5 ms·

'screaming like a small child" perhaps is better.

ars 12y ago
> screaming like a small child" perhaps is better. Why is that better? Have you never heard a little girl scream? It's not the same as the sound of a little boy. Let's not let political correctness wash away every difference that makes individuals special.
- dnewms 12y ago
  Since voices don't change until puberty -- any kid screaming sounds the same. And in the vein of special individuals, there are little girls who love and hate insects, and little boys who love and hate insects. Perhaps a more original phrase or analogy would be better: I would scream like a Dryococelus australis being attacked by rats.
  - ars 12y ago
    > Since voices don't change until puberty -- any kid screaming sounds the same. Apparently you have not met any. They don't sound anything alike, except maybe as newborns. > there are little girls who love and hate insects He just said scream like a little girl, there was no connotation of girls hating or loving insects. Just a sound.
    - timv 12y ago
      They don't sound anything alike I don't know about that. My 3.5yo daughter has a 4.5yo male best friend. When they're running about squealing, it's pretty hard to tell their squeals apart.
    - vacri 12y ago
      there was no connotation of girls hating or loving insects. Just a sound. There was, however, the connotation that girls are prissy and easily scared.
      - gambiting 12y ago
        Where? How? There is no such thing said anywhere - if you made such connection in your brain then well, it's your problem. It's a description of a sound, nothing more, nothing less.
        jusben1369 12y ago
        See my additional comment above in this thread.
        mania 12y ago
        so you say we can discriminate against children as long as they aren't girls?!
        vacri 12y ago
        You strike me as the kind of person who literally believes in everything a politician says, and is unaware of subtexts. If you think that all that people say is only the pure literal surface meaning of their words, than that is very much your problem, not mine. Also, the trope is "run away, screaming like a little girl", not just "screaming like a little girl".
        gambiting 12y ago
        I think this is a general problem with us programmers - we read everything incredibly literally. If you want to read into subtext then please do, but I don't see it. Fortunately I am not interested in politics.
  - gambiting 12y ago
    >>any kid screaming sounds the same. So what is the problem then? If they sound the same, then what difference does it make if he said "scream like a little girl" or "scream like a little boy" or "scream as a child"?
- eric_h 12y ago
  > Have you never heard a little girl scream? It's not the same as the sound of a little boy. I disagree, all little humans learn how to make that piercing scream often attributed to little girls. Little boys will likely do it less as they begin to be socialized and thus wedged into gender roles, but they definitely do "scream like little girls".
  - ars 12y ago
    > I disagree, all little humans learn how to make that piercing scream often attributed to little girls. You apparently don't actually know any little boys and girls because their screams sound nothing alike. Boys do manage a nice scream, but it doesn't sound the same, especially past the age of 3. > Little boys will likely do it less as they begin to be socialized and thus wedged into gender roles Again with this nonsense canard? Why is there such an inability to recognize that boys and girls are different? Next you'll tell me people aren't born knowing what gender they are, but rather it's "socialized" into them. A desire for equality will not be achieved by erasing all differences, but by celebrating all differences, and recognizing each is valuable in its own way.
    - pyre 12y ago
      > Next you'll tell me people aren't born knowing what gender they are, but rather it's "socialized" into them. That just depends on what you mean by gender. There are many things around gender that are social constructs. For example, pink being a "feminine" colour. Do you believe that DNA encodes females to prefer pink[1]? [1] http://www.npr.org/2014/04/01/297159948/girls-are-taught-to-think-pink-but-that-wasnt-always-so http://www.npr.org/2014/04/01/297159948/girls-are-taught-to-...
