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Hi, I wonder how gnosis found my blog? Anyway: I grew up in New York City, and relatively recently moved to Baltimore County. Something I've been coming to u

Hi, I wonder how gnosis found my blog? Anyway: I grew up in New York City, and relatively recently moved to Baltimore County. Something I've been coming to understand a little more every month is the difference between my understanding of what feminism is and what other people's understanding of what feminism is. To me, being a feminist means being not-sexist, and thinking that sexist things are unfortunate, in much the same way that being a normal person means being not-racist and thinking that racist things are unfortunate. It has been my experience that sexism, like homophobia and Islamophobia but unlike racism or ableism, is often accepted in quasi-professional circles. I think that none of those things should be accepted. I understand that many people's perspective of feminism is that it is in some ways man-hating or implies the superiority of women. As there is no official Feminist Institution with a Feminist Charter giving out Feminist membership cards/tattoos, I understand that what people think feminism is will be dictated by the literature and rhetoric with which they grew up. I think that the real issue is not that people are 'not feminists' but that people dismiss legitimate issues concerning equity as 'being feminist'. There is an attitude that caring is for 'social justice people' and that real technical people don't concern themselves with these issues. I personally think that it would be positive for people in technical fields not to dismiss a critical approach to these issues. I personally think the 'he' thing is somewhat damaging (as is the tone in the department that 'easy problems are for girls' and the charge leveled at me by my TA that 'you only got to skip prerequisites because you have tits') but I am open to disagreement on the subject. Refusing to be critical about sexist or potentially sexist perspectives at all because feminism is an ideology you don't like is a far deeper problem.

gacba 16y ago
I understand that what people think feminism is will be dictated by the literature and rhetoric with which they grew up Actually, my view of feminism is taken directly from experiences with self-professed feminists. And they often are looking for preferential treatment, not equal. Most women I know have a distinct distaste for the term 'feminist', mostly because of that. Including my wife. And her mother. Both of whom are liberal, educated, very strong and independent women. The broad brush applicability of feminism doesn't work outside the reality distortion field of academia. I personally think the 'he' thing is somewhat damaging (as is the tone in the department that 'easy problems are for girls' and the charge leveled at me by my TA that 'you only got to skip prerequisites because you have tits') The gender pronoun issue, in common parlance, is not nearly as serious as the examples you provided afterward. Those are clear instances of harassment and potential discrimination against women. I'd be fighting that battle first, because you've got better odds at winning it. The former is more of a nuisance by comparison. Something that you'll find is that it's very difficult to change other people's thinking. If they're sexist creeps, your rhetoric will have little, if any, effect on them. Better to fight battles to get rid of those jerks in the first place than complain about their output.
gnosis 16y ago
"I wonder how gnosis found my blog?" I found your blog through a search for Dennis E. Shasha, who you mention in this post: http://thefeaze.livejournal.com/37102.html http://thefeaze.livejournal.com/37102.html Welcome to HN. I'm looking forward to hearing more from you, as you've clearly got some interesting things to say. Just a brief writing tip (no offense): you may want to separate your writing in to paragraphs. Three to five sentences per paragraph is probably a good rule of thumb. It's difficult to read through a huge wall of text.
phamilton 16y ago
In the comparison between racism and sexism, the incident in the blog post would be comparable to a text book with a picture on the cover. The picture shows a generic programmer at work. While one could use a shot of a person of moderately dark skin with a unisexual haircut taken from an angle where no facial features are recognizable. Yet generally it's a white male. Or a black male. Or a white/black/asian/indian/latin man/woman. It's not an issue of racism in this case, it's merely the fact that it's convenient to pick someone and take a normal picture. That's why "he" is often used. It's just more convenient to stick with it. Any more meaning than that is just inventing interpretation.

gacba 16y ago

I understand that what people think feminism is will be dictated by the literature and rhetoric with which they grew up Actually, my view of feminism is taken directly from experiences with self-professed feminists. And they often are looking for preferential treatment, not equal. Most women I know have a distinct distaste for the term 'feminist', mostly because of that. Including my wife. And her mother. Both of whom are liberal, educated, very strong and independent women. The broad brush applicability of feminism doesn't work outside the reality distortion field of academia. I personally think the 'he' thing is somewhat damaging (as is the tone in the department that 'easy problems are for girls' and the charge leveled at me by my TA that 'you only got to skip prerequisites because you have tits') The gender pronoun issue, in common parlance, is not nearly as serious as the examples you provided afterward. Those are clear instances of harassment and potential discrimination against women. I'd be fighting that battle first, because you've got better odds at winning it. The former is more of a nuisance by comparison. Something that you'll find is that it's very difficult to change other people's thinking. If they're sexist creeps, your rhetoric will have little, if any, effect on them. Better to fight battles to get rid of those jerks in the first place than complain about their output.

gnosis 16y ago

"I wonder how gnosis found my blog?" I found your blog through a search for Dennis E. Shasha, who you mention in this post: http://thefeaze.livejournal.com/37102.html http://thefeaze.livejournal.com/37102.html Welcome to HN. I'm looking forward to hearing more from you, as you've clearly got some interesting things to say. Just a brief writing tip (no offense): you may want to separate your writing in to paragraphs. Three to five sentences per paragraph is probably a good rule of thumb. It's difficult to read through a huge wall of text.

phamilton 16y ago

In the comparison between racism and sexism, the incident in the blog post would be comparable to a text book with a picture on the cover. The picture shows a generic programmer at work. While one could use a shot of a person of moderately dark skin with a unisexual haircut taken from an angle where no facial features are recognizable. Yet generally it's a white male. Or a black male. Or a white/black/asian/indian/latin man/woman. It's not an issue of racism in this case, it's merely the fact that it's convenient to pick someone and take a normal picture. That's why "he" is often used. It's just more convenient to stick with it. Any more meaning than that is just inventing interpretation.