Little Professor (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} krustukles) wrote,@ 2005-01-18 09:36:00 |
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Great moments in feminism
Two little tidbits in this morning's media that made me want to haul out the Tribe 8 CDs to wash the noxious taste from my psyche:
In Scarlett magazine, which bills itself as "the business-lifestyle magazine that celebrates the achievements of women", an editorial that argues that women's activism against discrimination in golf clubs, such as not being permitted to enter a male-only bar or having different tee-off times is a waste of time, since "women are different from men, so perhaps the differentiation at snotty golf clubs is okay... c'mon ladies. Look to fight bigger battles. Let the men have their damned Bull Pen." I don't disagree with the sentiment that trying to hang out with a bunch of overstuffed moneyed assholes is not necessarily the best use of our time, but the article goes on to argue that because North American women are not being raped and killed, as they are in Afghanistan, or denied property rights, as they are in Swaziland, Ghana, or Zambia, it "just doesn't matter" that "members of the tony damsel set [can't] wet their collective whistles after a day on the links." "Women's libbers may get their knickers in a knot" about these oh-so-inconsequential battles, but Scarlett ladies are above such things! Luckily the women's libbers fought for Scarlett readers to get into university and have professional careers so that the readers can then pretend that everything is super swell and we should all just be happy that nobody is decapitating us - or wait, wasn't that the defence in the Abu Ghraib trial?
Substitute "blacks" for "women" and "whites" for "men" in the above story, and let the fun begin!
Story number two, and I do mean number two, because it involves a fair bit of execrable material, features none other than the president of Harvard. Long known as a bastion of social justice, diversity, and equality [*cough*], this esteemed institution now features the usual astute musings of economist and president Lawrence Summers on the subject of gender equity. Summers, who "has a reputation for outspokenness" in the language of the media (translation: asshole), told a conference on the position of women and minorities in science and engineering that "boys outperform girls on high school science and math scores because of genetic difference." This would be a sad enough explanation if it were actually true, but in fact, it's not - in most cases the achievements are equivalent, and in some countries and on some tasks, girls actually do better (a factor that is causing alarm in some circles who are now arguing that boys are getting shortchanged). The research continues to demonstrate that despite physiological differentiation, other factors are much more important. After all, other countries spank the hell out of North America - I suppose this also means that there is some special Asian or European gene responsible?
Girls and young women in North America seem to do pretty darn well until they encounter the bullshit that is the culture of old-boy scientific and technical education. Then, amazingly, the genetic difference seems to kick in, somewhere between first year of undergrad and getting tenure and senior management positions. It must be a sort of delayed thing. As evidence, Summers cited his young daughter who played with trucks and named them mummy and daddy trucks. I had trucks too and I lost them in the sandbox, which clearly demonstrates my XX-dependent lack of spatial skills.
Anyway, "some people took offense [at these comments] because they were very sensitive," commented another economist, also obviously a specialist in occupational cultures and gender equity, who felt that "some women overreacted" by walking out. Among the pissy and probably PMSing chicks who complained were stuck-up hysterical bitches such as the president of UC Santa Cruz and science professors from various universities. During the presidency of the SNAGy Dr. Summers, "the number of tenured jobs offered to women has fallen to 13% from 36%. Last year, 4 of 32 tenured jobs were offered to women." Put that in your genetics and smoke it, sweeties. Source: today's Globe and Mail.
Two little tidbits in this morning's media that made me want to haul out the Tribe 8 CDs to wash the noxious taste from my psyche:
In Scarlett magazine, which bills itself as "the business-lifestyle magazine that celebrates the achievements of women", an editorial that argues that women's activism against discrimination in golf clubs, such as not being permitted to enter a male-only bar or having different tee-off times is a waste of time, since "women are different from men, so perhaps the differentiation at snotty golf clubs is okay... c'mon ladies. Look to fight bigger battles. Let the men have their damned Bull Pen." I don't disagree with the sentiment that trying to hang out with a bunch of overstuffed moneyed assholes is not necessarily the best use of our time, but the article goes on to argue that because North American women are not being raped and killed, as they are in Afghanistan, or denied property rights, as they are in Swaziland, Ghana, or Zambia, it "just doesn't matter" that "members of the tony damsel set [can't] wet their collective whistles after a day on the links." "Women's libbers may get their knickers in a knot" about these oh-so-inconsequential battles, but Scarlett ladies are above such things! Luckily the women's libbers fought for Scarlett readers to get into university and have professional careers so that the readers can then pretend that everything is super swell and we should all just be happy that nobody is decapitating us - or wait, wasn't that the defence in the Abu Ghraib trial?
Substitute "blacks" for "women" and "whites" for "men" in the above story, and let the fun begin!
Story number two, and I do mean number two, because it involves a fair bit of execrable material, features none other than the president of Harvard. Long known as a bastion of social justice, diversity, and equality [*cough*], this esteemed institution now features the usual astute musings of economist and president Lawrence Summers on the subject of gender equity. Summers, who "has a reputation for outspokenness" in the language of the media (translation: asshole), told a conference on the position of women and minorities in science and engineering that "boys outperform girls on high school science and math scores because of genetic difference." This would be a sad enough explanation if it were actually true, but in fact, it's not - in most cases the achievements are equivalent, and in some countries and on some tasks, girls actually do better (a factor that is causing alarm in some circles who are now arguing that boys are getting shortchanged). The research continues to demonstrate that despite physiological differentiation, other factors are much more important. After all, other countries spank the hell out of North America - I suppose this also means that there is some special Asian or European gene responsible?
Girls and young women in North America seem to do pretty darn well until they encounter the bullshit that is the culture of old-boy scientific and technical education. Then, amazingly, the genetic difference seems to kick in, somewhere between first year of undergrad and getting tenure and senior management positions. It must be a sort of delayed thing. As evidence, Summers cited his young daughter who played with trucks and named them mummy and daddy trucks. I had trucks too and I lost them in the sandbox, which clearly demonstrates my XX-dependent lack of spatial skills.
Anyway, "some people took offense [at these comments] because they were very sensitive," commented another economist, also obviously a specialist in occupational cultures and gender equity, who felt that "some women overreacted" by walking out. Among the pissy and probably PMSing chicks who complained were stuck-up hysterical bitches such as the president of UC Santa Cruz and science professors from various universities. During the presidency of the SNAGy Dr. Summers, "the number of tenured jobs offered to women has fallen to 13% from 36%. Last year, 4 of 32 tenured jobs were offered to women." Put that in your genetics and smoke it, sweeties. Source: today's Globe and Mail.
