1. I wonder why the English word for the country is "Netherlands", when I as a native speaker find it much harder to say that than "Nederland", which is their own word for it
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Regarding (1) - because the English name uses the English word 'nether'. Oh, and I always feel 'Nederlands' slightly more awkward than 'The Netherlands'.
For (2) - slap them, and let them work out whether your response was as a female or as a geek.
1) Then I wonder why I have such a hard time saying "Netherlands" when I don't have too much trouble with "nether".
2) That is unfortunately not always wise in the circumstances, tempting though it may be. Also, onlookers would probably decide it was a girls' catfight, which would exacerbate the problem. (Also, I don't think geeks are well known for slapping people.)
Surely, as an independent woman, your identity is something you get to define? - after all, someone who insists that you follow their concept of who you are is attempting to control you, whether they be male or female.
I think the right solution is to tell people that they get to decide how they act, but how you act is your own business and you don't agree with their notions.
Unless, um, it's someone like your thesis advisor who you can't afford to offend. That's harder.
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For (2) - slap them, and let them work out whether your response was as a female or as a geek.
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2) That is unfortunately not always wise in the circumstances, tempting though it may be. Also, onlookers would probably decide it was a girls' catfight, which would exacerbate the problem. (Also, I don't think geeks are well known for slapping people.)
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Unless, um, it's someone like your thesis advisor who you can't afford to offend. That's harder.
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Yeah, so that's the thing. I should have said so in the first place.
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