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Author Topic: Has babble become more male-dominated?
rasmus
malcontent
Babbler # 621

posted 19 June 2006 12:25 AM      Profile for rasmus   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Just asking. It looks that way to me lately.
From: Fortune favours the bold | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
Michelle
Moderator
Babbler # 560

posted 19 June 2006 03:55 AM      Profile for Michelle   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Possibly. Although I think we lost just as many prolific men as women in April. And a few women who are either new or were lurkers before have stepped forward and are posting now.

I don't know. I think babble has always had more men than women and that certain parts of babble have always been male-dominated. The Middle East forum and threads about Afghanistan and Iraq come to mind. The presence of a few very vocal women (myself included) has perhaps balanced that out in the past, and now that we've lost a couple of the most prolific women, the gender gap might be a lot more visible now. Most of the new women we have don't post as much as some of the women we've lost - but then again, there are a few very prolific guys who are gone too. And I've noticed that there are a few women who have started posting much more than they used to before.

So, I don't know. I think it depends on the forum and the thread. I would be interested in hearing some other responses, though. It may be a lot more male-dominated now, and I just might not be noticing it, since I'm a pretty prolific poster and I'm also in charge, so I'm probably looking at it from a completely different perspective.


From: I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell. | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
Naci_Sey
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Babbler # 12445

posted 19 June 2006 10:37 AM      Profile for Naci_Sey   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Q: Has babble become more male-dominated?
A: I think so.

The same question has occurred to me over the past while. Fewer women seem to be participating in the politics threads and the Middle East threads appear heavily dominated by men. I don't know enough about babble history to say whether the latter is a new phenomenon or was always the case.

That the threads on wars and politics outnumber other threads may be one reason why. Didn't there use to be more going on in babble banter, culture, books, etc., - more fun, community stuff?


From: BC | Registered: Apr 2006  |  IP: Logged
writer
editor emeritus
Babbler # 2513

posted 19 June 2006 11:04 AM      Profile for writer     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
It has always been male dominated. Perhaps it is more obvious now, but the shift is somewhat minor. We have lost a few prolific female posters, and that's hurting us.

There seems to be a chronic lack of consciousness amongst some posters, who seem very comfortable using sexist language that excludes and diminishes women. Not progressive. Not egalitarian. Not what babble was meant to be.


From: tentative | Registered: Apr 2002  |  IP: Logged
RP.
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 7424

posted 19 June 2006 11:49 AM      Profile for RP.     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
Originally posted by writer:
There seems to be a chronic lack of consciousness amongst some posters, who seem very comfortable using sexist language that excludes and diminishes women. Not progressive. Not egalitarian. Not what babble was meant to be.

Was babble like that in early days? In a way, babble is starting over, and may need to re-evolve to that level (not that I'm making excuses for the above-mentioned behaviour).


From: I seem to be having tremendous difficulty with my lifestyle | Registered: Nov 2004  |  IP: Logged
clersal
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 370

posted 19 June 2006 11:58 AM      Profile for clersal     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I am not a prolific poster but the nice thing now about Babble as it seems so much calmer and there is less sniping. I like that.
From: Canton Marchand, Québec | Registered: Apr 2001  |  IP: Logged
writer
editor emeritus
Babbler # 2513

posted 19 June 2006 12:02 PM      Profile for writer     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
RP., it's been here all along, with some ebb and flow. I haven't seen the development of a widespread culture of calling it what it is, and not giving it room to grow, as we have - with varying degrees of success - with other issues.

Edited to add: clersal, I'm with you there!

[ 19 June 2006: Message edited by: writer ]


From: tentative | Registered: Apr 2002  |  IP: Logged
RP.
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Babbler # 7424

posted 19 June 2006 12:03 PM      Profile for RP.     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
clersal, I know you don't mean to impugn the posters who have left, and I don't either, but I have noticed that as well (and just never really felt right saying it).
From: I seem to be having tremendous difficulty with my lifestyle | Registered: Nov 2004  |  IP: Logged
clersal
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 370

posted 19 June 2006 12:08 PM      Profile for clersal     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I'm old, but nice, I'm nice really I am....or quite nice and old, really old so I can say anything!
Sneaky eh?

From: Canton Marchand, Québec | Registered: Apr 2001  |  IP: Logged
jas
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 9529

posted 19 June 2006 04:24 PM      Profile for jas     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I was thinking just the other day of starting a thread called "Sexist Thread Titles". Then I went looking for examples but only found two currently available.

