Um. WTF, world. (icon so very appropriate)
So I just saw a guy on the net claim that reason "women are crazy" is because they are obsessed with being thin and therefore starve themselves of the carbs that the brain runs on. This WTFery makes my night. In fact, it's so messed up that I've given it a shiny new "say what now?" tag.
Let's ignore the colorful variety of prejudices in this statement and just look at the science:
OP wants us to assume that all women are obsessed with being thin. By his logic, only skinny woman should be crazy. This seems to have escaped him since, again, he's lumping all women into one single-minded group, united in our shared goal of being so thin we're practically two-dimensional. We are the freaking Ood, my lady friends.
Looking at the flip side of OP's argument, he seems to want us to believe that men do not care if they're thin or not. Men ALL eat tons of carbs and therefore their brains work perfectly fine.
OK, dude. Let's say your logic is perfectly sound. After all, brains do need carbs. Food is pretty essential to survival.
My question for you is: Why are there crazy MEN?
Notice I'm not saying all men are stupid. That'd be an insult to the awesome guys I know. Neither do I deny that there are women who do stupid, hurtful things. I'm just saying - by your logic, all men should be so cool and sharp-minded that they are never in the wrong.
Which is probably exactly what OP things. No matter the scenario, the man is in the right. Clearly, because the woman is "crazy." In fact, I'm obviously crazy because I think it's even possible for men to do stupid things. My impaired logic due to my obsession with my carb intake has shrunk my brain to the size of a pea. Quick! Get some carbs in that girl!
Even if I give OP some credit and assume he does acknowledge that there are men who do ridiculous things, this does nothing to help his argument since he's making broad generalizations about entire an group.
It is amazing how many stereotypes of women and men are still so widely accepted, at the same time that the gender binary is being vehemently questioned and people are becoming more and more open about the non-standard ways they identify and calling people on their bigotry.
My brother is a smart guy and I often agree with him. We were having a discussion one time and he started talking about the influence biology has over a person, namely that twins raised in different environments often still grow up to be very similar people. I have no idea about the validity of that statement, but if my bro says he read it in a scientific study, I believe him. I'm not questioning that, I'm just betting there's counter studies out there too, because this is weird stuff and WHY is it so popular to objectify twins? (< OT. sorry.)
The thing that ticked me off was not his opinion, or the study he mentioned. It didn't have anything to do with him, really. It's just the idea that biology dictates such a substantial portion of one's personality that it's possible to make generalizations about people based on their DNA. Obviously there's plenty of truth in that. Genes of pigmentation determine skin color. Genes cause a lot of stuff.
But environment also plays a significant role and sometimes it's really, REALLY hard to tell what is learned behavior and what is programmed by genes. And even then, just because something is written in your biology, it does NOT mean that that's it, there's nothing more to be done about it. Humans are intelligent and capable of communication, observation, capable of change. Just because a penis fits in a vagina does not mean that that's the only way we are able to have sex. Just because straight men are designed to scout out attractive - excuse me, fertile - women does NOT mean that they have no self control and are in complete submission to their genitals. And just because women have uteri does NOT mean her purpose in life, or even one of many purposes, is to have children. If she wants to, great! If not, great! This is because we can make decisions. We can think rationally and make judgments about our actions. Biological imperative exists, but it's not a freaking dictator over our lives.
Women are not biologically programmed to be less reasonable than men. I would assume the OP of my original rant thinks we are. But his argument seems to speak to more learned behavior, in this case, societal standards for thinness as beauty. In which case, it makes NO sense to assume all women are the same.
So in sum, what do we have here? Misogyny (all women desire to be thin, all women are crazy), ableism (all women are inferior because we apparently all have eating disorders and what's more, he's SHAMING the victim for having a documented disorder!), and even ethnocentrism! Why? Because he's projecting one culture's value (thinness) only all women. By his logic, women in countries where heavier bodies are considered the most attractive ought to be exempt from being "crazy," but he makes no note of him. You would think such a learned scientist like OP would at least mention the exception that proves the rule! And let's not forget how he conveniently makes no mention of men with eating disorders, who definitely exist and are underrepresented when people talk about dealing with eating disorders in general.
This is majorly messed up. OP, it's not us that's got bad logic, it's you. Woe for the time I wasted reading your posts.
