You'll remember a few months ago, a similar dust-up over why, why, why there are just no women writing decent SF...and of course there's RaceFail09, why, why, why aren't brown people writing SF...
And previously we have addressed the question of why, why, why aren't women writing manga, or comix, or going into the classics, or become engineers, and over and over people will claim, well, see, women just don't want to become engineers, brown people just don't want to write SF, no, no, they would much rather be nurses or housewives or clean bus stations, that's just how those people are.
Every time, guys (it's always guys, is it) appear to claim (1) if we changed things, it wouldn't be fair to the guys (2) I know a woman, and she says there's no problem -- in fact I'm married to her/related to her/fucking her, so why would I lie? (3) true there's lots of guys but probably that's b/c women don't want to be in this field anyway (dude, did you read the post?) and (4) where's your evidence that this is sexism? If women would just submit in larger numbers/try harder/stop whining....
Then, of course, some woman shows up and agrees with them. I don't want any help! I don't want guy pity! I want to pull myself up by my own bootstraps, by golly! I want the guys to love me! Because the system is too fair!
Why are women/people of color sick of this song? Why are we reluctant to play with on this field anymore? Why do you think?
The problem, of course, is they own the field.
2 comments:
I agree. I majored in philosophy but never considered it as a career. Such a boys club. Although, I also think that the professors weren't very good role models for the life I wanted to live since they were all self-indulgent kooks. If any of my teachers had been female kooks, they wouldn't have changed my mind.
Have you ever read the blog "stuff white people do"? The last post was very on point: http://stuffwhitepeopledo.blogspot.com/2009/10/listen-poorly-during-discussions-of.html
I didn't do it because I didn't know I could, and I grew up poor. I had low paying jobs most of my adult life to date, and have just been laid off of the first job that paid me a middle-class wage. I'm proof that a high IQ isn't enough in itself.
I was the first to go to college, but still didn't get that I would have to earn a living my whole life, or that it could be a good living if I made the right choices. I had no professional role models, and nobody to show me what was possible. And I had no idea that I was capable of original thought, and what that meant, until it was way too late to go back and get the necessary educational underpinnings. I doubt that philosophy journals want to hear from me now, with my 30-year-old English degree.
I'm making great progress on a novel though. I may never get over thinking I'm not worthy, but as I get older I am more determined to exercise some self-expression.
I really, really hope that women are being raised and encouraged better these days. We know the kid is, delagar! It's great to see.
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