[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
Re: Moderation experiment almost over; "put up or shut up"
On Fri, 14 Feb 1997 [email protected] wrote:
> Here I can agree, I personally discriminate on the basis of sex, not
> in that I believe women inferior to men but rather that I believe
> each sex better suited to different tasks and vocations.
> That is not, however, to say that I believe women should be prevented
> from taking up lines of work that men traditionally hold.
> They are free to do so, but as in the example you give later
> I would feel uncomfortable having my car serviced by a woman.
<flame-retardant suit on>
Normally I would ignore this sort of comment (which probably belongs in
some soc. newsgroup), but I feel obliged to point out that:
- The female <mechanic / scientist / engineer>, in addition to passing the
same exams as her male classmates, has probably had to put up with a fair
load of B.S. questioning her right and ability to be there. The ones that
keep at it long enough to graduate are the ones that *really* want to do
whatever it is, and IMHO are more likely to try harder.
- If she has been in business for a while, this means she has attracted
and kept customers in spite of the attitude displayed in previous posts.
There are no "quotas" in the marketplace.
- I wonder whether the garage owners have any preference. In my military
experience (Signals officer), the (older male) sergeants and chiefs, when
given a choice, preferred female radar / radio technicians to male
because, in general, they were harder working, had thicker skins, and were
more pleasant to deal with.
Chicken and Egg: How much of "each sex [is] better suited to different
tasks" is due to little girls being pulled away from the Lego and toy
trucks, and encouraged to play with Barbies? Being told that they are
*pretty* not *smart* as a form of approval?
Cynthia
===============================================================
Cynthia H. Brown, P.Eng.
E-mail: [email protected] | PGP Key: See Home Page
Home Page: http://www.iosphere.net/~cynthb/
Junk mail will be ignored in the order in which it is received.
Klein bottle for rent; enquire within.