      - bjterry 12y ago
        Completely aside from the current politically charged discussion, I recently read an interesting paper by Psychologist Marcio Del Giudice which claims that "pink for boys, blue for girls" is a scientific urban legend. He uses the Google Ngram Viewer of historical books and finds that the relevant terms for that theory never appear in the corpus, while the relation that is currently the societal norm appears back into the late 1800s (the beginning of the corpus).[1] Of course, the article you reference doesn't claim that there was a reversal as many others do, but that the colors were simply not as gendered in the past, which seems almost certainly true. 1: http://bsb-lab.org/site/wp-content/uploads/DelGiudice_2012_reversal_pink-blue_asb.pdf http://bsb-lab.org/site/wp-content/uploads/DelGiudice_2012_r...
- mania 12y ago
  It is better because as anti-feminism claims feminism is all about taking rights from children to give them to women. From language remarks like this, through having mom at home, to abortion... It is all about women right to neglect children to do whatever else they wanna do. A bit like male who prefers lying down on coach to doing any work -- disgusting.
- jusben1369 12y ago
  There are two ways to interpret this. One is the very literal level. Comparing a boys scream to a girls scream. This is what you and many others in this thread do. Is there anything unique about a little boy's scream over a little girl's scream? They're of slightly different pitches but there's hardly any real "difference" that makes one unique and in need of protection from being "washed away". So then you take a step back and stop being so literal (which is also nonsensical because the scream of either young child would suffice in the example) and say "Why is the expression always 'scream like a little girl' vs 'scream like a little boy?" Why would a grown male say 'little girl" and change sexes in their example? It's because we have a stereotype of girls being more fearful and generally inadequate when faced with such things than boys. A small girl screaming is cute and funny because it reinforces stereotypes around them needing protection and not being self sufficient. A small boy screaming is not cute and funny as boy's are expected to be brave and not scared - it's a sign of weakness if they do. It's an inaccurate stereotype and slightly demeans girls and/or sends messages on our how they're supposed to act. "Screamed like a little girl. Throws a ball like a girl" It's death by a thousand little subtle lashes. So "would scream like a scared little child" conveys perfectly what you might want to get across without demeaning one sex over the other. If you want to be sex specific then use your own vs feeling the need to switch to the other side.
  - mania 12y ago
    So you say girls aren't more scared of rats than boys? They don't scream louder and longer when looking at a little mouse in the corner? They are all macho in your delusional worldview, right?
    - jusben1369 12y ago
      Can you think of any scientific reason to defend why that would be the case Mania? If not then it's not nature it's nurture. Which is my point. And somewhat ironic you used the term "macho" wouldn't ya say? :)
      - ars 12y ago
        > Can you think of any scientific reason to defend why that would be the case Yes. Because they are girls. I don't know what deluded world, or ultra PC world, you live in where boys and girls are the same, or act the same. The existence of girls that don't scream, and boys that do, despite no difference in nurture is the evidence that it's entirely nature. It's not absolute "all girls scream", it's simply that more girls than boys do so - much more. And there is nothing whatsoever wrong with that, or with noticing that. Embrace the differences!
conanite 12y ago
I can't tell from the username and I have no other information, but if grondilu is a girl, and perhaps a young one at that, it would be perfectly reasonable for her to expect to scream like one. Otherwise the comment was simply outrageous sexism. How dreadful that we can't tell!
dragonwriter 12y ago
I wonder of that's actually the origin of the "like a girl" idiom. "Girl" didn't used to be gender-specific, after all.
- baddox 12y ago
  It probably comes from females generally having higher pitched voices.