About a month ago there were two or three threads about Harper's response to the softwood lumber dispute using, as Scott Piatkowski put it, "anal rape" metaphors. The only one I could still google was this one: Harper Bends Over for Softwood

But yesterday there was this one too:

Will Jack Layton, Bob Rae and other "lefties" ever grow balls over the Afghan War?

Not a violent or homophobic metaphor, but exclusionary nonetheless.

It's good anyway that I could only find two. Hopefully folks will be a little more conscientious in the future?


From: the world we want | Registered: Jun 2005  |  IP: Logged
Michelle
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posted 19 June 2006 04:57 PM      Profile for Michelle   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
How do you figure that "Harper bends over for softwood" is referring to anal rape? Anal sex, yes, but rape? I don't think so. Unless you think the person was trying to say that Harper was unwilling but was forced, when in fact the criticism with Harper is that he's all too willing to suck up to the Bushites.

In any case, I've used sexual metaphors in the past myself (generally oral sex ones, although the generic "so-and-so is in bed with so-and-so" as well). I don't really have a problem with them, but I can see where people might not like seeing anal sex referred to in a negative way.


From: I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell. | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
M. Spector
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posted 19 June 2006 05:00 PM      Profile for M. Spector   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
People can actually bend over for things other than anal rape.

Like getting their ass kicked.


From: One millihelen: The amount of beauty required to launch one ship. | Registered: Feb 2005  |  IP: Logged
Michelle
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posted 19 June 2006 05:09 PM      Profile for Michelle   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Or perhaps to kiss the feet of the person in front of them.
From: I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell. | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
clersal
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 370

posted 19 June 2006 05:42 PM      Profile for clersal     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Or bow. Sort of a half bend.
From: Canton Marchand, Québec | Registered: Apr 2001  |  IP: Logged
rici
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posted 19 June 2006 05:45 PM      Profile for rici     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Or to pick up a few crumbs dropped by their masters.
From: Lima, Perú | Registered: Jun 2002  |  IP: Logged
siren
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Babbler # 7470

posted 19 June 2006 07:06 PM      Profile for siren     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Or to tie up their shoe laces.

Although that's unlikely now with it being sandal weather.


From: Of course we could have world peace! But where would be the profit in that? | Registered: Nov 2004  |  IP: Logged
Webgear
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posted 19 June 2006 07:20 PM      Profile for Webgear     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Personally, I have not really thought as anyone as female or male on rabble. To me many of the names people use could be either used by a male or female. I really do not think a person’s sex is significant when discussing topics.
From: Montgomery's Tavern | Registered: May 2005  |  IP: Logged
rasmus
malcontent
Babbler # 621

posted 19 June 2006 07:40 PM      Profile for rasmus   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
If a person's sex were not significant, then you would expect a random sex distribution among participants on an average thread. In other words, about 50/50. Since this is manifestly not the case, it is fairly self-evident that a person's sex or gender is significant in this context. The question then is what you make of that, and what you do about it.
From: Fortune favours the bold | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
jas
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Babbler # 9529

posted 19 June 2006 09:02 PM      Profile for jas     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
Originally posted by Michelle:
How do you figure that "Harper bends over for softwood" is referring to anal rape? Anal sex, yes, but rape? I don't think so. Unless you think the person was trying to say that Harper was unwilling but was forced, when in fact the criticism with Harper is that he's all too willing to suck up to the Bushites.

...but I can see where people might not like seeing anal sex referred to in a negative way.


Well, the analogy was someone else's, but I think his interpretation is not exactly uncommon. Maybe 'rape' was a harsh reference, but I would guess most people here understand that to "bend over" for something suggests sexual submission - not in itself bad, except for its intended connotations of weakness, "pussy"ness, subordination. Who bends over to "take it"? Women, fags and people who are forced to (and anyone who likes it too, I guess). But generally you don't hear women (gay or straight) or fags using this term to insult someone or something, unless they've internalized a culture of sexual violation. It's usually straight men using the term negatively. So I do suggest that the term, the way it was used in this case, is either sexist or homophobic or both.


From: the world we want | Registered: Jun 2005  |  IP: Logged
Left Turn
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posted 20 June 2006 12:09 AM      Profile for Left Turn     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
A lot of the promient female babblers left for good after Audra got fired. Many wound up at enMasse. A number of those women have since left enMasse as well, due to alegations of sexism on that site. It's sad, really, that we're losing womens voices on these sites; but progressive women will only post in places where they feel safe. It's truly a tragedy that so many of them don't feel that these sites are safe environments.
From: Burnaby, BC | Registered: Mar 2005  |  IP: Logged
Stargazer
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posted 20 June 2006 03:58 AM      Profile for Stargazer     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
It's truly a tragedy that so many of them don't feel that these sites are safe environments

It is a tragedy. But has anyone asked why and has anyone done anything about it? Yes, allegations of sexism. But are these addressed and then dismissed? If so then that would explain why they don't post anymore.


