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Friday, August 04, 2023

Links - 4th August 2023 (2 - Feminism)

Further understanding incivility in the workplace: The effects of gender, agency, and communion. - "Research conducted on workplace incivility—a low intensity form of deviant behavior—has generally shown that women report higher levels of incivility at work. However, to date, it is unclear as to whether women are primarily treated uncivilly by men (i.e., members of the socially dominant group/out-group) or other women (i.e., members of in-group) in organizations. In light of different theorizing surrounding gender and incivility, we examine whether women experience increased incivility from other women or men, and whether this effect is amplified for women who exhibit higher agency and less communion at work given that these traits and behaviors violate stereotypical gender norms. Across three complementary studies, results indicate that women report experiencing more incivility from other women than from men, with this effect being amplified for women who are more agentic at work. Further, agentic women who experience increased female-instigated incivility from their coworkers report lower well-being (job satisfaction, psychological vitality) and increased work withdrawal (turnover intentions). Theoretical implications tied to gender and incivility are discussed."
David Schmitt on Twitter - "at workplace, women particularly uncivil to other women who have high agency, civil to agentic men; men particularly civil to low agency, high communal women"
Damn patriarchy!

John Durant compares coverage of Rotherham abuse vs Jennifer Lawrence nudes - "Jezebel had one story about Rotherham. But the Jennifer Lawrence story? Jackpot. Durant took the same look at Slate.com. Slate stories on Rotherham? One... So progressives are virtually ignoring large scale injustice because of capitalism? That’s priceless."
Not-So-OK Boomer on Twitter - ""Feminists" can't talk about #Rotherham (or ISIS) because a real war on women would distract from their fake one. @razibkhan"
Caring about Rotherham is racist, of course

Equal judgment for sexually active women and men - "Perhaps you've also embraced the notion that men who have multiple sexual partners are truly revered, whereas women who engage in the same behavior are scorned – the purported sexual double standard. However, a recent survey reveals that this notion is, in fact, a fallacy.  "We have yet to discover the presence of customary double standards imposed on women," asserts Leif Edward Ottesen Kennair, an esteemed professor at the Department of Psychology at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).  Conversely, men face slightly harsher judgments than women regarding brief sexual encounters. However, despite evidence to the contrary, the myth remains persistent, and a significant number of individuals continue to hold onto this belief... "even when examining short-term encounters, we did not discover any indications of double standards"... Sexual double standards, while an enduring and alluring part of folk psychology, have very little basis in reality... "This research further strengthens the growing body of evidence indicating that sexual double standards, although a captivating aspect of popular beliefs, lack substantial grounding in reality"... when it comes to short-term relationships, men are subjected to stricter judgments, indicating a reversed double standard."  "Both genders face harsher scrutiny regarding enduring partnerships compared to casual encounters. This revelation bears significant importance"... Many individuals are likely to dismiss this discovery, as it is widely believed to be an almost absolute truth that women who engage in sexual exploration face more severe judgment than men. However, the prevalence of this belief does not render it any more accurate... Regarding self-stimulation, the general population tends to be even less judgmental than they are about having multiple partners. In particular, women who engage in masturbation are actually subjected to less negative judgment compared to men, especially in the context of short-term relationships.  “Men find it sexy when women masturbate,” says Kennair.  This lack of surprise is supported by research, which confirms what is already apparent. Overall, there is very little evidence to suggest that many individuals are concerned about whether others engage in masturbation or not. The vast majority consider it perfectly acceptable... "The absence of sexual double standards seems to be a recurring pattern in every culture we have examined""
The copious literature on there being no double standard won't stop feminists from continuing to spread their disinformation

Brittany Martinez on Twitter - "Women like Anita Sarkeesian are a big influence in making women in video games ugly.   But it’s a slap in the face to women. Women can’t be hot and have any other talents? They have to be unattractive to be strong?  Take Aloy from Horizon Zero Dawn for example. The actress, Hannah, who was the face model, is much more attractive than the video game character that used her face.  When women play video games, they either want to play the cute character (Pikachu/Kirby) or the hot character (Lara Croft). Just like men prefer to be the badass guy."