Side-note: This OP was not on LJ. It was a completely different forum. I was feeling fed up with certain communites on LJ that I feel are overly negative, but after browsing that forum, I have to say I completely understand the negativity. Some people really don't have a clue.
Let's ignore the colorful variety of prejudices in this statement and just look at the science:
OP wants us to assume that all women are obsessed with being thin. By his logic, only skinny woman should be crazy. This seems to have escaped him since, again, he's lumping all women into one single-minded group, united in our shared goal of being so thin we're practically two-dimensional. We are the freaking Ood, my lady friends.
Looking at the flip side of OP's argument, he seems to want us to believe that men do not care if they're thin or not. Men ALL eat tons of carbs and therefore their brains work perfectly fine.
OK, dude. Let's say your logic is perfectly sound. After all, brains do need carbs. Food is pretty essential to survival.
My question for you is: Why are there crazy MEN?
Notice I'm not saying all men are stupid. That'd be an insult to the awesome guys I know. Neither do I deny that there are women who do stupid, hurtful things. I'm just saying - by your logic, all men should be so cool and sharp-minded that they are never in the wrong.
Which is probably exactly what OP things. No matter the scenario, the man is in the right. Clearly, because the woman is "crazy." In fact, I'm obviously crazy because I think it's even possible for men to do stupid things. My impaired logic due to my obsession with my carb intake has shrunk my brain to the size of a pea. Quick! Get some carbs in that girl!
Even if I give OP some credit and assume he does acknowledge that there are men who do ridiculous things, this does nothing to help his argument since he's making broad generalizations about entire an group.
It is amazing how many stereotypes of women and men are still so widely accepted, at the same time that the gender binary is being vehemently questioned and people are becoming more and more open about the non-standard ways they identify and calling people on their bigotry.
My brother is a smart guy and I often agree with him. We were having a discussion one time and he started talking about the influence biology has over a person, namely that twins raised in different environments often still grow up to be very similar people. I have no idea about the validity of that statement, but if my bro says he read it in a scientific study, I believe him. I'm not questioning that, I'm just betting there's counter studies out there too, because this is weird stuff and WHY is it so popular to objectify twins? (< OT. sorry.)
The thing that ticked me off was not his opinion, or the study he mentioned. It didn't have anything to do with him, really. It's just the idea that biology dictates such a substantial portion of one's personality that it's possible to make generalizations about people based on their DNA. Obviously there's plenty of truth in that. Genes of pigmentation determine skin color. Genes cause a lot of stuff.
But environment also plays a significant role and sometimes it's really, REALLY hard to tell what is learned behavior and what is programmed by genes. And even then, just because something is written in your biology, it does NOT mean that that's it, there's nothing more to be done about it. Humans are intelligent and capable of communication, observation, capable of change. Just because a penis fits in a vagina does not mean that that's the only way we are able to have sex. Just because straight men are designed to scout out attractive - excuse me, fertile - women does NOT mean that they have no self control and are in complete submission to their genitals. And just because women have uteri does NOT mean her purpose in life, or even one of many purposes, is to have children. If she wants to, great! If not, great! This is because we can make decisions. We can think rationally and make judgments about our actions. Biological imperative exists, but it's not a freaking dictator over our lives.
Women are not biologically programmed to be less reasonable than men. I would assume the OP of my original rant thinks we are. But his argument seems to speak to more learned behavior, in this case, societal standards for thinness as beauty. In which case, it makes NO sense to assume all women are the same.
So in sum, what do we have here? Misogyny (all women desire to be thin, all women are crazy), ableism (all women are inferior because we apparently all have eating disorders and what's more, he's SHAMING the victim for having a documented disorder!), and even ethnocentrism! Why? Because he's projecting one culture's value (thinness) only all women. By his logic, women in countries where heavier bodies are considered the most attractive ought to be exempt from being "crazy," but he makes no note of him. You would think such a learned scientist like OP would at least mention the exception that proves the rule! And let's not forget how he conveniently makes no mention of men with eating disorders, who definitely exist and are underrepresented when people talk about dealing with eating disorders in general.
This is majorly messed up. OP, it's not us that's got bad logic, it's you. Woe for the time I wasted reading your posts.
Side-note: This OP was not on LJ. It was a completely different forum. I was feeling fed up with certain communites on LJ that I feel are overly negative, but after browsing that forum, I have to say I completely understand the negativity. Some people really don't have a clue.