From: Inside every cynical person, there is a disappointed idealist. | Registered: Jun 2004  |  IP: Logged
Frustrated Mess
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posted 20 June 2006 06:10 AM      Profile for Frustrated Mess   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
They obviously thought babble was safe as they contributed for years. They didn't leave babble because they didn't feel safe.
From: doom without the gloom | Registered: Feb 2005  |  IP: Logged
Stargazer
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 6061

posted 20 June 2006 07:26 AM      Profile for Stargazer     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I don't think this was about babble...
From: Inside every cynical person, there is a disappointed idealist. | Registered: Jun 2004  |  IP: Logged
Frustrated Mess
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 8312

posted 20 June 2006 08:53 AM      Profile for Frustrated Mess   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
The title of the topic specifically mentions babble.
From: doom without the gloom | Registered: Feb 2005  |  IP: Logged
maidenhead
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Babbler # 12721

posted 21 June 2006 08:26 AM      Profile for maidenhead        Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
"but progressive women will only post in places where they feel safe."

I only post where there are interesting discussions taking place.

And I'm okay with not everyone agreeing with me. In fact, being on forums where only one line of thinking is allowed, and everyone is spending most of the time patting each other on the back because of their oh-so-enlightened-state are rather boring.

We all have things to learn. And forums should be places to stimulate thought and discussion, and learn some things from those with whom we're exchanging those thoughts. And hopefully some of those ideas are those upon which we can actually act out there in the real world where the change is needed.

The fact is that their are sexists, ageists, bigots, racists, homophobics, and a lot of other negatives ists and ics out there, and on-line forums provides you with the 'safety' you need regardless of the content of some of the less enlightened users.

Everyone's only weapon in on-line forums: words. That seems fair enough to me. And when words are used improperly, don't let them make you feel unsafe - take charge and point it out!

[ 21 June 2006: Message edited by: maidenhead ]


From: Toronto | Registered: Jun 2006  |  IP: Logged
writer
editor emeritus
Babbler # 2513

posted 21 June 2006 02:24 PM      Profile for writer     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
For those who care:

Exhibit 3571(f) of everyday sexism on a board that should know better.

WE COUNT. WE ARE HALF THE POPULATION.


From: tentative | Registered: Apr 2002  |  IP: Logged
M. Spector
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 8273

posted 21 June 2006 02:48 PM      Profile for M. Spector   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
It should not be surprising that there exists persistent, everyday, casual sexist language on babble.

On babble we regularly encounter casual instances of racism, red-baiting, homophobia, war-mongering, labour-bashing, immigrant-bashing, and repetition of right-wing libels against progressive and anti-imperialist movements.

It would be remarkable if sexism weren't also commonplace.


From: One millihelen: The amount of beauty required to launch one ship. | Registered: Feb 2005  |  IP: Logged
writer
editor emeritus
Babbler # 2513

posted 21 June 2006 02:59 PM      Profile for writer     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Each and every time, these things should be called what they are, not accepted, on a progressive board.

Women live with day-to-day sexism in an oppressive, conformist culture. Left women want to change that by liberating everyone. Babble was created as part of that project. Don't expect us to lie still and think of the queen for the sake of the revolution.

(Not that I think you are, M.)

[ 21 June 2006: Message edited by: writer ]


From: tentative | Registered: Apr 2002  |  IP: Logged
M. Spector
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 8273

posted 21 June 2006 03:03 PM      Profile for M. Spector   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
...that I am what? Lying down for the revolution?
From: One millihelen: The amount of beauty required to launch one ship. | Registered: Feb 2005  |  IP: Logged
writer
editor emeritus
Babbler # 2513

posted 21 June 2006 03:04 PM      Profile for writer     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Not sure what you're asking. (And I've done an edit in the meantime.)

Edited to add: Oh! Not that I think you are expecting women to take sexism on this board (for example).

[ 21 June 2006: Message edited by: writer ]


From: tentative | Registered: Apr 2002  |  IP: Logged
M. Spector
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 8273

posted 21 June 2006 03:30 PM      Profile for M. Spector   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I was replying to your pre-edited post, which ended up something like this, as I recall:
quote:
I have no intention of lying down for the revolution.