Science Proves That Women Are Mean (Again). Thanks Science! - "when my editor recommended I write up a study released this month by the psychology journal Aggressive Behavior that seems to once again use science to reinforce the stereotype of superficial bitches, my interest was piqued. What, if any, is the value of research that “proves” the bad behavior of women? The study, authored by University of Ottowa professor Tracy Vaillancourt, shows that women are evolutionarily programmed to act aggressively, even “bitchily” towards women who we perceive as “sexier.”... to me, adding credibility to these stereotypes about women gives artillery to our detractors who use this sort of information to reinforce why women will never become CEOs. This sort of information—putting numbers to some of the most base and yes, shameful behavior of the fairer sex—acts as nothing short of cinder blocks chained to our ankles as we try to rise in the world.  So why would a female researcher be responsible for putting this out there? “I certainly would never want to hurt my community of women who have worked hard to achieve all they have. And it’s certainly something I knew I’d get chastised about,” Vaillancourt told me by telephone this morning. “There are comments out there that I’m adding fuel to the fire. I’ve been accused of setting women back a few years.”  “We do act this way, and it does hold us back--so let’s acknowledge it. It’s not a stereotype but a truism, as uncomfortable as that is,” she continues, defensive of her research and determined to make me see eye-to-eye. “Because you can’t change what you don’t acknowledge.”  The hope of revealing prejudices to change behavior involves something called a confirmatory bias, she says, or the human proclivity towards seeking information or evidence to support a viewpoint we already hold. In this case, “sexy-looking women are a threat and should be treated that way.” But by calling attention to that attitude, we’re better equipped to overcome it. In this case, “sexy-women may or may not be a threat and I shouldn’t treat them poorly until I know better.” (Or something along those lines).  “Maybe the next time someone is dressed in a way you think is inappropriate,” Vaillancourt suggests, “Instead of making snide comments or thinking derogatory thoughts, you’ll be more inclined to give her a chance.” Women need to start monitoring and self-censuring themselves, she says, and she sees her research as an early step towards that goal.  As for me, I’m left unconvinced that the potential benefits of research like Vaillancourt’s—or the numerous other published studies on female competitive behavior, social aggression and why women make terrible bosses—outweigh the negatives of handing incriminating statistics about women to haters on a silver (and scientifically-backed) platter."
"Science that doesn't confirm my political beliefs is bad and shouldn't be done". But I'm sure we'll still be told to Trust the Science

Academics find twist in tale of Rosalind Franklin, DNA and the double helix - "History of science This article is more than 1 month old Academics find twist in tale of Rosalind Franklin, DNA and the double helix This article is more than 1 month old  Authors say scientist’s role was acknowledged at the time of discovery – contrary to popular narrative Nicola Davis Science correspondent @NicolaKSDavis Tue 25 Apr 2023 16.24 BST Last modified on Fri 28 Apr 2023 18.13 BST  In the story of how Francis Crick and James Watson discovered the structure of DNA, the popular narrative is one of skullduggery and deceit. But now researchers say there is a twist in the tale of the double helix.  It has long been held that Rosalind Franklin’s X-ray diffraction image known as Photo 51 was illicitly shown to Watson, revealing to him that DNA has a double helix and allowing him and his colleague Crick to deduce the structure and claim the glory.  Now academics say the story should be rewritten, arguing that the image was far from the key to the puzzle and that Franklin appears to have expected her data to be shared – and was credited at the time.  “There’s no evidence that she thought she was robbed,” said Prof Matthew Cobb, of the University of Manchester."
Damn sexism!

