine pushed away the memories of those lonely nights, when she sometimes cried at the idea of losing Mark and having to raise Emma by herself.

Fortunately for her, Mark came back in one piece, and they were able to raise Emma as a family. Although it wasn’t true love, Mark and Janine made things work, and she grew fond of him over the years.

Janine sighed heavily, thinking of the fight they had the night before- he always takes things too personally, like I’m the one that is attacking him. Why can’t he see that I love him? That I need him to be there for me?

Janine tilted her head back and blinked her eyes, trying to stem the water works from ruining the minimal makeup she had on.

He’s changed, she realized for the hundredth time. He’s so angry all the time, and I don’t know what to do.

“Are you okay?” came a concerned feminine voice.

Janine sniffed and turned her back to the person, “Yeah, I’m okay” she said, trying to keep her voice from quivering.

But instead of hearing the person make an exit, the door closed. “Janine, you can tell me what’s going on.”

Damnit Betty, not now.

“It’s just, marriage stuff” Janine said while turning around, putting on a fake smile.

“I’m sorry to hear” Betty replied. She was only in her mid-20’s and still single- what did she know?

“Thank you Betty. I’ll be fine”, Janine said. She knew that Betty was a member of Women for a Better Tomorrow; that information would’ve set Mark right off.

Who cares what Mark thinks?, Janine thought, He’s so wrapped up in his own fantasy world. Betty can do what she wants.

After a momentary silence, Betty continued, “Do you want to talk about it?”

Janine let out a great sigh. “It’s just Mark gets so ... angry about our President” Janine replied, shaking her head.

Betty nodded her head in understanding, “A lot of men don’t see what she’s accomplishing, bringing women to the same status as men in this country. I can understand they don’t like to give up their male privilege.”

Male privilege? The idea that men had it so much easier in this country just didn’t make sense to Janine. Her down-to-earth upbringing had taught her never to play the victim, and that’s just what people who used the term ‘male privilege’ were- playing the victim.

“I know you don’t agree with our values, Janine, but trust me that men have advantages that we don’t, even in this new generation.”

Ever since the end of the war 6 years ago, the demographics of the country were significantly altered- now women made up 58% of the population, instead of the pre-war historical 51%.

What this meant was more opportunities for women, in every field. Women were now almost as likely to work in business than men, for example, which would have been unheard of 30 years ago.

And the shift in demographics made electing female politicians much more commonplace- so much so, in fact, that currently 39 U.S. Senators were women.

Betty saw the doubt on Janine’s face- “You really should come to a meeting with me sometime, Janine. You’d like it.”

“Thanks, Betty” Janine replied politely, with a thin-lipped smile and a nod. Betty took her cue, and exited Janine’s office.

I have always been curious what those feminists were saying, Janine thought as she sat down in her office chair.

If Mark knew I was thinking about going... , Janine thought, imagining the terrible temper tantrum that would erupt in their house.

After another stressful day of work, Janine rode the bus home, like most people did. The price of gas had jumped to $5.67 per gallon recently, and with the traffic still congested for their 210,000 inhabitant city, it just felt like a waste of money to use the family car.

Janine walked in the door, and didn’t have a chance to say anything before her stress levels jumped just like the price of gasoline-

“Can you believe this shit?” came her husband’s upset cry.

“Hello to you, too” Janine replied. Her tone was slightly unnerved.

Mark looked back from the couch to see his wife putting her coat away, but if he noticed her different tone of voice, he chose to ignore it.

“There’s another congressional bill being debated on the House” Mark continued, reading something off the tv screen, “Get this- women can no longer be derisively displayed in media of a primarily sexual nature.”

Janine went into the kitchen to find a bottle of wine, hoping to both avoid her stress, and alleviate it as well.

“How crazy is that?” Mark yelled from the living room. “So now porn actors have to cuddle or something?”

Janine looked up at the ceiling in exasperation before pulling the cork out of the bottle.