4 ms·

that's a very long way to say "I don't understand / like affirmative action"

otheraccount 11y ago
It's a rationale for not liking affirmative action, from a female author, recalling the story of someone else selected on merit. Asserting that anyone who understands affirmative action must like it is begging the question.
- 21echoes 11y ago
  I did not assert that anyone who understands affirmative action must like it. I pointed out that the author did not grapple with any arguments for affirmative action in the entire piece, so it is unclear if they are aware of arguments in support of it. This is, like, writing 101 -- show that you understand the arguments against your position, and dismantle them within the piece.
traverseda 11y ago
It's a long way of saying "I don't like affirmative action" because they're explaining why they think affirmative action is bad. >I earned my way onto that list. And here is someone telling me people who didn’t should be added simply so I wasn’t the lone female on it? >In three words? That’s some bullshit. It's only a long way to say it if you're already committed to ignoring their arguments. Because in reality their arguments have a bit more nuance then just "I don't like affirmative action".
- 21echoes 11y ago
  Frankly, I think they make one and only one point with a lot of different examples that make the same point in basically the exact same way: "as a woman in tech who has succeeded despite roadblocks, I feel like any amount of affirmative action will make others doubt the extent of my achievements". I am not committed to ignoring their arguments -- I used to hold similar positions. Then I talked with people who disagreed with me, grappled with their positions, and changed my mind. The author here shows no semblance of any such depth of thought, just repeated invocations of "if I made it, it must be possible! if we help others who are worse than me, then that lessens my achievement!" At its core, it's a selfish argument[1], which is why I changed my mind. [1]: to be clear, there are quite a few non-personally-selfish arguments against affirmative action. "it'll make others doubt how much better i am than most other women" is not one of them.

It's a rationale for not liking affirmative action, from a female author, recalling the story of someone else selected on merit. Asserting that anyone who understands affirmative action must like it is begging the question.

21echoes 11y ago
I did not assert that anyone who understands affirmative action must like it. I pointed out that the author did not grapple with any arguments for affirmative action in the entire piece, so it is unclear if they are aware of arguments in support of it. This is, like, writing 101 -- show that you understand the arguments against your position, and dismantle them within the piece.

traverseda 11y ago

It's a long way of saying "I don't like affirmative action" because they're explaining why they think affirmative action is bad. >I earned my way onto that list. And here is someone telling me people who didn’t should be added simply so I wasn’t the lone female on it? >In three words? That’s some bullshit. It's only a long way to say it if you're already committed to ignoring their arguments. Because in reality their arguments have a bit more nuance then just "I don't like affirmative action".

21echoes 11y ago
Frankly, I think they make one and only one point with a lot of different examples that make the same point in basically the exact same way: "as a woman in tech who has succeeded despite roadblocks, I feel like any amount of affirmative action will make others doubt the extent of my achievements". I am not committed to ignoring their arguments -- I used to hold similar positions. Then I talked with people who disagreed with me, grappled with their positions, and changed my mind. The author here shows no semblance of any such depth of thought, just repeated invocations of "if I made it, it must be possible! if we help others who are worse than me, then that lessens my achievement!" At its core, it's a selfish argument[1], which is why I changed my mind. [1]: to be clear, there are quite a few non-personally-selfish arguments against affirmative action. "it'll make others doubt how much better i am than most other women" is not one of them.