More on gender issues
Since posting about feminism and gender issues (and linking to Bitch PhD) seems to be the latest trend on my friends list, I'm going to jump on the bandwagon for a bit with a small rant. From the blog's intro post:
If you can join in and argue as among friends, colleagues, and peers, then by all means grab a cup of coffee or a beer and pull up a chair. If you can't, though, or if you're the type of person who goes to a party and ends up joshing with the guys out back by the barbecue because you really have no interest in what the women have to say, then this isn't the place.
For a blog that is ostensibly opposed to sexism, there is at least one blatantly sexist assumption in this statement: that the women's discourse is friendly, levelheaded, and intelligent, as opposed to that of "the guys", who are relegated to "joshing out back" because they are too stupid to be interested in the intelligent conversation inside. I realize it is intended to be somewhat tounge-in-cheek, but these kinds of assumptions are too common to be dismissed outright. Yes, this is sexism - not "reverse sexism" (not even a coherent phrase), not "payback" for past wrongs.
And for the record, the women at the party are usually talking about shoes and babies. No wonder all the interesting people are standing around the grill.
If you can join in and argue as among friends, colleagues, and peers, then by all means grab a cup of coffee or a beer and pull up a chair. If you can't, though, or if you're the type of person who goes to a party and ends up joshing with the guys out back by the barbecue because you really have no interest in what the women have to say, then this isn't the place.
For a blog that is ostensibly opposed to sexism, there is at least one blatantly sexist assumption in this statement: that the women's discourse is friendly, levelheaded, and intelligent, as opposed to that of "the guys", who are relegated to "joshing out back" because they are too stupid to be interested in the intelligent conversation inside. I realize it is intended to be somewhat tounge-in-cheek, but these kinds of assumptions are too common to be dismissed outright. Yes, this is sexism - not "reverse sexism" (not even a coherent phrase), not "payback" for past wrongs.
And for the record, the women at the party are usually talking about shoes and babies. No wonder all the interesting people are standing around the grill.