"Men don't dump young women for older women. Men dump young women for younger women." - from Mistresses (the show)
***
The Twisted World of Sexual Organs - "when the Korean woman chewed on the dead male squid’s flesh she triggered the release of his spermatophores. The sperm sacs mistook the woman’s soft mouth for a female squid and implanted themselves there instead. The dead male squid had, effectively, attempted to inseminate a human female... penises may double as weapons during violent combat, or as lassos to snag a mate - often against her will. It’s a world where semen can exert powerful mind control over a female, and vaginas can act to deliberately help or hinder the age-old race of sperm to egg... The sperm of the Norway rat, for instance, have tiny hook-shaped heads that allow them to link together in their hundreds, forming a mega-sperm with several hundred tails that can power towards the eggs faster than single sperm. This gives the sperm a vital edge in the race to reach the egg before a rival’s sperm does. Other rats play dirty. They have developed deliberately malformed ‘kamikaze’ sperm, which seem to linger behind as their peers race to the egg. These sperm are thought by some scientists to join together and form a tangled mess that ensnares the sperm of rival males - although the idea is controversial... It’s only within the last 20 years that biologists such as Eberhard and Barbosa have begun to realise just how much power females hold during mating. It’s easy to understand why this went unnoticed for so long: female control is often subtle and even cryptic compared to the boisterous displays of power and control often put on by males... Men, unusually among male mammals, lack a penis bone (some scholars think the Bible may have been one of the first texts to attempt an explanation for this puzzling fact – Adam may have lost his penis bone, not a rib, in the creation of Eve). Even so, the human penis has probably also evolved to stimulate women. It is freakishly large compared to the penises of most of our closest animal relations - the chimps, gorillas and orang-utans."
Likewise in humans: female control is often subtle and even cryptic. That doesn't mean it doesn't exist
PEOPLE WITH ‘FOREIGN-SOUNDING’ NAMES GET FEWER JOB INTERVIEWS - "Job applicants with ‘foreign-sounding’ names are considerably less likely to be invited for an interview than people with Anglo-Saxon names. That is the central finding of research by Nicolas Jacquemet and Constantine Yannelis, presented at the Royal Economic Society’s 2011 annual conference. This discrimination is of the same size as the often-observed discrimination against African-American names in job applications, suggesting that the discrimination may be due to a general suspicion about differences rather than a particular ethnicity... These results suggest that discrimination arises because of a general mistrust of outsiders rather than a mistrust of specific minorities. The authors argue that government policies that target discrimination against specific minorities will miss out on preventing discrimination against others: governments should turn their attention to removing the chance for discrimination of any kind by making all resumes anonymous... The extent of racial discrimination is now well established, and ranges from a 30-50% drop in the likelihood of receiving a positive answer as a result of the perceived ethnicity of the name appearing on the resume. Perhaps the most striking fact is that this result remains the same across countries, geographic regions and ethnic minorities. This may suggest that discrimination arises because of a general mistrust of any individual identified as an outsider of the dominant group, rather than a targeted mistrust against specific minorities – that is, suspicions of dissimilarities rather than differences... Once call-backs are disaggregated according to whether the employer is in the city proper or the suburbs, it appears the whole discrimination pattern comes from the suburbs, where the ‘white flight’ phenomenon – white families choosing to leave an area once black families begin to move in – has produced very high ethnic homogeneity."
Paper below
Keywords: hiring name interview, make up european sounding name cv discrimination, white made up names resume, unusual names
Indiscriminate discrimination: A correspondence test for ethnic homophily in the Chicago labor market - "Duguet, Leandri, L’Horty, and Petit (2007) observe that applicants with family names of North African origin with Gallicized first names face substantially less discrimination amongst French employers than applicants with both North African first and last names, almost eliminating the difference in call-backs... We pick names that we believe are unidentifiable to Chicago based employers using ethnic groups that are relatively unknown in the Chicago area. To accomplish this task, a set of names is first created by randomly mixing Albanian, Armenian and Georgian first names... Past experimental studies have indicated that substantial gender biases exist (see, e.g., Weichselbaumer, 2004; Booth, Leigh, and Varganova, 2012; Bertrand and Mullainathan, 2004), female applicants being more likely to receive a callback offer"
Why don't feminists talk about discrimination against men for callbacks?
French entrepreneurs launch test to detect pork in food
Mixed-race people perceived as 'more attractive,' UK study finds
Q&A: What Is Feminist Biology? - "The University of Wisconsin-Madison is looking for a particular kind of biologist: a feminist one. The university has set up a fellowship, administered by its women's studies department, for life sciences research. While it may sound strange for a social sciences department to host a biologist, the researchers in charge of the new fellowship are hoping to make it more of a norm... The first step is always to say, 'Does this finding replicate?' Because we've so many of these flash-in-the-pan things where a study gets tons of publicity and there's so much competition in biology to be first with your breathless finding. So that's the first question to ask, 'Has anybody else gotten this?'"
So it sounds like 'Feminist Biology" is mostly just Good Biology.
snopes.com: Slow Boiled Frog - "Claim: A frog placed in water that is brought to a boil through gradual temperature increase will make no attempt to escape...
'The 'critical thermal maxima' of many species of frogs have been determined by several investigators. In this procedure, the water in which a frog is submerged is heated gradually at about 2 degrees Fahrenheit per minute. As the temperature of the water is gradually increased, the frog will eventually become more and more active in attempts to escape the heated water. If the container size and opening allow the frog to jump out, it will do so'"
Why Is Average IQ Higher in Some Places? - "Before our work, several scientists had offered explanations for the global pattern of IQ. Nigel Barber argued that variation in IQ is due primarily to differences in education. Donald Templer and Hiroko Arikawa argued that colder climates are difficult to live in, such that evolution favors higher IQ in those areas. Satoshi Kanazawa suggested that evolution favors higher IQ in areas that are farther from the evolutionary origin of humans: sub-Saharan Africa. Evolution, the hypothesis goes, equipped us to survive in our ancestral home without thinking about it too hard. As we migrated away, though, the environment became more challenging, requiring the evolution of higher intelligence to survive. We tested all these ideas. In our 2010 study, we not only found a very strong relationship between levels of infectious disease and IQ, but controlling for the effects of education, national wealth, temperature, and distance from sub-Saharan Africa, infectious disease emerged as the best predictor of the bunch. A recent study by Christopher Hassall and Thomas Sherratt repeated our analysis using more sophisticated statistical methods, and concluded that infectious disease may be the only really important predictor of average national IQ."
Balaji Viswanathan's answer to Tamil Ethnicity and People: Are Tamilians discriminated against in North Indian states on the basis of culture, language or skin colour? - Quora - "Teasing is not discrimination. In Delhi, we used to make fun of Sardars all the time and sometimes the Mallus, Gujjus and Bongs. So, the Tamils get no special treatment in this. In the same way, Tamil movies often make fun of Marwaris, Telugus and other Indians. There are more Sardar jokes than jokes on all other communities combined. Making fun is not bad. Humor is the antidote to hatred."
What percentage of Singapore’s total population was born in Singapore? - "I have performed a very rough calculation based on other publicly available data to arrive at a rough guesstimate that 45.8% of Singapore’s total population (residents and non-residents) was born in Singapore."
Dog owner threatens to sue kindhearted shelter worker who raised money so he could be reunited with his pet pooch - "
EXCLUSIVE: Milo, Boogie, & Baldwin Apparently Doxxed - "Earlier this evening, TheRalphRetort.com was provided with a pastebin that seems to include the personal information of Milo Yiannopoulos, Adam Baldwin, YouTube personality Boogie2988, Zoe Quinn’s ex Eron Gjoni, as well as another YouTuber, JonTron. I can officially confirm that at least one of the addresses are legit... At the end of the Pastebin, there is a message:
let this be a warning, don’t fuck with zoe or anita anymore or this list grows...
I can say with absolute certainty that at least one very high level supporter of GamerGate has been doxxed"
Doxxing = exposing someone's personal details as a way of attacking them
Comments: "Sure, why take into consideration legitimate criticism when you can just doxx anyone who disagrees with you? Genius!"
"If they've gone as far as doxxing people now, they've already lost. It means that their comments, and statements have lost all traction and the best they can try to do is shut people up by giving information that could cause physical harm to another."
"And this is coming from the same folks who accuse gamers of doxxing with abandon? The double standards are strong in them."
Leftovers Inspiration - Five ways to use up leftover Risotto or Paella....
SuperBrunch - The Jaw-Dropping Buffet Of The Year Is BACK at The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore
University of Zimbabwe Impose Student Kissing Ban - "Fourth on the list of behaviour that will result in eviction says: "Caught in intimate position (kissing or having sex in public places)". Ms Mazikana, who is the students' gender representative, said that the campus already had strict rules for those fraternising with the opposite sex. In single-sex hostels, for example, residents were only permitted visitors in the foyer and no visits were permitted after 22:00, she said... There were already strict regulations infringing the students' rights to demonstrate - introduced in 1997 - which instilled a fear of being expelled, he said. The BBC's Brian Hungwe in the capital, Harare, says the students often accuse the university authorities of being out of touch with the young. Beer was banned on campus about seven years ago, which proved very unpopular, he says."
