Women and stuff

mark@unicorn.com
Mon, 9 Feb 1998 08:31:38 -0800 (PST)


Kathryn Aegis [aegis@igc.apc.org] wrote:
>I was the first woman to post to the Transhumanist list run by
>Alex Bokov, and no fewer than fifteen men told me, in no uncertain
>terms, that they didn't want girls in their sandbox. [snip]
>The thread remains in the archives as a badge of shame for all
>transhumanists.

You will, I presume, explain why I somehow have responsibility for the
actions of fifteen idiots? And why that 'badge of shame' also applies to
those transhumanists who backed you up?

>Although I recognize the libertarian yearnings behind your postings,
>most of your comments are completely unfounded in clinical
>psychology or biology.

Ok, to reiterate: I said that claiming that there was some magical
age (somewhere between twelve and twenty-one depending on location
and orientation) before which no-one could give consent to sex and
after which everyone without exception was able to give consent was
dumb, and that each person should be judged as an individual, and that
preventing people from taking charge of their own lives when they were
perfectly able to do so could cause as much psychological damage as
forcing them into things they didn't want to do.

Where exactly is this "completely unfounded in clinical psychology or
biology"? You mean there *is* some objective standard for determining
this magical age and even those who might by any other standard be
considered adults are unable to 'consent' until they reach it? The
mere fact that the magical age varies by nearly 100% between cultures
should be a glaring indicator that it's purely subjective.

Mark