(Not that I think you are, M.)


Anyhoo, you're correct that I don't expect anybody to accept sexism without complaining.

Just as I complain about all those other things I mentioned - sometimes with little if any overt support from other babblers.


From: One millihelen: The amount of beauty required to launch one ship. | Registered: Feb 2005  |  IP: Logged
writer
editor emeritus
Babbler # 2513

posted 21 June 2006 03:37 PM      Profile for writer     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I complain about those things too, M., and so do others.

[ 21 June 2006: Message edited by: writer ]


From: tentative | Registered: Apr 2002  |  IP: Logged
M. Spector
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 8273

posted 21 June 2006 03:49 PM      Profile for M. Spector   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Yes, and I appreciate that.

Now I'll butt out of the feminism forum for the time being.


From: One millihelen: The amount of beauty required to launch one ship. | Registered: Feb 2005  |  IP: Logged
Sven
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Babbler # 9972

posted 21 June 2006 10:03 PM      Profile for Sven     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
Originally posted by writer:
There seems to be a chronic lack of consciousness amongst some posters, who seem very comfortable using sexist language that excludes and diminishes women.

Without naming names, can you give us some recent examples of that (and not by our garden variety trolls, please)? Thanks.


From: Eleutherophobics of the World...Unite!!!!! | Registered: Jul 2005  |  IP: Logged
Sven
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Babbler # 9972

posted 21 June 2006 10:07 PM      Profile for Sven     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
Originally posted by clersal:
I am not a prolific poster but the nice thing now about Babble as it seems so much calmer and there is less sniping. I like that.

Oh, wow!! I'll say. I don't feel nearly as tense reading babble threads (hadn't really thought of that til I read your post). There are still a lot of very, very good debates and discussions on babble but I think there is (nearly) an absence nasty personal attacks.

I think that makes babble a more welcoming place to be.

Just my $0.02.


From: Eleutherophobics of the World...Unite!!!!! | Registered: Jul 2005  |  IP: Logged
Sven
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posted 21 June 2006 10:09 PM      Profile for Sven     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
Originally posted by M. Spector:
People can actually bend over for things other than anal rape.

Like getting their ass kicked.



From: Eleutherophobics of the World...Unite!!!!! | Registered: Jul 2005  |  IP: Logged
writer
editor emeritus
Babbler # 2513

posted 22 June 2006 07:37 AM      Profile for writer     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Sven, see Exhibit 3571(f), linked to above, for a yesterday's sample. Others have also already been linked to in this thread.

[ 22 June 2006: Message edited by: writer ]


From: tentative | Registered: Apr 2002  |  IP: Logged
Farces
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posted 22 June 2006 07:44 AM      Profile for Farces   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I think "dominated" is the wrong word to be using here. It is loaded with all kinds of unsavory connotations that may or may not apply. It is possible to have more of one gender in a place without any sort of domination going on.

Maybe there is a higher proportion of male posters here lately. that seems like a less leading way to raise the issue.

Making females feel welcome in a forum does not need to entail making males feel less welcome. At least I don't think it should.

[ 22 June 2006: Message edited by: Farces ]

[ 22 June 2006: Message edited by: Farces ]


From: 43°41' N79°38' W | Registered: May 2006  |  IP: Logged
Michelle
Moderator
Babbler # 560

posted 22 June 2006 07:57 AM      Profile for Michelle   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I don't think the people talking about male domination on babble are merely talking about ratios of men to women. I think they're talking about behaviour as well, as noted above, when excluding language is used, and when concerns about such are shrugged off.

And there could be a cause-and-effect happening as well - perhaps the ratio is uneven BECAUSE of that sort of behaviour. It's a question worth asking.

Also, no one is suggesting that males be made to feel unwelcome here. It's not a zero-sum game.

[ 22 June 2006: Message edited by: Michelle ]


From: I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell. | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
Farces
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posted 22 June 2006 07:58 AM      Profile for Farces   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
It is worth asking both questions, but it is important not to conflate the two and I think the wording of the original question does that.
From: 43°41' N79°38' W | Registered: May 2006  |  IP: Logged
oldgoat
Moderator
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posted 22 June 2006 08:18 AM      Profile for oldgoat     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I agree. I think it's more behaviour than numbers. I like the phrase writer used somewhere "lazy sexism". I guess I occasionally use phrases like that myself without thinking about it. I guess where it can become more of a problem is if people who use such language get defensive about it when it's pointed out.
From: The 10th circle | Registered: Jul 2001  |  IP: Logged
Farces
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posted 24 June 2006 02:25 AM      Profile for Farces   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
No, it is males who have their ideas shunted down to the forums at the bottom of the board, denominated as "right brain" and otherwise marginalized in ways both subtle and unsubtle.