Andrew Sullivan: Democrats Are Not in Disarray - "Warren’s policies were way to the left, her earlier debacles (like the DNA test) revealed terrible political judgment, and her classic persona as a know-it-all Harvard professor with a plan for everything was almost identical to that of every earnest Democratic candidate who has lost in the last few decades.  But many of her prominent backers can still only see her as the victim of misogyny. Jessica Valenti lamented that “we had the candidate of a lifetime … and the media and voters basically outright erased and ignored her.” In fact, in four critical debates, including those in January and February, Warren was given more time to speak than any other candidate. Valenti went on: “Don’t tell me this isn’t about sexism. I’ve been around too long for that.” Shaunna Thomas, executive director of the progressive group UltraViolet, chimed in: “It is the media’s sexism that determined Warren’s fate.” In fact, puff pieces on Warren abounded. And it seems telling to me that no one seems to be writing tweets or columns ascribing Amy Klobuchar’s withdrawal to sexism or Pete Buttigieg’s exit to homophobia."
When the only tool you have is a hammer...

Put it away, love - "Nevertheless, even a broad-minded broad such as myself must admit to perplexity and just a little distaste about the minge-mania currently sweeping the Western world. It’s one thing to free women from shame; it’s another entirely to do as the Fanny Fanclub is doing, lecturing us endlessly that we don’t talk about our vaginas enough...   I’m no prude, but if I needed to see illustrations of women riding pink dildos on Instagram in order to give myself permission to touch myself, I’d probably have decided it wasn’t for me and kept my hands busy by taking up sampler-sewing...   We stray into the realms of the ridiculous, however, when we survey some of the stupid v-related gifts on sale today: a crocheted tampon keyring, enamel vagina badges, a notebook bearing the front cover inscription ‘YOU MAKE ME AND MY VAGINA SO HAPPY’, and of course that reliable indicator of whether or not grown adults should have their right to vote removed – colouring books...  in another clash of interests, these sorts of sob-sisters often slander their fellow feminists as TERFs in order to suck up to the trans lobby, who would like to see the female orifice reduced to the insulting phrase ‘front hole’. Indeed, the Vagina Museum – which opened last year – promises to: ‘Challenge heteronormative and cisnormative behaviour’ and ‘promote intersectional, feminist and trans-inclusive values’. If part of this challenge is insisting that the ridiculous openings fashioned during sex-change operations are actual vaginas, one might as well showcase a performance by the Black And White Minstrels as part of Black History Week...   It would be a shame if, having protested for so long that women are more than their sex organs, we came to elevate them above all our other parts – especially our brains."

Let boys be boys - without fear of being 'cancelled' - "Boys will be boys. Once a benign platitude, the phrase is now instant cancellation material: an offensive and outrageous statement at the heart of every new incarnation of our gender war. Because whereas those words once conjured up the image of a tousle-headed, snub-nosed Just William jumping in muddy puddles, they are now symptomatic of everything that is wrong with society. The modern interpretation being: boys will be violent and vile predators. And you’re telling me that’s OK?... almost every school I know of has policies involving the length of skirts and hair, body piercings and the like as part of a general, hilariously old-fashioned principle of decorum, and you know, the thing of you being there to learn... When the phrase “boys will be boys” was first recorded in 1589, it was said to have originated from the Latin proverb: “Children are children and do childish things.”...   I’m no anthropologist, but I am a parent and I have watched my little girl go through a ferocious pink princess phase despite everything I did to counter it, just as I’ve witnessed the awestricken look on my nephew’s face when he first saw a digger by the side of the road, aged two. Is it helpful to pretend those differences don’t exist?  Anderton Park primary school in Birmingham seems to think so. On Sunday, a report appeared detailing its new list of banned words and phrases, which include “let’s go guys”, “man up” and “boys and girls”. Why? Because “sexism is a spectrum”, says head teacher Sarah Hewitt-Clarkson, “which extends from a teacher using the word ‘guys’ and not meaning anything harmful by it… to the rape, torture and murder of women.”  Well you know what I think is harmful? How casually we now put those things in the same sentence."