Black Actress Who Accused LAPD of Racial Profiling is Charged with Lewd Conduct - "Watts and her boyfriend, celebrity chef Brian Lucas, are being slapped with the charge after Los Angeles City Attorney filed the charges this week after receiving various witness statements suggesting Watts and Lucas were having sex in her car outside CBS Studios and seeing photos of Watts straddling her Lucas with her breasts exposed.Watts and her boyfriend, celebrity chef Brian Lucas, are being slapped with the charge after Los Angeles City Attorney filed the charges this week after receiving various witness statements suggesting Watts and Lucas were having sex in her car outside CBS Studios and seeing photos of Watts straddling her Lucas with her breasts exposed... When responding to the scene after receiving a complaint that “a white male and black female were involved in a sexual act inside a Mercedes” on Sept. 11, officers asked Watts for her identification. Watts did not want to comply with the mandate and instead pulled the race card, the celebrity card and the publicist card in order to wrangle herself out of the situation. And she walked away from a police officer, which could have led to her arrest to begin with. “Somebody called, which gives me the right to be here,” the officer, later identified as Sgt. Jim Parker, is heard saying to Watts. “So it gives me the right to identify you by law.” “Do you know how many times the cops have been called just for being black?” Watts responded. “Who brought up the race card?” Parker asked. “I’m bringing it up because I have every right to be here,” Watts said... Watts and Lucas then went on a public campaign against the LAPD, posting photos of the incident on social media accusing cops of racism and unlawful imprisonment on network TV... “I was handcuffed and detained by 2 police officers from the Studio City Police Department after refusing to agree that I had done something wrong by showing affection, fully clothed, in a public place,” Watts dribbled nonsensically on Facebook. Lucas suggested police “harassed” the couple because they were an interracial couple and they thought Watts was a black prostitute."
L'origine de Bert
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
How Diversity Hurts Performance
Somehow, those who tout the benefits of "diversity" never present evidence for their claim. It does seem that on the contrary,, diversity worsens performance:
DEMOGRAPHY AND DIVERSITY IN ORGANIZATIONS: A REVIEW OF 40 YEARS OF RESEARCH
Katherine Y. Williams and Charles A. O’Reilly, III
"Most of the research that supports the claim that diversity is beneficial for groups has been conducted in the laboratory or classroom setting, instead of examining intact working groups within an organizational context. In the laboratory the results sometimes show that group diversity can improve the quality of a given decision or the creativity of an idea (e.g., Kent & McGrath, 1969; Priem, Harrison, & Muir, 1995). The research on intact working groups, on the other hand, paints a less optimistic view of the effects of diversity on group functioning. It provides evidence of the possible dysfunctional aspects of heterogeneity in groups, including increased stereotyping, in-group/out group effects, dysfunctional conflict, and turnover (e. g., Linville & Jones, 1980; O’Reilly, Snyder, & Boothe, 1993; Pelled, 1996; Tsui, Egan, & O’Reilly, 1992)...
Much of the literature that supports the claim that diversity is beneficial for groups is often based on variation in individual attributes such as personality, ability, and functional backgrounds, and not on ascriptive attributes such as ethnicity and sex (e.g., Altman & Haythom, 1967; Hoffman, 1959; Levy, 1964; Triandis, Hall, & Ewen, 1965; Zeleny, 1955). With the changes in the demography of the workforce, understanding the effects of visible attributes is even more important than it used to be. Although there is evidence from laboratory research that diversity in ascriptive characteristics can be beneficial to groups (Cox, Lobel, & McLeod, 1991; Watson, Kumar, & Michaelsen, 1993), this is based on only a few studies when considered against the large number of field studies suggesting that heterogeneity in race and gender often have negative effects on group process and performance (e.g., Cummings, Zhou, & Oldham, 1993; Kizilos, Pelled, & Cummings, 1996; Riordan & Shore, 1997; Zenger & Lawrence, 1989)...
Similarity on attributes ranging from attitudes and values to demographic variables increases interpersonal attraction and liking (e.g., Byme, Clore, & Worchel, 1966). Individuals who are similar in background may share common life experiences and values, and may find the experience of interaction with each other easier, positively reinforcing, and more desirable. Similarity provides positive reinforcement for one’s attitudes and beliefs, while dissimilarity is seen as a punishment. For instance, similarity/attraction theory has been embedded in the principle of homophily and the effects it may have on communication in groups (Rogers & Bhowmik, 1971). In a free choice situation, when an individual can interact with any of a number of people, there is a strong tendency for him or her to select a person that is similar (e.g,, Burt & Reagans, 1997; Lincoln & Miller, 1979). Homophily has been observed in friendship and voluntary interactions (Blau, 1977; McPherson & Smith-Lovin, 1987), as well as in organizational settings (e.g., Brass, 1985; Ibarra, 1992; Mehra, Kilduff, & Brass, 1996). Several laboratory studies demonstrate that heterogeneity leads to decreased communication, message distortion, and more errors in communication (e.g., Barnlund & Harland, 1963; Triandis, 1960)...
Information and decision-making theories propose that variance in group composition can have a direct positive impact through the increase in the skills, abilities, information, and knowledge that diversity brings, independent of what happens in the group process (Tziner & Eden, 1985). Demographically diverse individuals are expected to have a broader range of knowledge and experience than homogeneous individuals. For example, the proponents of immigration argue that diversity promotes creativity in the workforce. To accomplish this, Lazear (1997) argues that new immigrants must have information that is different from the existing workforce, have information that is relevant or useful, and must be able to communicate this to others. From this perspective, diversity is valuable when it adds new information. Clearly, this positive impact of diversity can be expected when the task can benefit from multiple perspectives and diverse knowledge, such as innovations, complex problems, or product design. Researchers largely agree that functional or background diversity provides the range of knowledge, skills, and contacts that enhances problem solving (e.g., Ancona & Caldwell, 1992; Bantel & Jackson, 1989; Pelled, Eisenhardt, & Xin, 1997). “Members who have entered the organization at different times know a different set of people and often have both different technical skills and different perspectives on the organization's history" (Ancona & Caldwell, 1992, p. 325)...
The effects of diversity can be moderated by the situation. Since some of the potentially negative effects of increased diversity result from cognitive processes (e.g., stereotyping), it is reasonable that the same cognitive processes may offer a means for reducing the negative effects. For instance, creating a common identity or goal may, as Sherif (1936) demonstrated over 50 years ago, reduce in-group/out-group biases and promote solidarity. More recently, research has shown that strong, collectivistic cultures may reduce invidious social categorization effects (e.g., Chatman, Polzer, Barsade, & Neale, 1997; O’Reilly & Chatman, 1996). Similarly, other actions that call attention to similarities or differences may accentuate or diminish social categorization and similarity processes. Some types of diversity training may unwittingly highlight differences and create exclusive rather than inclusive categorizations (Nemeth & Christensen, 1996). Finally, other contextual influences such as technology or task design may also increase or decrease normative and informational influences on interpretations. For example, jobs may be designed that signal to people that they are interdependent or independent (Jehn, Northcraft, & Neale, 1997). These contextual influences can act to focus attention in ways that can subtly focus interpretations on similarities or differences. As such, they may unwittingly help or hinder group process and performance...
The overall effect of increasing diversity is likely to have a u-shaped form with some increments of diversity having large positive increases in group problem-solving capability with comparatively small negative effects on group functioning. Large amounts of diversity in groups may offer little in the way of added value from unique information and make group cohesion and functioning difficult...
In general, there is strong evidence that diversity in tenure is associated with lower levels of social integration, poorer communication, and higher turnover in groups. Although under some circumstances turnover may have positive effects (Staw, 1980), the effects of tenure diversity found in the research reviewed here are considered negative; that is, those who are most different in terms of tenure are most likely to exit...
Functional background may serve as a proxy for the information, knowledge, skills, and expertise that individuals bring to a group. The research suggests that the diversity of information functionally dissimilar individuals bring to the group improves performance in terms of creativity, but not necessarily implementation. For example, functionally diverse groups are slower (Hambrick, Cho, & Chen, 1996) and have lower cohesion than homogeneous groups (Ancona & Caldwell, 1992, p. 338). However, the overall evidence strongly suggests that functional diversity is likely to stimulate task conflict and improve performance (Jehn, Northcraft, & Neale, l997; Pelled, Eisenhardt, & Xin, 1997)...
Overall, the research on age diversity suggests that groups with higher variations in their age composition may have slightly lower levels of effective group process than more homogeneous groups. The expectation, drawn from an information and decisionmiaking theory, that age differences within a group may index differences in perspective and values that are useful for cognitive performance is not supported by the literature Instead, the literature suggests that age diversity is associated with increased turnover and withdrawal, especially of those individuals who are most different...
The results of research on gender diversity suggest that the proportion of men and women present in the sample may be an important predictor of the results. In general, gender diversity has negative effects on groups, especially on males. It is associated with higher tumover rates, especially among those who are most different. The studies also reveal that women and men respond differently, and may have different experiences as a minority. Men display lower levels of satisfaction and commitment when they are in the minority, while women appear less likely to have a negative psychological reaction. This is despite the fact that men in female-dominated groups are more likely to be accepted, less likely to be treated with hostility, and less likely to be stereotyped. Given the asymmetrical findings, future research on the effects of gender diversity needs to pay close attention to the proportions of men and women in the sample if results are to be interpretable (e,g., Ely, 1994)...