ars 12y ago

> screaming like a small child" perhaps is better. Why is that better? Have you never heard a little girl scream? It's not the same as the sound of a little boy. Let's not let political correctness wash away every difference that makes individuals special.

dnewms 12y ago
Since voices don't change until puberty -- any kid screaming sounds the same. And in the vein of special individuals, there are little girls who love and hate insects, and little boys who love and hate insects. Perhaps a more original phrase or analogy would be better: I would scream like a Dryococelus australis being attacked by rats.
- ars 12y ago
  > Since voices don't change until puberty -- any kid screaming sounds the same. Apparently you have not met any. They don't sound anything alike, except maybe as newborns. > there are little girls who love and hate insects He just said scream like a little girl, there was no connotation of girls hating or loving insects. Just a sound.
  - timv 12y ago
    They don't sound anything alike I don't know about that. My 3.5yo daughter has a 4.5yo male best friend. When they're running about squealing, it's pretty hard to tell their squeals apart.
  - vacri 12y ago
    there was no connotation of girls hating or loving insects. Just a sound. There was, however, the connotation that girls are prissy and easily scared.
    - gambiting 12y ago
      Where? How? There is no such thing said anywhere - if you made such connection in your brain then well, it's your problem. It's a description of a sound, nothing more, nothing less.
      - jusben1369 12y ago
        See my additional comment above in this thread.
        mania 12y ago
        so you say we can discriminate against children as long as they aren't girls?!
      - vacri 12y ago
        You strike me as the kind of person who literally believes in everything a politician says, and is unaware of subtexts. If you think that all that people say is only the pure literal surface meaning of their words, than that is very much your problem, not mine. Also, the trope is "run away, screaming like a little girl", not just "screaming like a little girl".
        gambiting 12y ago
        I think this is a general problem with us programmers - we read everything incredibly literally. If you want to read into subtext then please do, but I don't see it. Fortunately I am not interested in politics.
- gambiting 12y ago
  >>any kid screaming sounds the same. So what is the problem then? If they sound the same, then what difference does it make if he said "scream like a little girl" or "scream like a little boy" or "scream as a child"?
eric_h 12y ago
> Have you never heard a little girl scream? It's not the same as the sound of a little boy. I disagree, all little humans learn how to make that piercing scream often attributed to little girls. Little boys will likely do it less as they begin to be socialized and thus wedged into gender roles, but they definitely do "scream like little girls".
- ars 12y ago
  > I disagree, all little humans learn how to make that piercing scream often attributed to little girls. You apparently don't actually know any little boys and girls because their screams sound nothing alike. Boys do manage a nice scream, but it doesn't sound the same, especially past the age of 3. > Little boys will likely do it less as they begin to be socialized and thus wedged into gender roles Again with this nonsense canard? Why is there such an inability to recognize that boys and girls are different? Next you'll tell me people aren't born knowing what gender they are, but rather it's "socialized" into them. A desire for equality will not be achieved by erasing all differences, but by celebrating all differences, and recognizing each is valuable in its own way.
  - pyre 12y ago
    > Next you'll tell me people aren't born knowing what gender they are, but rather it's "socialized" into them. That just depends on what you mean by gender. There are many things around gender that are social constructs. For example, pink being a "feminine" colour. Do you believe that DNA encodes females to prefer pink[1]? [1] http://www.npr.org/2014/04/01/297159948/girls-are-taught-to-think-pink-but-that-wasnt-always-so http://www.npr.org/2014/04/01/297159948/girls-are-taught-to-...
    - bjterry 12y ago
      Completely aside from the current politically charged discussion, I recently read an interesting paper by Psychologist Marcio Del Giudice which claims that "pink for boys, blue for girls" is a scientific urban legend. He uses the Google Ngram Viewer of historical books and finds that the relevant terms for that theory never appear in the corpus, while the relation that is currently the societal norm appears back into the late 1800s (the beginning of the corpus).[1] Of course, the article you reference doesn't claim that there was a reversal as many others do, but that the colors were simply not as gendered in the past, which seems almost certainly true. 1: http://bsb-lab.org/site/wp-content/uploads/DelGiudice_2012_reversal_pink-blue_asb.pdf http://bsb-lab.org/site/wp-content/uploads/DelGiudice_2012_r...
mania 12y ago
It is better because as anti-feminism claims feminism is all about taking rights from children to give them to women. From language remarks like this, through having mom at home, to abortion... It is all about women right to neglect children to do whatever else they wanna do. A bit like male who prefers lying down on coach to doing any work -- disgusting.
jusben1369 12y ago
There are two ways to interpret this. One is the very literal level. Comparing a boys scream to a girls scream. This is what you and many others in this thread do. Is there anything unique about a little boy's scream over a little girl's scream? They're of slightly different pitches but there's hardly any real "difference" that makes one unique and in need of protection from being "washed away". So then you take a step back and stop being so literal (which is also nonsensical because the scream of either young child would suffice in the example) and say "Why is the expression always 'scream like a little girl' vs 'scream like a little boy?" Why would a grown male say 'little girl" and change sexes in their example? It's because we have a stereotype of girls being more fearful and generally inadequate when faced with such things than boys. A small girl screaming is cute and funny because it reinforces stereotypes around them needing protection and not being self sufficient. A small boy screaming is not cute and funny as boy's are expected to be brave and not scared - it's a sign of weakness if they do. It's an inaccurate stereotype and slightly demeans girls and/or sends messages on our how they're supposed to act. "Screamed like a little girl. Throws a ball like a girl" It's death by a thousand little subtle lashes. So "would scream like a scared little child" conveys perfectly what you might want to get across without demeaning one sex over the other. If you want to be sex specific then use your own vs feeling the need to switch to the other side.
- mania 12y ago
  So you say girls aren't more scared of rats than boys? They don't scream louder and longer when looking at a little mouse in the corner? They are all macho in your delusional worldview, right?
  - jusben1369 12y ago
    Can you think of any scientific reason to defend why that would be the case Mania? If not then it's not nature it's nurture. Which is my point. And somewhat ironic you used the term "macho" wouldn't ya say? :)
    - ars 12y ago
      > Can you think of any scientific reason to defend why that would be the case Yes. Because they are girls. I don't know what deluded world, or ultra PC world, you live in where boys and girls are the same, or act the same. The existence of girls that don't scream, and boys that do, despite no difference in nurture is the evidence that it's entirely nature. It's not absolute "all girls scream", it's simply that more girls than boys do so - much more. And there is nothing whatsoever wrong with that, or with noticing that. Embrace the differences!

conanite 12y ago

I can't tell from the username and I have no other information, but if grondilu is a girl, and perhaps a young one at that, it would be perfectly reasonable for her to expect to scream like one. Otherwise the comment was simply outrageous sexism. How dreadful that we can't tell!

dragonwriter 12y ago

I wonder of that's actually the origin of the "like a girl" idiom. "Girl" didn't used to be gender-specific, after all.

baddox 12y ago
It probably comes from females generally having higher pitched voices.