Sexual harassment of men rife in the UK workplace - "According to a study by employment law firm Peninsula, 77% of male workers had experienced sexual harassment by a female colleague, with many too afraid to complain to their employer, forcing them to endure silently."
Most men are harassed by women at work - "A study by the law firm Peninsula found 85 per cent of employers admit they take a complaints of sexual harassment from a male employees less seriously.   Two-thirds of the 2,300 men questioned also said sexual banter was inappropriate at work.  David Price of Peninsula said: "The balance has shifted and it is now women who are aiming sexual banter at male workers... girls at a further education college were reprimanded for wolf-whistling at builders.  Officials at West Kent College in Tonbridge, Kent, warned pupils the behaviour was "totally unacceptable," and said any student caught harassing the contractors would face disciplinary action."
From 2008

Meme - "I don't want a baby boy
I feel like a monster for saying this, but hoping this might be a place where some people can understand, Lately I've been feeling like I really want another child, but I'm holding back because I don't know what I'd do if I had a boy. I have a daughter who is brilliant and fierce and the best thing in my world. We try hard to keep her free her from all the gendered BS of childhood and let her just be herself, but I've learned it all seeps in - from friends, from school, from TV etc. I don't know how to raise a boy when I genuinely hate modern men and masculinity. My husband is an exception because he's done such a lot of work on himself, and rationally I know that we need more exceptions like this, and good parents to raise them. I KnOW ly ANC them like a lioness. But then I pick my daughter up from her alternative, free-thinking school and see the boys still fighting and kicking in the playground. I hear about my friend's pre teen son sneaking graphic porn on the computer. I hear "boys will be boys" and that those who won't end up labelled as trans, and I just don't know if I could do it. Do I have too much anger and trauma with the patriarchy to raise and love a healthy boy? Has anyone else felt or worked through this?
Edit: thanks for the many thoughtful and compassionate responses. When I searched for this topic previously I only found people shouting down and shaming women confessing to these feelings on mothering subs and forums. I'm really glad this place exists."
Meme - "I think that women should be allowed to abort for any reason. And I support sex selected abortion, as long as that is the decision of the pregnant woman."
"but you can abort if it's a boy and then try again. I would."
"She is allowed to refuse to create yet another oppressor. I understand that you are extremely male identified and you center them over all. Radical feminists don't do that. Just fyi."
Meme - "If I got pregnant and it was a boy, I'd abort that miter so quick lol"
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Meme - "i have aborted the baby once i found it was a boy. im a staunch and unapologetic radfem. i have never regretted my decision. what i know for sure is that had i kept it i wouldnt have loved it like i would love a daughter."
"A taboo choice, but considering how casual men are about killing women, both in the womb and out of it, I really can't condemn you. What's good for the gander is good for the goose."
"A woman can have an abortion for any reason. Period. As long as it is her choice, it's not up for debate."
Men-hating feminists are straw feminists, we are told

Brad Wilcox on Twitter - "New study:
Happiest men and women in Europe are:
✔️ In *neotraditional relationships* where he works full-time, she works part-time
✔️ Married
✔️ Parents of young children
Unhappiest are:
✔️ She works, he doesn’t
✔️ Neither work"
Turns out, traditional gender roles seem to make everyone happy, and what feminists promote makes everyone unhappy