Although the issue of race-ethnic diversity is important for society and organizations, research on its impact remains inconclusive. The optimists argue, based on information/decision theory, that ethnic diversity can promote creativity and improve decision making. Paradoxically, there is some evidence from field studies that supports this conclusion, but, contrary to information/decision theory predictions, these results occur independent of group-process variables; that is, diversity improves performance controlling for group process. The pessimists, using similarity/attraction and social categorization theories, note that ethnic diversity can, unless successfully managed, have negative effects on group process. Consistent findings show that individuals who are different from the majority race in an organization are more likely to leave, to be less satisfied and psychologically committed to the organization, and to receive lower performance evaluations. Interestingly, several studies find that these effects are more pronounced for Whites than minorities (Riordan & Shore, 1997; Tsui, Egan, & O’Reilly, 1992). Overall, the evidence for ethnic diversity seems more consistent with predictions of similarity/attraction and social categorization theories than with information and decision making.
A limitation to the existing research is that most studies have only examined blacks and whites, or whites and “others.” Yet, as decades of research in cross-cultural psychology has shown, there are important differences within and across ethnic groups (e.g., Kim, Park, & Suzuki, 1990; Phinney, 1996) that may be relevant within organizations (e.g, O’Reil1y, Williams, & Barsade, 1997; Riordan & Shore, 1997), It is unclear that Asian Americans, for instance, Will have the same experience as African Americans in majority Anglo-American organizations. Further, the effects of proportions may also have important effects on race/ethnic diversity just as it does on sex composition (e.g., Espinoza & Garza, 1985; Garza & Santos, 1991; Tsui, Egan, & O’Reil1y, 1992).
Variations in other individual differences have also been studied and found to have important effects on the process and performance of groups. Some of the earliest laboratory studies conceptualized diversity in terms of variations in personality, attitudes, and values and found positive effects for these (e.g., Torrance, 1957). In 1959 Hoffman examined 30 small groups in the laboratory and found that groups that were diverse in terms of their personality characteristics produced higher quality outputs and tended to produce more inventive solutions. Hoffman and Maier (1961) found further support for the positive effects of diversity in terms of personality. Triandis, Hall, and Ewen (1965) also found that heterogeneity in attitudes, but not abilities, was associated with increased creativity.
Bochner and Hesketh (1994), using an Australian sample, found that people who were different from others in their work groups on power distance and collectivism perceived that they were discriminated against more frequently, but valued their cultural differences more highly. This finding suggests that heterogeneity in cultural values may have important effects on individual outcomes. For example, Dutch researchers found that individuals who were not Dutch tended to be less satisfied with their jobs than their Dutch co-workers (Verkuyten, de long, & Masson, 1993). Although the evidence for cultural diversity is intriguing, organizational demographers have seldom focused on this type of diversity as it affects group process and performance.
Another stream of research of potential relevance for understanding the impact of diversity are studies of the effects of “minority influence” on decision making. Charlan Nemeth and her colleagues (e.g., Nerneth, 1986; Nemeth & Kwan, 1987) have shown that when people hold strong, consistent views different from the majority, they can often have an effect on decisions beyond what their proportion Would suggest. Research suggests informational social influence may dampen some of the conformity pressures of normative social influence (Moscovici, 1985). Thus, insofar as demographic differences also index differences in information, a minority in a group may raise issues that can affect the g1'oup’s decision making...
Based on the studies reviewed here, two major findings from the research on demography and diversity appear to be well supported. First, there is substantial evidence from both laboratory and field studies conducted over the past four decades that variations in group composition can have important eflects on group functioning. These studies show that increased diversity, especially in terms of age, tenure, and ethnicity, typically has negative effects on social integration, communication, and conflict (e.g., Chatman et 211., 1997; Ibarra, 1992; Iehn, Northcraft, & Neale, 1997; Lott & Lott, 1965; O’Rei1ly et al., 1989; Pelled, Eisenhardt, & Xin, 1997; Smith et al., 1994). Diverse groups are more likely to be less integrated, have less communication, and more conflict. Interestingly, the one exception to this pattern is with regard to functional diversity or educational background. For this variable, increased diversity has been shown under some circumstances to increase communication (e.g., Aneona & Caldwell, 1992; Glick, Miller, & Huber, 1993; Jehn, Northcraft, & Neale, 1997). In addition to the effects on social integration, communication, and conflict, research has also linked group diversity to several other process variables such as increased in-group/out-group biases, stereotyping, and other cognitive biases that can negatively affect group functioning (e.g., Crocker & Major, 1989; Lorber & Farrell, 1991; Messick & Massie, 1989; Moreland, 1985).
It is also clear that not all of the group process variables investigated operate independently of one another. For example, Smith and colleagues (1994) found that social integration and informal communication were related. Chatrnan and colleagues (1997), using a business simulation with MBA students as subjects, found that organizational culture moderated the effects of diversity such that as dissimilarity increased conflict was seen as more beneficial for those groups with a collectivistic culture. Other studies have shown that under different conditions conflict may have positive or negative effects (e.g., Jehn, Northcraft, & Neale, 1997; O’Reilly, Williams, & Barsade, 1997; Pelled, Eisenhardt, & Xin, 1997; Stephan, 1985). Studies such as these underscore the importance of contextual variables as moderators of diversity effects. Thus, consistent with the model outlined in Figure 1, there is also evidence that demographic effects may be moderated by variables such as culture, technology, and task design.
A second supportable conclusion is that at the micro level, increased diversity typically has negative effects on the ability of the group to meet its members' needs and to function effectively over time. The literature shows clearly that individuals are affected by the demographic composition of their work groups. The preponderance of evidence shows that increased diversity within a group can be associated with lower levels of satisfaction and commitment (Riordan & Shore, 1997; Tsui, Egan, & O‘Rei1ly, 1992 ), lower performance evaluations for those who are different (Greenhaus, Parasuraman, & Wonnley, 1990; Holahan, 1979; Judge & Ferris, 1993; Sackett, DuBois, & Noe, 1991; Tsui & O’Rei1ly, 1989), and higher levels of absenteeism and turnover (Cummings, Zhou, & Oldham, 1993; Jackson et al., 1991; McCain, O’Reilly, & Pfeffer, 1933; O’Reilly, Caldwell, and Barnett, 1989; O’Reil1y, Snyder, & Boothe, 1993; Pfeffer & O’Reilly, 1987; Tsui, Eisenhardt, & Xin, 1992; Wagner, Pfeffer, & O’Reilly, 1984; Wiersema & Bird, 1993). In general, more visible demographic characteristics such as sex and ethnicity have larger negative effects than variables that are less visible like age (Cummings, Zhou, & Oldham, 1993; Pelled, 1993).
What is less clear from this research is precisely how and when differences in minority status lead to negative outcomes (e.g., Espinoza & Garza, 1985; Garza & Santos, 1991; Riordan & Shore, 1997). Research on gender, for example, suggests that men in the minority may react more negatively than women (Riordan & Shore, 1997; Wharton & Baron, 1987). To resolve this ambiguity, future research might productively examine not just overall measures of variation in group composition as captured by the coefficient of variation, but also consider proportional measures within groups. Using proportional measures may allow us to discover differential effects for specific minority samples.
At a more macro level, the evidence for performance effects is less clear. There is some indication that at the organizational level top management heterogeneity can be positively related to organizational performance (e.g., Bantel & Jackson, 1989; Eisenhardt & Schoonhoven, 1990; Murray, 1989). However, other studies that look directly at process variables find similar effects for top team homogeneity (e.g., Michel & Harnbrick, 1992; O’Reilly & Flatt, 1989; O‘Reilly, Snyder, & Boothe, 1993; Zajac, Golden, & Shortell, 1991). Triandis, Hall, and Ewen (1965) suggested that dissimilarity in groups, while offering the potential for more creative solutions, also led to more difficulties in group functioning. They concluded that in order to capture the benefits of diversity, groups needed to be able to resolve their differences. Over 30 years later, this conclusion remains valid. A critical determinant of the outcome is whether the diversity is having constructive or destructive effects on the process (e.g., Flatt, 1996; Iaquinto & Frederickson, 1996). Part of the reason for these differences lies in the complexity of the diversity-process-performance chain and the competing effects of the added value of increased information versus the increased difficulties of communicating and solving problems in highly diverse groups. At this macro level, any causal linkages between the composition of the senior team and organizational outcomes has to be a function of a large number of other unmeasured variables (Jehn, Northcraft, & Neale, 1997)...
Muminghan and Conlon (1991), in a Clever study of British string quartets, found that the most successful groups were those that were able to contain conflict so that it did not become disruptive. Quartets that confronted conflict were less successful. Wall and Nolan (1986) found that lower levels of conflict were associated With greater satisfaction and equity among group members. But what is the theoretical basis of these effects? If social categorization and similarity/attraction biases are the driving force behind the negative effects of diversity, what actions may be taken to address these directly? Evidence from Mullen and Copper (1994), O’Reilly, Williams, and Barsade (1997), and Gaertner and colleagues (1990) suggest that rather than emphasizing demographic differences and increasing task conflict, social categorization processes that emphasize common goals and identities and inhibit dysfunctional conflict may enhance group processes and performance.
For example, research has shown that increased cooperation can reduce categorization biases and in-group distinctions (Gaertner et al., 1990). Further, when attempts are made to deliberately promote identification with the larger group and minimize subgroup identification, intergroup bias can be reduced even more (Gaertner, Mann, Murrell & Dovidio, 1989). This may be done by identifying salient out- groups or through an emphasis on collectivistic cultures to help override the natural inclinations people have to make invidious social categoiizations (O‘Reilly & Chatrnan, 1996). These processes are consistent with the findings of Chatman and colleagues (1997) who find that collectivistic cultures mitigate the negative effects of diversity. Tushman and O’Reilly (1996) contend that for long-term success organizations and groups need to be “ambidextrous”; that is, able to tolerate diverse structures and cultures. They argue that this is done with strong, inclusive cultures that promote a common identity even in the face of differing perspectives. The use of this cognitive approach may also be seen in the Chatman and Barsade (1995) study showing how organizational cultures may be created that foster commitment and cooperation.
