An Internet story has been circulating. In it, King Arthur, under threat of death, must answer this question: "What do women really want?" Arthur trades Sir Lancelot's hand in marriage to a horribly ugly witch for the answer: "To be in charge of their own lives."

As an interested but outside observer of the gender, I have supported women's causes all of my life. I participated in "burn the bra" demonstrations in the early 1960s; later I found that had been strangely counter-productive. Clothing historians told me the brassiere (invented about 1900) actually liberated women so it made no sense as a symbol of subjugation. OK, so you can't win them all. My apologies to Maidenform.

Later I was the only male member of the Arizona Women's Partnership, a statewide effort funded by US West, aka, "the telephone company," to recognize the accomplishments of women in two frontier states - Colorado and Arizona. Yes, 36 women and the son of a linotype operator created, paid for, and supervised programs all over Arizona. I would love to see those programs replicated in Idaho where a legislator, a few years ago, said with impunity that "abortion is much too important an issue to trust to women."

It doesn't matter whether a person is pro-choice or pro-life; that remark about women crosses the line. For myself, I am willing to trust just about any issue to women who, it seems to me, have better decision-making apparatuses than their male counterparts. There is an old marriage joke. "I make all the big decisions about Afghanistan, the national debt and global warming. My wife makes the small ones like where we will live, how we will spend our money and how we raise our kids." That makes good sense to me, except maybe about the big decisions. I would leave those to women, too.

What a joy it was to see Laura Bush take "charge of her own life" on the Larry King Live show recently when she came out in favor of both choice and gay marriage. She later took heat from both sides - from liberals who said she ought to have spoken out earlier and from conservatives who were disappointed (according to Carrie Gordan Earll of Focus on the Family) that she espoused (pun intended) views that were contrary to her husband's and large segments of the American public.

Those criticisms are silly. I have newly found respect for the former First Lady for at least two reasons. First, she remained silent for more than eight years, a sign of marital loyalty that spouses owe spouses from time to time. And when her comments would no longer harm her husband's presidential standing, she spoke her own views rather than take the party line. There is no good reason I know that women should live in their husbands' shadows.

We in Idaho are long overdue for female leaders to become U.S. Senators, for example, and governor. We have had some mayors, state senators and representatives, and Helen Chenoweth as a member of the House of Representatives. Perhaps it is sexist to say so but I think women are more loving and tolerant than men and the older I get the more I enjoy seeing those characteristics in elected and appointed leaders. I do hope I live to see a female president; Golda Meir, Indira Ghandi and Margaret Thatcher are three of my heroes even though I often disagreed with their views. They took charge of their own lives in a big way.

Tim Hunt, the son of a linotype operator, is a retired college professor and nonprofit administrator who lives in Hayden with his wife and three cats. He can be reached at linotype.hunt785@gmail.com