The failure of feminist Hollywood - YouTube - "The male superheroes don't have any time for women because they're busy saving the world but the female superhero is not interested in saving the world and is instead interested only in her career and dating life. Do you see, do you see the problem?... it's like writers want people to hate female leads... she-hulk is yet another bizarre attempt to shove corporate feminism down everybody's throats. Despite what feminist hollywood might have you believe these films shows and franchises are not appealing to men but they're also not appealing to women. Seriously i don't know a single woman who actually enjoys this except maybe the bitter ones with like 15 cats...  if we take a trip back to the 80s and 90s i think that it is fair to argue this was a great time for film and entertainment. Story lines feel authentic, the characters are memorable and the writing is still so quotable today. And most importantly writers weren't focused on forced diversity or writing films with the sole purpose of pushing wokeism and other social narratives... these female leads are a far cry from what feminist hollywood is giving us today. In an effort to place women in what have been long considered male roles feminist hollywoo over-corrected giving us a series of unlikable, unrelatable, unrealistic, strong female leads... nothing the box office doesn't lie, even if screen rant does... what leftists and feminists often attribute to sexism could be more accurately summarized by the fact that film and tv today just isn't really all that good. And having female leads doesn't change that. If anything with the way most of them are written it makes it worse... because these female characters are often shoved into a movie or a show for no good reason, it means that they aren't fully fledged people with their own pain struggles and flaws. They are there for the express purpose of propagating a feminist message and when they do for some reason have a struggle it's as one-dimensional and flat as this... unlike she-hulk, Banner is not dealing with some trivial nonsense where someone calls out to him in the street to say he looks nice... the female protagonists of old including those who were featured in older films that have now been remade and destroyed were women who embodied actual feminine and female characteristics and traits. But the difference is that those traits didn't stop them from being badasses and they aren't female for the sake of a female character. They are well-written thoughtful representations of a character who just happens to be female...  today's female characters are flat and empty and impossible to relate to. They have no flaws. They immediately succeed at everything they do and they have no journey of personal growth and development... to cap it off, so many of these women are either full of unnecessary unkind catty lines and whining or they're in a... man pickle measuring contest with the men around them... modern feminist characters are not people. They serve as vessels for feminist propaganda and man-hating... being gay and female doesn't change terrible writing... it also leads to weird situations where we are forced to suspend our disbelief to watch some tiny woman beat the snot out of a man twice her size...  I don't think that Captain Marvel experiences a single feeling while on screen, even when she's alone and supposed to be reflective... a strong woman knows when to be emotional and when to put her feelings aside. It isn't some sad reflection of women that we experience emotions... if they wanted to have she-hulk losing her absolute chops at some men it would have made a lot more sense if she wasn't presented to us as a character who consistently gets her way until this point. It's not like we've seen her having setback after setback and getting angrier and angrier so this moment makes absolutely no sense. Not that anything she does makes sense... showrunners and writers contribute sexism to their own characters by writing them poorly and no amount of shaming from directors and writers is going to change that... in summary good female protagonists are not one-dimensional. They aren't simply there to parrot liberal feminist talking points. They serve a higher purpose and often have deep rooted motivations for what they do. They don't compete with their male counterparts. Rather they acknowledge the strengths of the men around them, even sometimes acquiescing to them when necessary...  in the end wokeism has become a shield for bad television and film"
Sydney Watson and her damn internalised misogyny!