This is not male domination of female. Rather, this is female domination of male. Maybe some males prefer that. This one doesn't.

ON EDIT:

Females can argue and learn every bit as well as males. I know this for at least the reason that I graduated from a law school where my peers were more frequently female than male. There is still such a things as male on female sexism and that can and should be dealt with decisively. Short of that, however, there is no need to ghettoize the male commentors as sometimes occurs. It is a lazy substitute for real discussion and a very imperfect sort of tolerance for the "other."

ANECDOTE:

I don't deal with female lawyers very much professionally because my area of specialty is electrical and mechanical patents. There are simply not a lot of female electrical engineers and mechanical engineers. Because of the gender disparity, there are not a lot of females who have my particular job or who work with me in a capacity as client or inventor. Now going back a dozen or so years to my third year of law school, it came time to do my writing requirement. My writing requirement advisor, whom I chose, was female and had a reputation as a feminist professor (her primary area of consulting was mediation of school racial integration disputes, but she had some gender related scholarship, too). Early on in the writing requirement project, I suggested that my writing requirement paper investigate whether legal rules of some sort, unique to the engineering disciplines, might be partially responsible for the glaring gender disparity in the electrical and mechanical engineers. My advisor said that this would not be appropriate because I was male. I ended up doing my writing requirement on an uncontroversial topic so as not to ruffle any feathers and graduate on time. This negative experience is now ancient history, but it has really come back to me the past couple of days.

[ 24 June 2006: Message edited by: Farces ]

[ 24 June 2006: Message edited by: Farces ]

[ 24 June 2006: Message edited by: Farces ]

[ 24 June 2006: Message edited by: Farces ]


From: 43°41' N79°38' W | Registered: May 2006  |  IP: Logged
Farces
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posted 24 June 2006 04:25 AM      Profile for Farces   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
accidental post -- see previous post.

[ 24 June 2006: Message edited by: Farces ]


From: 43°41' N79°38' W | Registered: May 2006  |  IP: Logged
Stunned Wind
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posted 08 July 2006 07:33 PM      Profile for Stunned Wind     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
Originally posted by Farces:
. . . Early on in the writing requirement project, I suggested that my writing requirement paper investigate whether legal rules of some sort, unique to the engineering disciplines, might be partially responsible for the glaring gender disparity in the electrical and mechanical engineers. My advisor said that this would not be appropriate because I was male.

It does seem strange to me that feminism is sometimes thought to be something only women should do. Why shouldn't you have done that work?

On the other hand, people often assume that as a woman I pay particular attention to women's issues. Actually, I like to pay attention to issues and subjects that interest me. True, a lot of my interests are 'male-dominated' and sometimes feminism simply means to me that its okay for me to be interested in those things. Why shouldn't men have the same freedom to be interested in 'female-dominated' topics?


From: Well! Now I'm in Victoria-Swan Lake! | Registered: Nov 2004  |  IP: Logged
Fidel
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posted 08 July 2006 08:00 PM      Profile for Fidel     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I think male domination of engineering and sciences is true of N. America. In countries that produce more engineers than we do(N.America) every year, like China, India and Russia I think there are more women in engineering programs. Bob Rae said China is building twelve new M.I.T-style engineering universities. Foreign-born and educated scientists and engineers have made significant contributions to technological developments in North America in the recent past. I think the reason we are not producing as many engineers and doctors as we need to in North America is down to political ideology and the fact that we are commodifying post-secondary education in Canada and the U.S.
From: Viva La Revolución | Registered: Apr 2004  |  IP: Logged
jas
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posted 23 October 2006 09:59 PM      Profile for jas     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Re: discussion above about anal sex metaphors used to connote being "screwed", "fucked over" and other negative things:

Another example found here:

quote:
If this Arar case does not awaken Canadians to the extent to which police powers in this country are fast approaching fascist propensities then the country better stock up on knee pads and ky jelly because we are all going to be severely screwed when the light actually does go on.

Evidence that this is sexist or homophobic language? If getting fucked up the ass is such an abhorrent experience why does so much straight male porn fixate on anal penetration of the female object?


From: the world we want | Registered: Jun 2005  |  IP: Logged

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