Another possible cause of reduced conflict and increased cooperation may stem from Gaertner and Dovidio‘s (1977) notion of “aversive racism”; that is, faced with strong normative pressures to override invidious social categorizations, group members may enhance their ability to perform by consciously overriding the propensity to differentiate in-groups and out-groups. This may improve teamwork because of the awareness of the social stigma attached to socially inappropriate social categorization. As O’Reilly, Williams, and Barsade (1997) have suggested, an important function of management may be to use the psychology of self-categorization to help employees to identify with a culture that is inclusive and not with in-groups based on characteristics unrelated to job performance like sex and race...
There is an impressive amount of high-quality laboratory and field research on diversity and demography in organizations. Overall, this research offers convincing support for the argument that variations in group demography can have both direct and indirect effects on group process and performance. Under ideal conditions increased diversity may have the positive effects predicted by information and decision theories. However, consistent with social categorization and similarity/attraction theories, the preponderance of empirical evidence suggests that diversity is most likely to impede group functioning. Unless steps are taken to actively counteract these effects, the evidence suggests that, by itself, diversity is more likely to have negative than positive effects on group performance. Simply having more diversity in a group is no guarantee that the group will make better decisions or function effectively. In our view, these conclusions suggest that diversity is a mixed blessing and requires careful and sustained attention to be a positive force in enhancing performance...
Ignoring the negative consequences of diversity is not the answer. Ironically, understanding these negative effects may provide a solution for its more pernicious effects. This is the good news from this review."
So diversity hurts group performance, and to reduce the negative effects of diversity, it is best to get people to think of themselves as the same - in other words, emphasising your diversity increases the negative impact of diversity.
One corollary of this is that identity politics is harmful when the identity group has to work with others in a larger context.
Addendum: See also How Diversity Hurts Performance (Revisited)
DEMOGRAPHY AND DIVERSITY IN ORGANIZATIONS: A REVIEW OF 40 YEARS OF RESEARCH
Katherine Y. Williams and Charles A. O’Reilly, III
"Most of the research that supports the claim that diversity is beneficial for groups has been conducted in the laboratory or classroom setting, instead of examining intact working groups within an organizational context. In the laboratory the results sometimes show that group diversity can improve the quality of a given decision or the creativity of an idea (e.g., Kent & McGrath, 1969; Priem, Harrison, & Muir, 1995). The research on intact working groups, on the other hand, paints a less optimistic view of the effects of diversity on group functioning. It provides evidence of the possible dysfunctional aspects of heterogeneity in groups, including increased stereotyping, in-group/out group effects, dysfunctional conflict, and turnover (e. g., Linville & Jones, 1980; O’Reilly, Snyder, & Boothe, 1993; Pelled, 1996; Tsui, Egan, & O’Reilly, 1992)...
Much of the literature that supports the claim that diversity is beneficial for groups is often based on variation in individual attributes such as personality, ability, and functional backgrounds, and not on ascriptive attributes such as ethnicity and sex (e.g., Altman & Haythom, 1967; Hoffman, 1959; Levy, 1964; Triandis, Hall, & Ewen, 1965; Zeleny, 1955). With the changes in the demography of the workforce, understanding the effects of visible attributes is even more important than it used to be. Although there is evidence from laboratory research that diversity in ascriptive characteristics can be beneficial to groups (Cox, Lobel, & McLeod, 1991; Watson, Kumar, & Michaelsen, 1993), this is based on only a few studies when considered against the large number of field studies suggesting that heterogeneity in race and gender often have negative effects on group process and performance (e.g., Cummings, Zhou, & Oldham, 1993; Kizilos, Pelled, & Cummings, 1996; Riordan & Shore, 1997; Zenger & Lawrence, 1989)...
Similarity on attributes ranging from attitudes and values to demographic variables increases interpersonal attraction and liking (e.g., Byme, Clore, & Worchel, 1966). Individuals who are similar in background may share common life experiences and values, and may find the experience of interaction with each other easier, positively reinforcing, and more desirable. Similarity provides positive reinforcement for one’s attitudes and beliefs, while dissimilarity is seen as a punishment. For instance, similarity/attraction theory has been embedded in the principle of homophily and the effects it may have on communication in groups (Rogers & Bhowmik, 1971). In a free choice situation, when an individual can interact with any of a number of people, there is a strong tendency for him or her to select a person that is similar (e.g,, Burt & Reagans, 1997; Lincoln & Miller, 1979). Homophily has been observed in friendship and voluntary interactions (Blau, 1977; McPherson & Smith-Lovin, 1987), as well as in organizational settings (e.g., Brass, 1985; Ibarra, 1992; Mehra, Kilduff, & Brass, 1996). Several laboratory studies demonstrate that heterogeneity leads to decreased communication, message distortion, and more errors in communication (e.g., Barnlund & Harland, 1963; Triandis, 1960)...
Information and decision-making theories propose that variance in group composition can have a direct positive impact through the increase in the skills, abilities, information, and knowledge that diversity brings, independent of what happens in the group process (Tziner & Eden, 1985). Demographically diverse individuals are expected to have a broader range of knowledge and experience than homogeneous individuals. For example, the proponents of immigration argue that diversity promotes creativity in the workforce. To accomplish this, Lazear (1997) argues that new immigrants must have information that is different from the existing workforce, have information that is relevant or useful, and must be able to communicate this to others. From this perspective, diversity is valuable when it adds new information. Clearly, this positive impact of diversity can be expected when the task can benefit from multiple perspectives and diverse knowledge, such as innovations, complex problems, or product design. Researchers largely agree that functional or background diversity provides the range of knowledge, skills, and contacts that enhances problem solving (e.g., Ancona & Caldwell, 1992; Bantel & Jackson, 1989; Pelled, Eisenhardt, & Xin, 1997). “Members who have entered the organization at different times know a different set of people and often have both different technical skills and different perspectives on the organization's history" (Ancona & Caldwell, 1992, p. 325)...
The effects of diversity can be moderated by the situation. Since some of the potentially negative effects of increased diversity result from cognitive processes (e.g., stereotyping), it is reasonable that the same cognitive processes may offer a means for reducing the negative effects. For instance, creating a common identity or goal may, as Sherif (1936) demonstrated over 50 years ago, reduce in-group/out-group biases and promote solidarity. More recently, research has shown that strong, collectivistic cultures may reduce invidious social categorization effects (e.g., Chatman, Polzer, Barsade, & Neale, 1997; O’Reilly & Chatman, 1996). Similarly, other actions that call attention to similarities or differences may accentuate or diminish social categorization and similarity processes. Some types of diversity training may unwittingly highlight differences and create exclusive rather than inclusive categorizations (Nemeth & Christensen, 1996). Finally, other contextual influences such as technology or task design may also increase or decrease normative and informational influences on interpretations. For example, jobs may be designed that signal to people that they are interdependent or independent (Jehn, Northcraft, & Neale, 1997). These contextual influences can act to focus attention in ways that can subtly focus interpretations on similarities or differences. As such, they may unwittingly help or hinder group process and performance...
The overall effect of increasing diversity is likely to have a u-shaped form with some increments of diversity having large positive increases in group problem-solving capability with comparatively small negative effects on group functioning. Large amounts of diversity in groups may offer little in the way of added value from unique information and make group cohesion and functioning difficult...
In general, there is strong evidence that diversity in tenure is associated with lower levels of social integration, poorer communication, and higher turnover in groups. Although under some circumstances turnover may have positive effects (Staw, 1980), the effects of tenure diversity found in the research reviewed here are considered negative; that is, those who are most different in terms of tenure are most likely to exit...
Functional background may serve as a proxy for the information, knowledge, skills, and expertise that individuals bring to a group. The research suggests that the diversity of information functionally dissimilar individuals bring to the group improves performance in terms of creativity, but not necessarily implementation. For example, functionally diverse groups are slower (Hambrick, Cho, & Chen, 1996) and have lower cohesion than homogeneous groups (Ancona & Caldwell, 1992, p. 338). However, the overall evidence strongly suggests that functional diversity is likely to stimulate task conflict and improve performance (Jehn, Northcraft, & Neale, l997; Pelled, Eisenhardt, & Xin, 1997)...
Overall, the research on age diversity suggests that groups with higher variations in their age composition may have slightly lower levels of effective group process than more homogeneous groups. The expectation, drawn from an information and decisionmiaking theory, that age differences within a group may index differences in perspective and values that are useful for cognitive performance is not supported by the literature Instead, the literature suggests that age diversity is associated with increased turnover and withdrawal, especially of those individuals who are most different...
The results of research on gender diversity suggest that the proportion of men and women present in the sample may be an important predictor of the results. In general, gender diversity has negative effects on groups, especially on males. It is associated with higher tumover rates, especially among those who are most different. The studies also reveal that women and men respond differently, and may have different experiences as a minority. Men display lower levels of satisfaction and commitment when they are in the minority, while women appear less likely to have a negative psychological reaction. This is despite the fact that men in female-dominated groups are more likely to be accepted, less likely to be treated with hostility, and less likely to be stereotyped. Given the asymmetrical findings, future research on the effects of gender diversity needs to pay close attention to the proportions of men and women in the sample if results are to be interpretable (e,g., Ely, 1994)...
