Re: Ancestral Extropians?

Lee Daniel Crocker (lcrocker@mercury.colossus.net)
Thu, 24 Jun 1999 09:24:02 -0700 (PDT)

> >Don't take it as an insult. Men in general will not admit it in public,
> >especially, I predict, American men, but women are on the whole perceived as
> >annoyingly superficial with a one-track "social probe" masquerading as a
> >mind. The guy that said "you don't count" was probably referring to the fact
> >that you seem more intelligent and insightful than women usually are.
>
> Mr. Harris, you might consider apologizing for this rude and thoughtless
> commentary. This type of generalization is shallow and archaic. Perhaps
> the "American" men you associate with are hear about are baboons, but men
> in general have higher standards of thought and perception than to be mired
> in the back hills of illiteracy and social stupidity.

Don't you dare apologize, Mr. Harris. While I and many other more rational men have a great respect for the minds and talents of women, the attitude you describe /does/ exist, and your simple, honest reporting of that fact is far more likely to lead to solutions than is Natasha's misplaced indignation.

There is a problem in our culture (though probably less in ours than in most others, especially in recent years) that traits like competence and ambition aren't seen as "feminine". This is a bad thing, and should be addressed. Role models are a good start: Madonna comes to mind as someone who changed a lot of attitudes for the better. Let's hope many more come along.

--
Lee Daniel Crocker <lee@piclab.com> <http://www.piclab.com/lcrocker.html>
"All inventions or works of authorship original to me, herein and past,
are placed irrevocably in the public domain, and may be used or modified
for any purpose, without permission, attribution, or notification."--LDC