When did feminism become a dirty word? - "Standing here now in 2022, gazing upon the wreckage that is fourth-wave feminism, it is hard not to feel total despair at the signs both big and little that the movement utterly failed... Social movements that have followed feminism’s fourth wave have often come with a strong strand of misogyny. The Black Lives Matter movement escalated after a white American male policeman killed George Floyd in 2020, yet white women were singled out for endangering black men. “I am enraged by white women weaponising racial anxiety, using their white femininity to activate systems of white terror against black men,” one New York Times columnist wrote in an article typical of the time. This theory, that white women encourage white men to beat up black people, led to “Karen” becoming the slur of the moment. Initially, it was used to denote women who were racist, but quickly mutated into meaning women who were just a bit annoying... The misogyny has been even more blatant in the gender rights movement, which argues that everyone has a gender identity, which may differ from their biological sex. Leaving aside the question of what “gender identity” actually is — and no one has yet been able to define it without recourse to gender stereotypes and quasi-religious references, making it sound like a masculine or feminine soul — this means that a man can say that his gender identity is a woman, and therefore he should have access to women’s single-sex spaces, such as women’s sports teams and women’s prisons. Organisations such as Stonewall have enthusiastically got behind this issue, arguing that it is the new gay rights movement, even though redefining what men and women are has almost nothing in common with the legalisation of homosexuality. And yet, progressive organisations have dutifully fallen into the gender rights line. Gender activists insist there is no clash between gender rights and women’s rights, but any woman who points out that trans women are still biologically male and therefore at an obvious physical advantage in women’s sport, for example, is denounced as a bigot, and in some cases are forced out of their job, such as the researcher Maya Forstater and the university professor Kathleen Stock. But to tell women that not accepting biological males in their spaces puts trans people at risk is outrageous gaslighting: women are far more likely than trans women to be killed by male violence in this country, but such facts have suddenly become very unfashionable in progressive circles. What is now known as LGBT rights have firmly taken precedence over women’s rights. In 2021, Alexis McGill Johnson, the president and chief executive of Planned Parenthood, an organisation originally established to provide women with contraception, wrote an apology in the New York Times, saying Planned Parenthood had focused “too narrowly on ‘women’s health’, we have excluded trans and non-binary people”. (“What we don’t want to be, as an organisation, is a Karen,” Johnson added, for good measure.) When JK Rowling wrote in her much-discussed but less-read essay that her doubts about gender ideology stemmed from her experience of being sexually assaulted in her twenties, thousands of people — including Labour MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle — accused her of “weaponising her trauma” (Russell-Moyle later apologised). And while there has been much discussion recently about the wrongs of holding the World Cup in a country where homosexuality is illegal, the fact that a man in Qatar can legally beat his wife has merited barely a shrug. In Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon in particular has championed the gender rights movement... at a charity event to help end male violence against women and girls, at which Sturgeon gave the main speech, attendees were sent a note ahead of time that said the charity wanted “to create a safe environment for our guests and ask you to support us in this aim by refraining from discussions of the definition of a woman, and single sex spaces, in relation to the gender recognition act . . . This is not the place for that discussion”. Much more important to keep the charity — and Sturgeon — safe from awkward questions than women from male violence, presumably... the failings of fourth-wave feminism, which had become too commercialised, too much about social media hashtags and too associated with nameplate necklaces (which might give the LGBT movement, with its corporate sponsorship alliances and box-ticking rainbow wristbands, something to think about). So much of fourth-wave feminism was based on individual women’s experiences rather than collective change. On the plus side, this led to #MeToo. On the downside, it led to women seeing validation of their experiences as their feminist right. This was epitomised by the mantra, “Believe women”, which was well-intended, but utterly unworkable — if a society believes in due process and doesn’t think anyone should be damned as a sex offender on the basis of allegation and rumour. It also led to women like Gwyneth Paltrow and Kim Kardashian insisting that everything they did was a feminist form of self-empowerment, because they chose to do it, whether it was posting naked selfies or selling expensive perfumes, and anyone who questioned how feminist any of this was, was slammed as an out-of-date prude. The most obvious inheritor of all this self-empowering is the Duchess of Sussex, always insisting on “my truth” rather than “the truth”, and whose podcast, which finished last week, was ostensibly about fighting female stereotypes, but turned out to be about fighting anyone who had ever criticised or doubted Meghan. And no one — other than Prince Harry, apparently — can take that version of feminism too seriously for too long."
The joys of intersectionality!
Of course, if you object to the excesses of feminism this is "backlash"

Meme - The Meme Policeman: "Feminist News telling young women to stay in the kitchen.
Feminist News: Colleen @Coll3enG: "If I could recommend anything to young women it's to stay single at 19. I do not know a single woman who had a good experience with a man at 19. Just stay in our home and learn to bake it is better than whatever will happen to you romantically at 19""

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