Although the issue of race-ethnic diversity is important for society and organizations, research on its impact remains inconclusive. The optimists argue, based on information/decision theory, that ethnic diversity can promote creativity and improve decision making. Paradoxically, there is some evidence from field studies that supports this conclusion, but, contrary to information/decision theory predictions, these results occur independent of group-process variables; that is, diversity improves performance controlling for group process. The pessimists, using similarity/attraction and social categorization theories, note that ethnic diversity can, unless successfully managed, have negative effects on group process. Consistent findings show that individuals who are different from the majority race in an organization are more likely to leave, to be less satisfied and psychologically committed to the organization, and to receive lower performance evaluations. Interestingly, several studies find that these effects are more pronounced for Whites than minorities (Riordan & Shore, 1997; Tsui, Egan, & O’Reilly, 1992). Overall, the evidence for ethnic diversity seems more consistent with predictions of similarity/attraction and social categorization theories than with information and decision making.
A limitation to the existing research is that most studies have only examined blacks and whites, or whites and “others.” Yet, as decades of research in cross-cultural psychology has shown, there are important differences within and across ethnic groups (e.g., Kim, Park, & Suzuki, 1990; Phinney, 1996) that may be relevant within organizations (e.g, O’Reil1y, Williams, & Barsade, 1997; Riordan & Shore, 1997), It is unclear that Asian Americans, for instance, Will have the same experience as African Americans in majority Anglo-American organizations. Further, the effects of proportions may also have important effects on race/ethnic diversity just as it does on sex composition (e.g., Espinoza & Garza, 1985; Garza & Santos, 1991; Tsui, Egan, & O’Reil1y, 1992).
Variations in other individual differences have also been studied and found to have important effects on the process and performance of groups. Some of the earliest laboratory studies conceptualized diversity in terms of variations in personality, attitudes, and values and found positive effects for these (e.g., Torrance, 1957). In 1959 Hoffman examined 30 small groups in the laboratory and found that groups that were diverse in terms of their personality characteristics produced higher quality outputs and tended to produce more inventive solutions. Hoffman and Maier (1961) found further support for the positive effects of diversity in terms of personality. Triandis, Hall, and Ewen (1965) also found that heterogeneity in attitudes, but not abilities, was associated with increased creativity.
Bochner and Hesketh (1994), using an Australian sample, found that people who were different from others in their work groups on power distance and collectivism perceived that they were discriminated against more frequently, but valued their cultural differences more highly. This finding suggests that heterogeneity in cultural values may have important effects on individual outcomes. For example, Dutch researchers found that individuals who were not Dutch tended to be less satisfied with their jobs than their Dutch co-workers (Verkuyten, de long, & Masson, 1993). Although the evidence for cultural diversity is intriguing, organizational demographers have seldom focused on this type of diversity as it affects group process and performance.
Another stream of research of potential relevance for understanding the impact of diversity are studies of the effects of “minority influence” on decision making. Charlan Nemeth and her colleagues (e.g., Nerneth, 1986; Nemeth & Kwan, 1987) have shown that when people hold strong, consistent views different from the majority, they can often have an effect on decisions beyond what their proportion Would suggest. Research suggests informational social influence may dampen some of the conformity pressures of normative social influence (Moscovici, 1985). Thus, insofar as demographic differences also index differences in information, a minority in a group may raise issues that can affect the g1'oup’s decision making...
Based on the studies reviewed here, two major findings from the research on demography and diversity appear to be well supported. First, there is substantial evidence from both laboratory and field studies conducted over the past four decades that variations in group composition can have important eflects on group functioning. These studies show that increased diversity, especially in terms of age, tenure, and ethnicity, typically has negative effects on social integration, communication, and conflict (e.g., Chatman et 211., 1997; Ibarra, 1992; Iehn, Northcraft, & Neale, 1997; Lott & Lott, 1965; O’Rei1ly et al., 1989; Pelled, Eisenhardt, & Xin, 1997; Smith et al., 1994). Diverse groups are more likely to be less integrated, have less communication, and more conflict. Interestingly, the one exception to this pattern is with regard to functional diversity or educational background. For this variable, increased diversity has been shown under some circumstances to increase communication (e.g., Aneona & Caldwell, 1992; Glick, Miller, & Huber, 1993; Jehn, Northcraft, & Neale, 1997). In addition to the effects on social integration, communication, and conflict, research has also linked group diversity to several other process variables such as increased in-group/out-group biases, stereotyping, and other cognitive biases that can negatively affect group functioning (e.g., Crocker & Major, 1989; Lorber & Farrell, 1991; Messick & Massie, 1989; Moreland, 1985).
It is also clear that not all of the group process variables investigated operate independently of one another. For example, Smith and colleagues (1994) found that social integration and informal communication were related. Chatrnan and colleagues (1997), using a business simulation with MBA students as subjects, found that organizational culture moderated the effects of diversity such that as dissimilarity increased conflict was seen as more beneficial for those groups with a collectivistic culture. Other studies have shown that under different conditions conflict may have positive or negative effects (e.g., Jehn, Northcraft, & Neale, 1997; O’Reilly, Williams, & Barsade, 1997; Pelled, Eisenhardt, & Xin, 1997; Stephan, 1985). Studies such as these underscore the importance of contextual variables as moderators of diversity effects. Thus, consistent with the model outlined in Figure 1, there is also evidence that demographic effects may be moderated by variables such as culture, technology, and task design.
A second supportable conclusion is that at the micro level, increased diversity typically has negative effects on the ability of the group to meet its members' needs and to function effectively over time. The literature shows clearly that individuals are affected by the demographic composition of their work groups. The preponderance of evidence shows that increased diversity within a group can be associated with lower levels of satisfaction and commitment (Riordan & Shore, 1997; Tsui, Egan, & O‘Rei1ly, 1992 ), lower performance evaluations for those who are different (Greenhaus, Parasuraman, & Wonnley, 1990; Holahan, 1979; Judge & Ferris, 1993; Sackett, DuBois, & Noe, 1991; Tsui & O’Rei1ly, 1989), and higher levels of absenteeism and turnover (Cummings, Zhou, & Oldham, 1993; Jackson et al., 1991; McCain, O’Reilly, & Pfeffer, 1933; O’Reilly, Caldwell, and Barnett, 1989; O’Reil1y, Snyder, & Boothe, 1993; Pfeffer & O’Reilly, 1987; Tsui, Eisenhardt, & Xin, 1992; Wagner, Pfeffer, & O’Reilly, 1984; Wiersema & Bird, 1993). In general, more visible demographic characteristics such as sex and ethnicity have larger negative effects than variables that are less visible like age (Cummings, Zhou, & Oldham, 1993; Pelled, 1993).
What is less clear from this research is precisely how and when differences in minority status lead to negative outcomes (e.g., Espinoza & Garza, 1985; Garza & Santos, 1991; Riordan & Shore, 1997). Research on gender, for example, suggests that men in the minority may react more negatively than women (Riordan & Shore, 1997; Wharton & Baron, 1987). To resolve this ambiguity, future research might productively examine not just overall measures of variation in group composition as captured by the coefficient of variation, but also consider proportional measures within groups. Using proportional measures may allow us to discover differential effects for specific minority samples.
At a more macro level, the evidence for performance effects is less clear. There is some indication that at the organizational level top management heterogeneity can be positively related to organizational performance (e.g., Bantel & Jackson, 1989; Eisenhardt & Schoonhoven, 1990; Murray, 1989). However, other studies that look directly at process variables find similar effects for top team homogeneity (e.g., Michel & Harnbrick, 1992; O’Reilly & Flatt, 1989; O‘Reilly, Snyder, & Boothe, 1993; Zajac, Golden, & Shortell, 1991). Triandis, Hall, and Ewen (1965) suggested that dissimilarity in groups, while offering the potential for more creative solutions, also led to more difficulties in group functioning. They concluded that in order to capture the benefits of diversity, groups needed to be able to resolve their differences. Over 30 years later, this conclusion remains valid. A critical determinant of the outcome is whether the diversity is having constructive or destructive effects on the process (e.g., Flatt, 1996; Iaquinto & Frederickson, 1996). Part of the reason for these differences lies in the complexity of the diversity-process-performance chain and the competing effects of the added value of increased information versus the increased difficulties of communicating and solving problems in highly diverse groups. At this macro level, any causal linkages between the composition of the senior team and organizational outcomes has to be a function of a large number of other unmeasured variables (Jehn, Northcraft, & Neale, 1997)...
Muminghan and Conlon (1991), in a Clever study of British string quartets, found that the most successful groups were those that were able to contain conflict so that it did not become disruptive. Quartets that confronted conflict were less successful. Wall and Nolan (1986) found that lower levels of conflict were associated With greater satisfaction and equity among group members. But what is the theoretical basis of these effects? If social categorization and similarity/attraction biases are the driving force behind the negative effects of diversity, what actions may be taken to address these directly? Evidence from Mullen and Copper (1994), O’Reilly, Williams, and Barsade (1997), and Gaertner and colleagues (1990) suggest that rather than emphasizing demographic differences and increasing task conflict, social categorization processes that emphasize common goals and identities and inhibit dysfunctional conflict may enhance group processes and performance.
