6 ms·

How is it sexist?

by kyberias 6y ago

How is it sexist?

nynx 6y ago
Because they wouldn't question it if the person in question was male. I've seen this pattern far too many times.
- luckylion 6y ago
  That's nonsense. Please don't litter comments with the "everything is sexism"-stuff.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- kyberias 6y ago
  You don't know that to be true. I have questioned similar claims myself and many of the people have been male. Mostly women though.
- sidlls 6y ago
  > Because they wouldn't question it if the person in question was male. You don't know that. This has become one of those ridiculous "truisms" that isn't necessarily true, at this point.
  - elliekelly 6y ago
    Or perhaps it is a “truism” with a long and repeatedly documented history of being true: https://www.rti.org/insights/myth-female-hysteria-and-health-disparities-among-women https://www.rti.org/insights/myth-female-hysteria-and-health...
    - sidlls 6y ago
      This is a forum with a bunch of (pseudo) technophiles. I'd expect them to be more, rather than less, inclined to believe someone who got sensors and other data together. The expressed skepticism isn't gender motivated.
- scottlamb 6y ago
  I hate comments like this. Yes, it's statistically true that women are questioned more often than men about (among other things) whether their symptoms are "real", are psychosomatic, are caused by the thing they think they're caused by, etc. It's totally appropriate to point that out, as gdubs did, and to remind people that unconscious bias is a thing. It's another thing to just tell someone they've questioned a woman in a way they wouldn't have questioned a man, without knowing anything more about them. It's obviously incorrect that men are never questioned in the same fashion or that this line of questioning is always inappropriate. It's generally unknowable what would have happened in the same situation with reversed genders. What do you think is gained by this kind of specific, confident accusation? Do you think they're going to say "oh, I thought about this, and you're right, I was being sexist, thanks, all better now?" No! Everyone digs into their positions, flamewars erupt, reputations are damaged, and/or people think (correctly, IMHO) that accusations of sexism are often false, etc. And I don't think you're following the HN guidelines of assuming good faith. Personally, I have no idea if the author's symptoms are caused by the environmental conditions at the building site. The evidence presented isn't compelling. She has made a compelling case though that gathering this evidence is hard, if not impossible, due to broken regulatory structures.
elliekelly 6y ago
One of the comments essentially accuses the author of hysteria.
gdubs 6y ago
The term is “medical gaslighting” and seems to disproportionately affect women. It comes up with things like ‘chronic fatigue’ diagnosis and has to do with women’s symptoms and experiences being dismissed.
- caddemon 6y ago
  It's a dual problem IMO- women are dismissed due to unconscious bias sometimes I'm sure, but I also suspect there are medical issues out there that are much more common in women that have been so under-researched that we know basically nothing about them. Which does make it a hard problem for front line doctors.

How is it sexist?

nynx 6y ago

Because they wouldn't question it if the person in question was male. I've seen this pattern far too many times.

luckylion 6y ago
That's nonsense. Please don't litter comments with the "everything is sexism"-stuff.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
kyberias 6y ago
You don't know that to be true. I have questioned similar claims myself and many of the people have been male. Mostly women though.
sidlls 6y ago
> Because they wouldn't question it if the person in question was male. You don't know that. This has become one of those ridiculous "truisms" that isn't necessarily true, at this point.
- elliekelly 6y ago
  Or perhaps it is a “truism” with a long and repeatedly documented history of being true: https://www.rti.org/insights/myth-female-hysteria-and-health-disparities-among-women https://www.rti.org/insights/myth-female-hysteria-and-health...
  - sidlls 6y ago
    This is a forum with a bunch of (pseudo) technophiles. I'd expect them to be more, rather than less, inclined to believe someone who got sensors and other data together. The expressed skepticism isn't gender motivated.
scottlamb 6y ago
I hate comments like this. Yes, it's statistically true that women are questioned more often than men about (among other things) whether their symptoms are "real", are psychosomatic, are caused by the thing they think they're caused by, etc. It's totally appropriate to point that out, as gdubs did, and to remind people that unconscious bias is a thing. It's another thing to just tell someone they've questioned a woman in a way they wouldn't have questioned a man, without knowing anything more about them. It's obviously incorrect that men are never questioned in the same fashion or that this line of questioning is always inappropriate. It's generally unknowable what would have happened in the same situation with reversed genders. What do you think is gained by this kind of specific, confident accusation? Do you think they're going to say "oh, I thought about this, and you're right, I was being sexist, thanks, all better now?" No! Everyone digs into their positions, flamewars erupt, reputations are damaged, and/or people think (correctly, IMHO) that accusations of sexism are often false, etc. And I don't think you're following the HN guidelines of assuming good faith. Personally, I have no idea if the author's symptoms are caused by the environmental conditions at the building site. The evidence presented isn't compelling. She has made a compelling case though that gathering this evidence is hard, if not impossible, due to broken regulatory structures.

elliekelly 6y ago

One of the comments essentially accuses the author of hysteria.

gdubs 6y ago

The term is “medical gaslighting” and seems to disproportionately affect women. It comes up with things like ‘chronic fatigue’ diagnosis and has to do with women’s symptoms and experiences being dismissed.

caddemon 6y ago
It's a dual problem IMO- women are dismissed due to unconscious bias sometimes I'm sure, but I also suspect there are medical issues out there that are much more common in women that have been so under-researched that we know basically nothing about them. Which does make it a hard problem for front line doctors.