Return to Gender 101

[Janet]

(Are you now becoming desensitized to the specifically sexual meaning of “hand job”? Remember that heart surgeons are giving you a “hand job” when they operate on you; similarly for masseurs and even tax accountants.)

Maybe I should be cross-posting this in the Hannibal thread, but this brings up a whole lot of images from last night's episode that the author definitely didn't intend. It also made me snort with inappropriate laughter, because I'm sick that way.

[Watser?]

More than a dozen male employees working for the Roslagsbanan train services in the Swedish capital have been wearing skirts in order to keep cool.

One of the drivers, Martin Åkersten, explained that temperatures can hit 95F (35C) in the train cab during the summer.

Uniform regulations by the train company Arriva state that skirts or long trousers are acceptable. At a meeting last year, drivers were told that shorts were not allowed.

Stockholm's male train drivers wearing skirts to work - Telegraph

And banning male drivers from banning skirts while allowing women to wear them would be discrimination. Pretty cool way to hit back at the idiots in the boardroom who came up with this lunacy.

[lisarea]

There was a coffee shop in Denver where they did the same thing.

The problem was that all the men in skirts looked great. They all did a really good job of choosing and coordinating their outfits. Like the hippy dudes wore broomstick skirts and sandals, the punky boys wore miniskirts with big belts and combat boots, things like that. And a lot of people, or at least--you know--I, went every day to ogle the cute boys in their pretty skirts.

It made it a little tough to celebrate when the shop decided to change their dress code to allow shorts. I mean, technically and if you want to be a big cop about it, yeah, it was the right decision. BUT THEY WERE SO CUTE!

[LadyShea]

Couple of people did that in my high school in CO until they allowed shorts in the dress code.

[BrotherMan]

What a shame. I never expected such objectivity from you people.

[Ymir's blood]

I remember reading about a UPS driver who did that years ago.

[lisarea]

Originally Posted by BrotherMan

What a shame. I never expected such objectivity from you people.

You heard it here! When I objectify men, I am just being objective. Also logical and rational.

They're asking for it anyway. If they didn't want me to look at their butts, they wouldn't be busing tables in those short skirts, and why else would they have worn coordinated outfits that were flattering on them if they didn't want me making that old timey carhorn sound at them? It's a compliment!

[Qingdai]

Aoooogah! My brother-in -law wears a kilt ever since his work demanded businesd dress.

[The Man]

Silicon Valley's Awful Race and Gender Problem in 3 Mind-Blowing Charts | Mother Jones

gorgonbunny: How to Draw Comic Book Women the Rob Liefeld Way

ETA:

How can the FBI give more jailtime to a whistleblower than the rapists he helped catch?

I don't want to live on this planet anymore.

[chunksmediocrites]

Originally Posted by Qingdai

Aoooogah! My brother-in -law wears a kilt ever since his work demanded businesd dress.

Yeah, he's an air-traffic controller working in a windowless bunker behind a couple security checkpoints, and the powers-that-be were all like: business dress now. So my brother started wearing full kilt regalia. He explained to them that it is the formal wear of his people, being of Scots-Irish ancestry.

[Janet]

What I like best about Knifetits is that she is apparently carrying two swords tucked in her hair. Extreme!

[Anastasia Beaverhausen]

http://geekygothgirl.tumblr.com/post...mic-con-panels

She's a friend of mine, and she's written a bunch more posts on the topic since this one.

[The Lone Ranger]

A little off-topic, but from that site:

Interviewer: "This is a site for kids. I was wondering if each of you could tell me what you liked best about your character? What makes your guy special to you?"

Chris Evans: "I'll say his heart, you know, his selflessness. He [Captain America] wasn't born a superhero, this didn't happen to him by accident. He was chosen and it was for those reasons -- values and morals. He puts other people, other causes ahead of himself. And it's something to aspire to."

"Geeky Goth Girl's" comment is spot-on, in my opinion:

Again, people who say Cap is “boring” or “vanilla” (like Superman) remind me of this quote by Ursula K. LeGuin, from “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas”:
“The trouble is that we have a bad habit, encouraged by pendants and sophisticates, of considering happiness as something rather stupid. Only pain is intellectual, only evil interesting. This is the treason of the artist: a refusal to admit the banality of evil and the terrible boredom of pain.”
Goodness, kindness, and nobility can be interesting too. Never forget that.

I've never really understood the "Decent people are boring" philosophy of story-telling. Personally, I think that characters like Captain America (or, *ahem* The Lone Ranger) -- far from being "boring" or "vanilla" -- are so interesting and inspiring because they choose to be good, decent, kind, trustworthy, and admirable people instead of jerks. And choosing to be kind and decent in spite of all the pettiness and casual cruelty that surrounds us can be a much more demanding choice than to simply revel in one's own selfishness.

