Aug 29
Gretel, by Chris Wind (from Snow White Gets Her Say) www.chriswind.net
We read fables in school to teach us a lesson. And we read fairy tales at bedtime to put us asleep. And indeed they do: especially those of us, a full half of the human species, who are lulled lower and lower into a …
Aug 22
Lying is illegal when economic interests are at stake: libel, slander, fraud, misrepresentation, false advertising.* Why isn’t it illegal otherwise? Why is loss of income more subject to compensation than, say, loss of self-esteem (which may, of course, result in loss of income)?
And words are illegal when physical violence is involved: uttering threats, ‘fighting …
Aug 22
Read this (takes a couple minutes) and your perceptions will be forever changed:
http://www.ncdsv.org/images/GrammarofMaleViolence_9-10-2004.pdf
Aug 15
Given that the people who use washers, dryers, ovens, dishwashers, and the like are usually female, I find it puzzling that the people who sell these items are usually male. Especially because it’s inconsistent with the rest of the sales world, in which men tend to sell things men use, such as hardware and men’s …
Aug 12
I highly recommend Gwynne Dyer’s Climate Wars, but I must say he misses an obvious point, especially evident when he says “There are almost seven billion of us, and it is almost impossible to imagine a way that we can stop the growth before there are eight and a half billion” (p.268) — because it’s …
Aug 08
Because chest-waders are made for men, I have to buy a size medium so the thighs fit. Which means the shoulder straps, even at their smallest, keep slipping off. And, okay, after suffering the frustration of that a couple times – either struggling against them as they restrict my movement hanging halfway down my arms …
Aug 08
If I had a dollar for every time someone (i.e., a man) told me to smile, I’d be rich. (And if I had five dollars for every time that same someone did not tell a man to smile, I’d be really rich.)
Why is it that women are told, are expected, to smile a lot? …
Aug 01
I suspect that even with today’s rigorous interview and job performance appraisal techniques, which require that all applicants be asked and scored on the same questions, multiple standards still interfere with merit as the sole criterion for hiring and promotion.
How? Well suppose the interviewers are asked to rate the candidates on ‘friendliness’. On an …
Jul 18
One good thing about television stations’ mega-coverage of the Olympics is that women’s events are shown a lot. Often within close temporal proximity to men’s events. Comparison is inevitable. And interesting.
Consider volleyball. Now the women, when they dive for the ball, they do this really neat shoulder roll: it’s smooth, efficient, and really cool …