For example, research has shown that increased cooperation can reduce categorization biases and in-group distinctions (Gaertner et al., 1990). Further, when attempts are made to deliberately promote identification with the larger group and minimize subgroup identification, intergroup bias can be reduced even more (Gaertner, Mann, Murrell & Dovidio, 1989). This may be done by identifying salient out- groups or through an emphasis on collectivistic cultures to help override the natural inclinations people have to make invidious social categoiizations (O‘Reilly & Chatrnan, 1996). These processes are consistent with the findings of Chatman and colleagues (1997) who find that collectivistic cultures mitigate the negative effects of diversity. Tushman and O’Reilly (1996) contend that for long-term success organizations and groups need to be “ambidextrous”; that is, able to tolerate diverse structures and cultures. They argue that this is done with strong, inclusive cultures that promote a common identity even in the face of differing perspectives. The use of this cognitive approach may also be seen in the Chatman and Barsade (1995) study showing how organizational cultures may be created that foster commitment and cooperation.
Another possible cause of reduced conflict and increased cooperation may stem from Gaertner and Dovidio‘s (1977) notion of “aversive racism”; that is, faced with strong normative pressures to override invidious social categorizations, group members may enhance their ability to perform by consciously overriding the propensity to differentiate in-groups and out-groups. This may improve teamwork because of the awareness of the social stigma attached to socially inappropriate social categorization. As O’Reilly, Williams, and Barsade (1997) have suggested, an important function of management may be to use the psychology of self-categorization to help employees to identify with a culture that is inclusive and not with in-groups based on characteristics unrelated to job performance like sex and race...
There is an impressive amount of high-quality laboratory and field research on diversity and demography in organizations. Overall, this research offers convincing support for the argument that variations in group demography can have both direct and indirect effects on group process and performance. Under ideal conditions increased diversity may have the positive effects predicted by information and decision theories. However, consistent with social categorization and similarity/attraction theories, the preponderance of empirical evidence suggests that diversity is most likely to impede group functioning. Unless steps are taken to actively counteract these effects, the evidence suggests that, by itself, diversity is more likely to have negative than positive effects on group performance. Simply having more diversity in a group is no guarantee that the group will make better decisions or function effectively. In our view, these conclusions suggest that diversity is a mixed blessing and requires careful and sustained attention to be a positive force in enhancing performance...
Ignoring the negative consequences of diversity is not the answer. Ironically, understanding these negative effects may provide a solution for its more pernicious effects. This is the good news from this review."
So diversity hurts group performance, and to reduce the negative effects of diversity, it is best to get people to think of themselves as the same - in other words, emphasising your diversity increases the negative impact of diversity.
One corollary of this is that identity politics is harmful when the identity group has to work with others in a larger context.
Addendum: See also How Diversity Hurts Performance (Revisited)
Post ID: 623321030275567471
Singapore Writers Festival: Asian Feminism
"The Puritan hated bear-baiting, not because it gave pain to the bear, but because it gave pleasure to the spectators." - Thomas Macaulay
***
On Sunday, on the last day of the Singapore Writers Festival, I made "Asian Feminism" my last talk:
"Are women’s rights an absolute concept or are there other considerations in Asian societies? Writers reflect on the role of women as described in their writing and the changing ethos of contemporary times."
Speakers:
Leena Manimekalai லீனா மணிமேகலை
Catherine Lim
I was wondering if this was going to be the usual feminist doublespeak, but it turned out to be a great talk (I was live tweeting this instead of writing a proper review, so the following may be a bit choppy).
The talk was well-attended, and there was a surprising amount of men in the audience. When polled, maybe 10% of the audience lifted their hands to identify themselves as feminists. But as Manimekalai noted, in India they would be classified as terrorists so this poor showing wasn't so bad after all.
Catherine Lim observed that women disavow the term 'feminist' because of bellicose feminists. She evidently had distaste for this group as well, but the audience did not protest (either when this observation was made or during the question and answer session).
Lim didn't think women in Singapore had positive liberty ("freedom to") for self actualization, but they had negative liberty ("freedom from"). She linked women having rights in Singapore to their being half of our human resources, and the economic imperative. She observed that HDB discriminates against single mums (but then, doesn't it treat single dads the same? It is strange to link this to feminism).
She then spoke about one of her novels, which was inspired by a real life story of a woman who declined to pursue an affair with the love of her life at the age of 30, because she was already married. This woman's epitaph read: "She died at 30 and was buried at 60".
Manimekalai observed that in India, "The moment you talk about genitalia, the whole society, the whole hell break loose".
1/3 into the session, it was already standing room only. This was the most crowded of the 18 Singapore Writers Festival events that I attended.
Lim said that she saw jokes about men and women as contributing to healthy inter-gender relations (THAT'S NOT FUNNY!!!), and the "aggressive", "political" and "gender" kind of feminism was what she didn't want. It made her uncomfortable, and she wanted "equity" and "humanitarian" feminism.
Manimekalai then problematised feminism's patriarchy-bad-feminism-good rhetoric:
"When we keep playing this victim role, when you are placed on this pedestal you become an oppressor... We have to be self critical... See if there is equity among these women who speak about equality... When women come to power why is there still oppression against women? That is the question we must answer"
Lim observed that sexism had not impeded her in her three roles:
"I've never felt any pressure, any discrimination..as a teacher..as a writer..as a political commentator". She did wryly observe, though, that:
"All the terms for men have gained in prestige..the reverse is true for women..bachelor/spinster..wizard/witch"
She also noted that for women of a certain age, her mother's refrain that "Don't try to be too clever or no man will want to marry you" would have been familiar. She (or Manimekalai) noted that the new generation of women weren't this way, speaking about a younger friend of hers:
"She's extremely confident... She disdain to mix with men who don't speak grammatically"
Then came the Q&A segment. Unfortunately, many in the crowd hadn't gotten the memo that the ladies on stage were not your classic feminists.
One asked a question about intersectionality, privilege and social justice, and Manimekalai replied:
"All these boxes... when I do work, it's the art that has to speak. Not my identity... I don't want to approach everything as identity politics"
Lim added that feminism was just a subset of a broader aim, and that "Feminism ought to preside over its own demise. The end goal is justice"
Another girl didn't get the memo either, and asked about casual sexism like jokes, and claimed that women got really angry but men thought they were just jokes.
Lim replied that:
"That level of exchange doesn't bother me at all" and cited "a feminist joke I would find offensive if she were a man":
"What is gross stupidity?"
"144 men in a row"
She then noted that "jokes that we women bandy at men" were "all part of the happy bantering that should go on between men and women" and that "if we know how to laugh WITH each other not AT each other, we'll all get along".
I for one hope that Catherine Lim lives a long life, for 'bellicose feminists' will likely be the next face of feminism in Singapore (you can see what AWARE has been doing since 2009 for a clue).
***
On Sunday, on the last day of the Singapore Writers Festival, I made "Asian Feminism" my last talk:
"Are women’s rights an absolute concept or are there other considerations in Asian societies? Writers reflect on the role of women as described in their writing and the changing ethos of contemporary times."
Speakers:
Leena Manimekalai லீனா மணிமேகலை
Catherine Lim
I was wondering if this was going to be the usual feminist doublespeak, but it turned out to be a great talk (I was live tweeting this instead of writing a proper review, so the following may be a bit choppy).
The talk was well-attended, and there was a surprising amount of men in the audience. When polled, maybe 10% of the audience lifted their hands to identify themselves as feminists. But as Manimekalai noted, in India they would be classified as terrorists so this poor showing wasn't so bad after all.
Catherine Lim observed that women disavow the term 'feminist' because of bellicose feminists. She evidently had distaste for this group as well, but the audience did not protest (either when this observation was made or during the question and answer session).
Lim didn't think women in Singapore had positive liberty ("freedom to") for self actualization, but they had negative liberty ("freedom from"). She linked women having rights in Singapore to their being half of our human resources, and the economic imperative. She observed that HDB discriminates against single mums (but then, doesn't it treat single dads the same? It is strange to link this to feminism).
She then spoke about one of her novels, which was inspired by a real life story of a woman who declined to pursue an affair with the love of her life at the age of 30, because she was already married. This woman's epitaph read: "She died at 30 and was buried at 60".
Manimekalai observed that in India, "The moment you talk about genitalia, the whole society, the whole hell break loose".
1/3 into the session, it was already standing room only. This was the most crowded of the 18 Singapore Writers Festival events that I attended.
Lim said that she saw jokes about men and women as contributing to healthy inter-gender relations (THAT'S NOT FUNNY!!!), and the "aggressive", "political" and "gender" kind of feminism was what she didn't want. It made her uncomfortable, and she wanted "equity" and "humanitarian" feminism.
Manimekalai then problematised feminism's patriarchy-bad-feminism-good rhetoric:
"When we keep playing this victim role, when you are placed on this pedestal you become an oppressor... We have to be self critical... See if there is equity among these women who speak about equality... When women come to power why is there still oppression against women? That is the question we must answer"
Lim observed that sexism had not impeded her in her three roles:
"I've never felt any pressure, any discrimination..as a teacher..as a writer..as a political commentator". She did wryly observe, though, that:
"All the terms for men have gained in prestige..the reverse is true for women..bachelor/spinster..wizard/witch"
She also noted that for women of a certain age, her mother's refrain that "Don't try to be too clever or no man will want to marry you" would have been familiar. She (or Manimekalai) noted that the new generation of women weren't this way, speaking about a younger friend of hers:
"She's extremely confident... She disdain to mix with men who don't speak grammatically"
Then came the Q&A segment. Unfortunately, many in the crowd hadn't gotten the memo that the ladies on stage were not your classic feminists.
One asked a question about intersectionality, privilege and social justice, and Manimekalai replied:
"All these boxes... when I do work, it's the art that has to speak. Not my identity... I don't want to approach everything as identity politics"
Lim added that feminism was just a subset of a broader aim, and that "Feminism ought to preside over its own demise. The end goal is justice"
Another girl didn't get the memo either, and asked about casual sexism like jokes, and claimed that women got really angry but men thought they were just jokes.
