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I'm guessing the initial lack of female pirate LEGO minifigs had something to do with the fact that 99.9999% of actual historical pirates were men. And that pir

I'm guessing the initial lack of female pirate LEGO minifigs had something to do with the fact that 99.9999% of actual historical pirates were men. And that pirate ships were not exactly woman-friendly environments. Just a thought. Sounds crazy, I know. :) Back to the neverending gender persecution fest discussion on the web. That has nothing to do with HN and shouldn't be on HN, please. ps. I'm personally not happy that every time I go into a haircut shop like GreatClips that all the haircut folks are women. It makes me feel oppressed. I want to see men working there, and have men cutting my hair, so I and my sons have that as a role model. As it is the feminarchy is distorting the perception of the array of actual career choices available to my sons and grandsons. ... Have I made my point?

INTPenis 14y ago
>I'm personally not happy that every time I go into a haircut shop like GreatClips that all the haircut folks are women. It makes me feel oppressed. I want to see men working there, and have men cutting my hair, so I and my sons have that as a role model. Well then don't you think young girls should be allowed to aspire to become pirates? Personally I was offended that the only female pirate was a half-clad wench!
- mkramlich 14y ago
  You do know that some pirate ships had slaves on board? And that most women on board typical Carribean pirate ships were either pleasure slaves or serving "wenches" or prisoners, or some combination thereof. Only in very rare cases were women treated "equally" like men or were captains. Very exotic and exceptional cases. I don't think boys or girls should aspire to be pirates. In reality, pirates engage in illegal and often violent or evil activities that harm others via violence and theft.
ajross 14y ago
Damn straight. Historical fidelity is of utmost importance in the education of our youth. No daughter of mine will ever be allowed to act like a pirate. Or a knight. Or wear pants. Sigh... posts like that just make me sad. You honestly think it's a bad thing that Lego is producing (it's not even the PC nonesense you're positing -- they're actually making them!) toys with girls in them?
InclinedPlane 14y ago
Firstly, the pirate archetype used in fiction and represented in LEGO form is not one based on history but on fantasy. In truth the vast majority of "pirates" in the, say, 17th through 18th centuries were privateers operating under the authority of a government (for example, Captain Morgan). Secondly, there are many famous examples of female pirates from history and fiction (Mary Read, Grace O'Malley, Rachel Wall, etc.) Thirdly, perhaps you should take up your concerns regarding the gender of your hair stylists with the management of GreatClips.
- mkramlich 14y ago
  > Secondly, there are many famous examples of female pirates from history and fiction (Mary Read, Grace O'Malley, Rachel Wall, etc.) Never heard of them. The majority of "famous" pirates are men. And the vast vast vast majority of pirates overall were men. No serious historian disputes that. Exceptions do not contradict a general rule.
- mkramlich 14y ago
  > Thirdly, perhaps you should take up your concerns regarding the gender of your hair stylists with the management of GreatClips. No thanks. I'm realistic and don't actually care. It was clearly an illustrative argument and you should have known that. Also, I personally accept the often messy and non-philosophically-perfectly-mathematically-ideal nature of reality when it comes to gender and sexuality. Unlike a lot of people when it comes to these kinds of topics on the Internet. For example, I have observed and accept these following truths: That men and women are different. Girls and boys are different. Homosexual men are different from heterosexual men. Lesbian women are different than straight women. Well, in each case there are similarities and differences. But they are not identical or "equal" in the mathematical sense. Intellectual theories and recent social ideals are nice but biology is strong. And that's all perfectly ok.
hej 14y ago
Cute how you think feminism doesn’t have a problem with fixed gender roles (i.e. cutting hair is a woman’s job). Also note that many typical women’s jobs are low paying and low status†. How deluded can one person be? — † Yes, there are exceptions to this. But they are just that: exceptions.
marlenac 14y ago
pps. to your ps. This post was submitted to HN by a guy I shall remember you fondly on Talk-like-a-pirate day.

INTPenis 14y ago

>I'm personally not happy that every time I go into a haircut shop like GreatClips that all the haircut folks are women. It makes me feel oppressed. I want to see men working there, and have men cutting my hair, so I and my sons have that as a role model. Well then don't you think young girls should be allowed to aspire to become pirates? Personally I was offended that the only female pirate was a half-clad wench!

mkramlich 14y ago
You do know that some pirate ships had slaves on board? And that most women on board typical Carribean pirate ships were either pleasure slaves or serving "wenches" or prisoners, or some combination thereof. Only in very rare cases were women treated "equally" like men or were captains. Very exotic and exceptional cases. I don't think boys or girls should aspire to be pirates. In reality, pirates engage in illegal and often violent or evil activities that harm others via violence and theft.

ajross 14y ago

Damn straight. Historical fidelity is of utmost importance in the education of our youth. No daughter of mine will ever be allowed to act like a pirate. Or a knight. Or wear pants. Sigh... posts like that just make me sad. You honestly think it's a bad thing that Lego is producing (it's not even the PC nonesense you're positing -- they're actually making them!) toys with girls in them?

InclinedPlane 14y ago

Firstly, the pirate archetype used in fiction and represented in LEGO form is not one based on history but on fantasy. In truth the vast majority of "pirates" in the, say, 17th through 18th centuries were privateers operating under the authority of a government (for example, Captain Morgan). Secondly, there are many famous examples of female pirates from history and fiction (Mary Read, Grace O'Malley, Rachel Wall, etc.) Thirdly, perhaps you should take up your concerns regarding the gender of your hair stylists with the management of GreatClips.

mkramlich 14y ago
> Secondly, there are many famous examples of female pirates from history and fiction (Mary Read, Grace O'Malley, Rachel Wall, etc.) Never heard of them. The majority of "famous" pirates are men. And the vast vast vast majority of pirates overall were men. No serious historian disputes that. Exceptions do not contradict a general rule.
mkramlich 14y ago
> Thirdly, perhaps you should take up your concerns regarding the gender of your hair stylists with the management of GreatClips. No thanks. I'm realistic and don't actually care. It was clearly an illustrative argument and you should have known that. Also, I personally accept the often messy and non-philosophically-perfectly-mathematically-ideal nature of reality when it comes to gender and sexuality. Unlike a lot of people when it comes to these kinds of topics on the Internet. For example, I have observed and accept these following truths: That men and women are different. Girls and boys are different. Homosexual men are different from heterosexual men. Lesbian women are different than straight women. Well, in each case there are similarities and differences. But they are not identical or "equal" in the mathematical sense. Intellectual theories and recent social ideals are nice but biology is strong. And that's all perfectly ok.

hej 14y ago

Cute how you think feminism doesn’t have a problem with fixed gender roles (i.e. cutting hair is a woman’s job). Also note that many typical women’s jobs are low paying and low status†. How deluded can one person be? — † Yes, there are exceptions to this. But they are just that: exceptions.

marlenac 14y ago

pps. to your ps. This post was submitted to HN by a guy I shall remember you fondly on Talk-like-a-pirate day.