I AM tired of endless analysis and speculation, but will still stay on this site long enough to rack up enough points and get that darned t-shirt!

I recall barefoot and pregnant from many years ago. It may have been a dark joke but some men thought it was the secret of never getting a divorce. The wife was too busy with the kids to even think about leaving or getting more education for a good job.

Sounds like the Religious Right would like America to take on that "barefoot and pregnant" stance to keep women out of the work force and other aims of theirs.

Personally I like the British version of “Keep her well-shagged and poorly shod and she’ll not wander far,” since that sounds pretty good in a warm climate like mine, where we don't like to wear shoes much anyway, and pregnancy is totally avoidable.

He could simply have stated that after an exhaustive search we have no idea where the phase keep'em barefoot and pregnant comes from and it appears in some form in other than English cultures dating from the 1500s.

I'm going to go with your take on this and pass. I just trying to get through the next couple of weeks until the mid terms are over. 🥺

Some people speculate all day long. I find that boring AF, and completely uninformative.
Don't give me speculation, give me the motherfluffing facts of a situation.
Life is short, get to the point.

I try to avoid speculation. I am interested in "after the fact" results. That's all that matters.