Lim replied that:
"That level of exchange doesn't bother me at all" and cited "a feminist joke I would find offensive if she were a man":
"What is gross stupidity?"
"144 men in a row"
She then noted that "jokes that we women bandy at men" were "all part of the happy bantering that should go on between men and women" and that "if we know how to laugh WITH each other not AT each other, we'll all get along".
I for one hope that Catherine Lim lives a long life, for 'bellicose feminists' will likely be the next face of feminism in Singapore (you can see what AWARE has been doing since 2009 for a clue).
Post ID: 1945198801410674378
Tuesday, November 11, 2014
What's Great about America
"What's great about this country is that America started the tradition where the richest consumers buy essentially the same things as the poorest. You can be watching TV and see Coca-Cola, and you can know that the President drinks Coke, Liz Taylor drinks Coke, and just think, you can drink Coke, too. A Coke is a Coke and no amount of money can get you a better Coke than the one the bum on the corner is drinking. AM the Cokes are the same and all the Cokes are good. Liz Taylor knows it, the President knows it, the bum knows it, and you know it.
In Europe the royalty and the aristocracy used to eat a lot better than the peasants—they weren't eating the same things at all. It was either partridge or porridge, and each class stuck to its own food. But when Queen Elizabeth came here and President Eisenhower bought her a hot dog I'm sure he felt confident that she couldn't have had delivered to Buckingham Palace a better hot dog than that one he bought her for maybe twenty cents at the ballpark. Because there is no better hot dog than a ballpark hot dog. Not for a dollar, not for ten dollars, not for a hundred thousand dollars could she get a better hot dog. She could get one for twenty cents and so could anybody else.
Sometimes you fantasize that people who are really up-there and rich and living it up have something you don't have, that their things must be better than your things because they have more money than you. But they drink the same Cokes and eat the same hot dogs and wear the same ILGWU clothes and see the same TV shows and the same movies. Rich people can't see a sillier version of Truth or Consequences, or a scarier version of The Exorcist. You can get just as revolted as they can—you can have the same nightmares. All of this is really American.
The idea of America is so wonderful because the more equal something is, the more American it is. For instance, a lot of places give you special treatment when you're famous, but that's not really American. The other day something very American happened to me. I was going into an auction at Parke-Bernet and they wouldn't let me in because I had my dog with me, so I had to wait in the lobby for the friend I was meeting there to tell him I'd been turned away. And while I was waiting in the lobby I signed autographs. It was a really American situation to be in."
--- The Philosophy of Andy Warhol (From A to B and Back Again) / Andy Warhol
In Europe the royalty and the aristocracy used to eat a lot better than the peasants—they weren't eating the same things at all. It was either partridge or porridge, and each class stuck to its own food. But when Queen Elizabeth came here and President Eisenhower bought her a hot dog I'm sure he felt confident that she couldn't have had delivered to Buckingham Palace a better hot dog than that one he bought her for maybe twenty cents at the ballpark. Because there is no better hot dog than a ballpark hot dog. Not for a dollar, not for ten dollars, not for a hundred thousand dollars could she get a better hot dog. She could get one for twenty cents and so could anybody else.
Sometimes you fantasize that people who are really up-there and rich and living it up have something you don't have, that their things must be better than your things because they have more money than you. But they drink the same Cokes and eat the same hot dogs and wear the same ILGWU clothes and see the same TV shows and the same movies. Rich people can't see a sillier version of Truth or Consequences, or a scarier version of The Exorcist. You can get just as revolted as they can—you can have the same nightmares. All of this is really American.
The idea of America is so wonderful because the more equal something is, the more American it is. For instance, a lot of places give you special treatment when you're famous, but that's not really American. The other day something very American happened to me. I was going into an auction at Parke-Bernet and they wouldn't let me in because I had my dog with me, so I had to wait in the lobby for the friend I was meeting there to tell him I'd been turned away. And while I was waiting in the lobby I signed autographs. It was a really American situation to be in."
--- The Philosophy of Andy Warhol (From A to B and Back Again) / Andy Warhol
Post ID: 2757470062918221399
Links - 11th November 2014
Gender bias allegations over Singapore Literature Prize English Poetry results - "Poet Grace Chia, whose poetry collection Cordelia was shortlisted for this year's Singapore Literature Prize in the English poetry section, has strongly voiced her concerns over the apparent sidelining of women's writing, saying that the results have left her "silenced into shock"... Chia wrote in a public post on the Junoesq Literary Journal's Facebook page on Wednesday night: "The fact that the prize has been given to two co-winners who are both male poets is deeply informing of choice, taste and affirmation. A prize so coveted that it has been apportioned to two male narratives of poetic discourse, instead of one outstanding poet - reeks of an engendered privilege that continues to plague this nation's literary community... Gwee had spoken on behalf of the three poetry judges at the awards ceremony. He added: "The judges read every entry carefully before arriving at the shortlist and we committed ourselves to re-read and discuss the shortlisted works several times before deciding on the winners. We read blind to race, gender, sexual orientation, politics and beliefs, and we needed to. Our only standard has been poetic merit. In this respect, Yong Shu Hoong's and Joshua Ip's work have emerged the strongest for us"... Dr Leong added: "I hope that one day a woman poet will win the prize, but I'm also not concerned with gender - I am concerned primarily with poetic excellence. She may be gay, she may be bisexual, she may be heterosexual, but I want the book to be worthy of the Singapore Literature Prize in Poetry." "
Original Post and followup
Why are poets immune to accusations of Male Privilege? In other cases there would be a chorus of support despite the (lack of) merit of the accusations. Maybe just like blacks 'cannot be racist', those who criticise 'oppression' cannot be oppressive
A Different Kind of Privileged Literature | Benjamin Cheah - "If Chia had won the prize, she could use her newfound publicity to further promote the Journal and affirm the need to create a women-only space for writing. As Chia lost the prize, it would be politically acceptable in certain circles for her to toss around allegations of bias and privilege, affirming the need for a women-only space for writing — like the Journal. Either way, she cannot lose... When a female poet makes allegations of gender bias against women about a literature prize, a large broadsheet reported her claims. It is politically correct for a woman to do this, and feminists and Social Justice Warriors will cheer her on and lend her support. Male authors who allege biases against writers who do not possess a specific political point of view are relentlessly swarmed by the same pseudo-thought police, as seen in the kerfuffle leading up to the Hugo Awards. When a literary journal is set up only for women, either nobody comments or else the event is celebrated. A Google search for women’s-only literary journals will return pagefuls of results, linking to many female writing spaces. Conversely, a search for male-exclusive literature journals returns pages comparing the presence of male and female writers in writing, or perhaps men’s lifestyle magazines, but not male literary journals... A search for female writers returns pagefuls of writer and story recommendations, and more pages expressing untarnished support for female writers. A search for male writers return a few recommendations, followed by page after page of sites analysing male writer tropes, pitting male writers against females, and dismissing of male writers... I’ve seen only one publisher explicitly state that they do not care about an author’s background, only about the story. I’ve also seen calls solely for women writers, disabled writers, writers of colour, writers of non-heterosexual orientations, and other minority identities. I have not seen explicit calls for male writers... There is privilege in literature. But it’s a different kind of privilege. It’s a privilege earned by yelling privilege again and again, influencing the creation of content to stand up against that privilege, and setting up privileged spaces to stand against a different kind of ‘privileged’ literature. Me, I don’t care about privilege. Writing is writing is writing. As an independent writer I choose not to participate in the politics of privilege. I think it’s trivial nonsense, and I have the tools to step around this politicking. The publishing revolution means that anybody can publish — which means there are no gatekeepers to prevent someone from being published, and therefore no external discrimination."
Race to boost grades sees tuition centres rise | My Paper | 我报 - "TUITION used to be seen as extra help for struggling students, but is increasingly being viewed as a necessity for students to do well in school - further fuelling demand for it here. Parents and tuition centres say the extra hours and greater individual attention in the smaller classes at centres give students an edge in the competitive education system here. These have become important as the school syllabus has become increasingly challenging... The number of tuition and enrichment centres registered with the Ministry of Education jumped from 700 in 2012 to 800 last year, and 850 now... Neo Zhizhong - co-founder of Beautyful Minds, a tuition centre with several branches - said: "Parents don't necessarily want their children to do well for their own sake. Sometimes, they simply want their children to do better than others. "If my son scored 98/100, but someone else's daughter has 99/100, then it's time for tuition." "
iPhone 6 & iPhone 6 Plus Problems Continue - "We also expect the iOS 8.1.1 update to deliver some problems of its own. Incremental updates have, in the past, been problematic for iPhone and iPad users and we don’t expect iOS 8.1.1 to be any different. Again, it’s hard to say what it might break but there’s a good chance that we’ll see users complain about new battery life issues, Wi-Fi problems and issues with Bluetooth. Those almost always crop up after an iOS update."
Comment: "This article has zero information. Thanks for wasting my time."
It pays to be a dad - "Dads had a median salary of $49,000 compared to around $29,000 for men without kids... It may not be that surprising that moms make much less than dads, but mothers still make more overall than childless women. Median personal income among mothers in 2010 was just over $25,000 compared to $20,165 for women without kids. However, moms pulled ahead only because they tended to earn a lot more during their early working years. The findings suggest that dads are getting a boost on the job that others aren't seeing. "Parenthood is giving advantages to men but not to women," said Justine Calcagno, a social psychologist and author of the report."
