Re: FAQ: SOCIETY AND POLITICS

Wesley R. Schwein (wesleyrschwein@unn.unisys.com)
Tue, 4 Aug 1998 14:35:12 -0400

Michael Lorrey <retroman@together.net> on 08/04/98 12:38:39 PM

Please respond to extropians@extropy.com

To: extropians@extropy.com
cc: (bcc: Wesley R. Schwein/ISG/US/Unisys) Subject: Re: FAQ: SOCIETY AND POLITICS

:Wesley R. Schwein wrote:

:> Lorrey, I've read a lot of arrogant sexist bullshit on this list

:Unfortunately, your ad hominem attack is inaccurate in truth. The company
I
:work for processes mailing lists for several of these activist
organizations,
:and I can tell you that the female members outnumber male members by a
ratio of
:at least 4 to 1. Those are the facts, not 'arrogant sexist bullshit' as
you
:claim.

Whether or not female members outnumber males is immaterial & not the source of my hasty response. In fact I have no doubt that there are more women involved in animal rights, as that jives with my own experiences. What I began to object to is the causation you're assigning: "The point is that the 'Cute' factor is what sells animal rightism and vegetarianism (which is why many more women than men are one or the other)," that is, women are spinelessly vulnerable to cuteness, turning off any critical thinking capacity at the sight of a fuzzy nose in a cage & that there's no other explanation for their activism.

Do you deny this implication, or do you have another explanation? I have little more to say on this; I'm only surprised the rest of the list let you get this one by.

:You have not made any opposing statements with any facts to support your
claim,
:so if you cannot, then please rescind the personal attack and apologize.

I already apologized for the accident of sending this message fragment to the list; if you'll notice, it doesn't even end with a punctuation mark.