3 ms·

If women's natural imperative is to raise children and nurture them, why is Penelope Trunk running a start-up? I really thought that this kind of overly-simpli

If women's natural imperative is to raise children and nurture them, why is Penelope Trunk running a start-up? I really thought that this kind of overly-simplistic "men do X, women do Y" was in the past now, but of course such things never die. There was a time where it was generally believed women should stay at home and worry about the children rather than go to school, or vote. I am sure we will look back on this kind of advice in the same way. I hope you see the irony in thinking that there is nothing stopping women from running startups, but they shouldn't want to, as women want to stay at home and look after the children.

AznHisoka 15y ago
Oh for crying out loud... Everyone on the internet now has to include a disclaimer every time they write a general statement that doesn't apply to 100% of people, but is pretty much true . The majority of women don't do startups - that's empirical evidence right there. There's nothing stopping them of course, and I'm not saying they shouldn't do startups. I'm just observing why I think most don't.
- CJefferson 15y ago
  No, there is no need for a disclaimer. This article make very clear that the opinion of Penelope is that the only reason women aren't running more startups is their genetics tells them to settle down, have children, and only run little lifestyle business between having children. While there certainly is help for women running startups, there is also still sexism at many levels. There are lots of reasons why women still stay at home and look after the children other than genetics. One of the most obvious ones to me (from personal experience) is that men are looked down on if they are the primary carer for their children.
- rmc 15y ago
  There's nothing stopping them of course Institutial misogyny?
yummyfajitas 15y ago
If women's natural imperative is to raise children and nurture them, why is Penelope Trunk running a start-up? Unless something changed since October, she is living on a farm raising her kids. http://venturebeat.com/2011/10/24/how-to-know-when-to-leave-your-startup/ http://venturebeat.com/2011/10/24/how-to-know-when-to-leave-...
munaf 15y ago
Her point was that women have a choice, and by nature, women have different options than men. She did not say that all women should just sit at home having kids.
dextorious 15y ago
"""If women's natural imperative is to raise children and nurture them, why is Penelope Trunk running a start-up?""" 1) She doesn't, as a comment below states. 2) I fail to see how your question makes any sense. Tendency/Preference etc is not Absolute Law. For example, a human's natural instinct is survival, yet there are still people willing to sacrifice their lives for others in danger, etc. (I always hate it when someone takes some statistical observation and thinks it's very smart to point out that there are exceptions --or even worse, uses them to "prove" the statistical observation doesn't hold. Happens all the time in pedantic-land). """I really thought that this kind of overly-simplistic "men do X, women do Y" was in the past now, but of course such things never die.""" Overly simplistic? Just because there are counter-examples, and complex cases, doesn't mean that the generalization is overly simplistic. To make sense of the world you have to generalize, that is not to give equal importance to a multitude of fringe cases. """I hope you see the irony in thinking that there is nothing stopping women from running startups, but they shouldn't want to, as women want to stay at home and look after the children.""" Nobody said "shouldn't", she said "wouldn't". And, statistically speaking, most don't. Do you see equally as many women founders? Or do you think you can attribute that to some mysterious general sexist attitude that prevents them?

AznHisoka 15y ago

Oh for crying out loud... Everyone on the internet now has to include a disclaimer every time they write a general statement that doesn't apply to 100% of people, but is pretty much true . The majority of women don't do startups - that's empirical evidence right there. There's nothing stopping them of course, and I'm not saying they shouldn't do startups. I'm just observing why I think most don't.

CJefferson 15y ago
No, there is no need for a disclaimer. This article make very clear that the opinion of Penelope is that the only reason women aren't running more startups is their genetics tells them to settle down, have children, and only run little lifestyle business between having children. While there certainly is help for women running startups, there is also still sexism at many levels. There are lots of reasons why women still stay at home and look after the children other than genetics. One of the most obvious ones to me (from personal experience) is that men are looked down on if they are the primary carer for their children.
rmc 15y ago
There's nothing stopping them of course Institutial misogyny?

yummyfajitas 15y ago

If women's natural imperative is to raise children and nurture them, why is Penelope Trunk running a start-up? Unless something changed since October, she is living on a farm raising her kids. http://venturebeat.com/2011/10/24/how-to-know-when-to-leave-your-startup/ http://venturebeat.com/2011/10/24/how-to-know-when-to-leave-...

munaf 15y ago

Her point was that women have a choice, and by nature, women have different options than men. She did not say that all women should just sit at home having kids.

dextorious 15y ago

"""If women's natural imperative is to raise children and nurture them, why is Penelope Trunk running a start-up?""" 1) She doesn't, as a comment below states. 2) I fail to see how your question makes any sense. Tendency/Preference etc is not Absolute Law. For example, a human's natural instinct is survival, yet there are still people willing to sacrifice their lives for others in danger, etc. (I always hate it when someone takes some statistical observation and thinks it's very smart to point out that there are exceptions --or even worse, uses them to "prove" the statistical observation doesn't hold. Happens all the time in pedantic-land). """I really thought that this kind of overly-simplistic "men do X, women do Y" was in the past now, but of course such things never die.""" Overly simplistic? Just because there are counter-examples, and complex cases, doesn't mean that the generalization is overly simplistic. To make sense of the world you have to generalize, that is not to give equal importance to a multitude of fringe cases. """I hope you see the irony in thinking that there is nothing stopping women from running startups, but they shouldn't want to, as women want to stay at home and look after the children.""" Nobody said "shouldn't", she said "wouldn't". And, statistically speaking, most don't. Do you see equally as many women founders? Or do you think you can attribute that to some mysterious general sexist attitude that prevents them?