Asses are a dime a dozen. People who're genuinely kind and compassionate in their treatment of others are gold. And far more interesting, in my opinion.


ETA: That's also why I like Chris Evans so much in the role of Captain America. He seems to genuinely get it. Cap is not just some "Super-Soldier"; what makes him a true hero is his fundamental decency.

[Janet]

This could equally go in the Geek Girl thread. The Science Fiction Writers Association is taking heat for their sexist magazine.

[ChristinaM]

The party just can't help itself.

It's starting to feel like someone is paying them to work for our side.

[Crumb]

I love the Colbert pic on that article:

[Adam]

Originally Posted by ChristinaM

The party just can't help itself.

It's starting to feel like someone is paying them to work for our side.

It's also possible to interpret his statement (as reported in the linked article) as saying that, as a proportion of total pregnancies, those resulting from rape are very low, rather than that very few instances of rape result in pregnancies. So, he might not be making an ignorant statement about biology, he might just be saying that it's worthwhile, if unfortunate, to force a relative handful of rape victims to carry fetuses they don't want to term if it means we can also force all the slutty sluts who got pregnant sans rape to carry their unwanted fetuses to term. Yay?

[beyelzu]

Originally Posted by Adam

“They then chuckle together in a self-congratulatory academic manner” — Crooked Timber

I don't even. No, you dummies, I wasn't making inappropriate comments to my grad student, I was making sex puns at her!

About the case

"Frankly, the thing that catches my attention here," Mr. Leiter said, "is that the allegations, as I have heard them, are not particularly serious, compared to other cases I've heard about in which nothing has happened to the faculty member. It's certainly surprising."

From http://www.mit.edu/~shaslang/GE/McGinnCHE.pdf

Now, I am just a poor simple country microbiologist, but I think that might be the problem

[ChristinaM]

Originally Posted by Adam

It's also possible to interpret his statement (as reported in the linked article) as saying that, as a proportion of total pregnancies, those resulting from rape are very low, rather than that very few instances of rape result in pregnancies. So, he might not be making an ignorant statement about biology, he might just be saying that it's worthwhile, if unfortunate, to force a relative handful of rape victims to carry fetuses they don't want to term if it means we can also force all the slutty sluts who got pregnant sans rape to carry their unwanted fetuses to term. Yay?

That's definitely possible but at this point I think that they should just stop using that word for a while for any reason until a generation of women that missed the last election cycle starts to vote.

[lisarea]

Oh, hey, guys? Guys?

Wait though.

Did you ever read Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus? It's a science book that shows how men think logically and rationally, and that women think that freedom is free or something, and therefore healthcare is stupid or something and nobody should do that.

Rep. Fredette and his "man's brain" oppose health...

Oh, ha, though. That guy's name is "Fredette." -ette is a feminine diminutive, so his last name is p. much "Lady Fred."

@ that guy.

[ChristinaM]

Why can't we in the US have someone like this?

Those who think that it is okay to behave in a way that demeans or exploits their colleagues have NO place in this army…. Female soldiers and officers have proven themselves worthy of the best traditions of the Australian army… If that does not suit you, then get out….

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaqpoeVgr8U

[BrotherMan]

And here at the other end of the spectrum

“Yesterday, during the Xbox E3 briefing, one of our employees made an off the cuff and inappropriate comment while demoing ‘Killer Instinct’ with another employee. This comment was offensive and we apologize. At Microsoft, being open and respectful with others is central to our code of conduct and our values. Bullying and harassment of any kind is not condoned and is taken very seriously. We remain committed to make gaming fun for everyone, and in that effort, we must lead by example.”

[Janet]

A gem from the New Statesmen on how refreshing it is to have a blatant bit of sexism to complain about for a change.

It’s not enough to persuade people they aren’t being discriminated against if they’re still being left at a disadvantage. It’s not enough to assume you’re acting as if all things were equal when you can’t be bothered to try and make them so.

[lisarea]

Speaking of blatant:

It Happened To Me: My Online Dating Profile Inspired A Whole Forum Thread Dedicated To What A Whore I Am | xoJane

Pretty good example of why it helps to shine a light on the really horrific stuff out there. This woman found out about the forum because they had a thread about her on that, and without the appropriate context (yes, some men really do openly loathe women), she started to take it personally.

That's the forum that had the confused thread that one time about why do women wear blue nailpolish and it doesn't give them boners. (I'll also point out, for context, that "men going their own way" refers to a sort of male separatism. They don't associate with women at all, except when forced. They just gossip about them and stalk them and shit.

[Clutch Munny]

Originally Posted by lisarea

I'll also point out, for context, that "men going their own way" refers to a sort of male separatism.

This probably made more sense when 1Corinthians 7:5-8 gave some kind of cover, and also there was no internet. Could we just create some islands, like the guy who didn't actually have brain cancer was always talking about, that are modern monasteries for these shitnozzles, and let them live there without internet access?