This is like that story (which I can't find) of the King who was told that a group of men were always seen rushing away from the scenes of fires. He ordered them executed because clearly they were arsonists and responsible for causing fires. But he actually killed the firefighters. Omitted variable bias is huge and accounts for why women are not getting the 'advantages' of parenthood
Bananas are Chemicals, Too - NYTimes.com - "'This poster series breaks down all the major ingredients in popular natural foods — using E-numbers and IUPAC names instead of common names where they exist. Anthocynanins, for example, which are said to give blueberries their “superfood” status, are also known as E163'... 'About 99.9% of the chemicals humans ingest are natural. The amounts of synthetic pesticide residues in plant foods are insignificant compared to the amount of natural pesticides produced by plants themselves. Of all dietary pesticides that humans eat, 99.99% are natural: they are chemicals produced by plants to defend themselves against fungi, insects, and other animal predators.'"
Halle Berry’s Child-Support Fight: Female Breadwinners Can’t Have It Both Ways - "While men are somewhat more likely than women to hold traditional views on gender issues, there is evidence that in their personal preferences, women may actually be more wedded—as it were—to the male-breadwinner ideal. In a 1994 study based on U.S. survey data of single adults, men were almost as willing to marry “someone who earns much more” than them as “someone who earns much less.” For women, a higher-earning partner rated 6 points out of a maximum of 7, compared with 3.5 for a lower-earning one. Women were also much less willing than men to marry someone who did not have a steady job. Have things changed in 20 years? Perhaps not, in this regard. In the latest Pew Research Center poll on marriage, one of the biggest gender gaps for singles is in how important people consider employment for a spouse or long-term partner: 78% of women regard having “a steady job” as “very important” in choosing a mate, while only 46% of men do. Sorry, Gabriel Aubry... prejudice against men who aren’t good providers may paradoxically clash with ambitious women’s life plans... Generally, it’s conservatives like RedState.org blogger Erik Erikson who defend the male-breadwinner role as biological (not quite the case if you look at the animal kingdom). Yet when a man and woman are in financial conflict, many feminists will line up in apparent solidarity behind a woman who upholds the most stereotypical of attitudes about gender and providing... Today feminist websites like Jezebel mock affluent men who want to pay less child support as cheap crybabies—but offer no comment on Halle Berry’s bid for child-support reduction."
People fight harder for their interests than others' rights. Even activists who claim they are for gender equality.
Smart people listen to Radiohead and dumb people listen to Beyoncé, according to study
Christian Bakers Who Lost Their Shop After Refusing to Make a Wedding Cake for a Lesbian Couple Are in for a Major Surprise - "a gay man who fervently disagrees with their stance on homosexuality is planning to willingly give them a large sum of money... as a Christian, he believes that he’s called to love even those with whom he disagrees, so he’s raising the funds so that the Kleins and their five children won’t suffer under the weight of the potentially massive fine... the family has reportedly been harassed by those opposed to their stance on the cake matter, fielding virulent emails and phone calls... “Our culture has accepted 2 huge lies. The first is that if you disagree with someone’s lifestyle, you must fear or hate them,” she wrote. “Second is that to love someone means that you must agree with everything they believe or do. Both are nonsense.” Klein concluded, “You don’t have to compromise convictions to be compassionate.”"
SBS bus driver to be disciplined for gay slur - "Public relations consultant and trans-sexual woman Leona Lo, 37, was at the Bedok temporary bus interchange on Tuesday morning when a bus driver hurled an insult at her, she said. "As I was walking to the MRT station, this bus driver started mimicking the way a woman walked and yelled 'Ah Kua'. Other bus drivers started hooting and clapping," she said. "Ah Kua" is a derogatory Hokkien term for a trans-sexual or transvestite."
Maybe he had heard of the show she put up: The Ah Kua Show
Original Post and followup
Why are poets immune to accusations of Male Privilege? In other cases there would be a chorus of support despite the (lack of) merit of the accusations. Maybe just like blacks 'cannot be racist', those who criticise 'oppression' cannot be oppressive
A Different Kind of Privileged Literature | Benjamin Cheah - "If Chia had won the prize, she could use her newfound publicity to further promote the Journal and affirm the need to create a women-only space for writing. As Chia lost the prize, it would be politically acceptable in certain circles for her to toss around allegations of bias and privilege, affirming the need for a women-only space for writing — like the Journal. Either way, she cannot lose... When a female poet makes allegations of gender bias against women about a literature prize, a large broadsheet reported her claims. It is politically correct for a woman to do this, and feminists and Social Justice Warriors will cheer her on and lend her support. Male authors who allege biases against writers who do not possess a specific political point of view are relentlessly swarmed by the same pseudo-thought police, as seen in the kerfuffle leading up to the Hugo Awards. When a literary journal is set up only for women, either nobody comments or else the event is celebrated. A Google search for women’s-only literary journals will return pagefuls of results, linking to many female writing spaces. Conversely, a search for male-exclusive literature journals returns pages comparing the presence of male and female writers in writing, or perhaps men’s lifestyle magazines, but not male literary journals... A search for female writers returns pagefuls of writer and story recommendations, and more pages expressing untarnished support for female writers. A search for male writers return a few recommendations, followed by page after page of sites analysing male writer tropes, pitting male writers against females, and dismissing of male writers... I’ve seen only one publisher explicitly state that they do not care about an author’s background, only about the story. I’ve also seen calls solely for women writers, disabled writers, writers of colour, writers of non-heterosexual orientations, and other minority identities. I have not seen explicit calls for male writers... There is privilege in literature. But it’s a different kind of privilege. It’s a privilege earned by yelling privilege again and again, influencing the creation of content to stand up against that privilege, and setting up privileged spaces to stand against a different kind of ‘privileged’ literature. Me, I don’t care about privilege. Writing is writing is writing. As an independent writer I choose not to participate in the politics of privilege. I think it’s trivial nonsense, and I have the tools to step around this politicking. The publishing revolution means that anybody can publish — which means there are no gatekeepers to prevent someone from being published, and therefore no external discrimination."
Race to boost grades sees tuition centres rise | My Paper | 我报 - "TUITION used to be seen as extra help for struggling students, but is increasingly being viewed as a necessity for students to do well in school - further fuelling demand for it here. Parents and tuition centres say the extra hours and greater individual attention in the smaller classes at centres give students an edge in the competitive education system here. These have become important as the school syllabus has become increasingly challenging... The number of tuition and enrichment centres registered with the Ministry of Education jumped from 700 in 2012 to 800 last year, and 850 now... Neo Zhizhong - co-founder of Beautyful Minds, a tuition centre with several branches - said: "Parents don't necessarily want their children to do well for their own sake. Sometimes, they simply want their children to do better than others. "If my son scored 98/100, but someone else's daughter has 99/100, then it's time for tuition." "
iPhone 6 & iPhone 6 Plus Problems Continue - "We also expect the iOS 8.1.1 update to deliver some problems of its own. Incremental updates have, in the past, been problematic for iPhone and iPad users and we don’t expect iOS 8.1.1 to be any different. Again, it’s hard to say what it might break but there’s a good chance that we’ll see users complain about new battery life issues, Wi-Fi problems and issues with Bluetooth. Those almost always crop up after an iOS update."
Comment: "This article has zero information. Thanks for wasting my time."
It pays to be a dad - "Dads had a median salary of $49,000 compared to around $29,000 for men without kids... It may not be that surprising that moms make much less than dads, but mothers still make more overall than childless women. Median personal income among mothers in 2010 was just over $25,000 compared to $20,165 for women without kids. However, moms pulled ahead only because they tended to earn a lot more during their early working years. The findings suggest that dads are getting a boost on the job that others aren't seeing. "Parenthood is giving advantages to men but not to women," said Justine Calcagno, a social psychologist and author of the report."
This is like that story (which I can't find) of the King who was told that a group of men were always seen rushing away from the scenes of fires. He ordered them executed because clearly they were arsonists and responsible for causing fires. But he actually killed the firefighters. Omitted variable bias is huge and accounts for why women are not getting the 'advantages' of parenthood
Bananas are Chemicals, Too - NYTimes.com - "'This poster series breaks down all the major ingredients in popular natural foods — using E-numbers and IUPAC names instead of common names where they exist. Anthocynanins, for example, which are said to give blueberries their “superfood” status, are also known as E163'... 'About 99.9% of the chemicals humans ingest are natural. The amounts of synthetic pesticide residues in plant foods are insignificant compared to the amount of natural pesticides produced by plants themselves. Of all dietary pesticides that humans eat, 99.99% are natural: they are chemicals produced by plants to defend themselves against fungi, insects, and other animal predators.'"
Halle Berry’s Child-Support Fight: Female Breadwinners Can’t Have It Both Ways - "While men are somewhat more likely than women to hold traditional views on gender issues, there is evidence that in their personal preferences, women may actually be more wedded—as it were—to the male-breadwinner ideal. In a 1994 study based on U.S. survey data of single adults, men were almost as willing to marry “someone who earns much more” than them as “someone who earns much less.” For women, a higher-earning partner rated 6 points out of a maximum of 7, compared with 3.5 for a lower-earning one. Women were also much less willing than men to marry someone who did not have a steady job. Have things changed in 20 years? Perhaps not, in this regard. In the latest Pew Research Center poll on marriage, one of the biggest gender gaps for singles is in how important people consider employment for a spouse or long-term partner: 78% of women regard having “a steady job” as “very important” in choosing a mate, while only 46% of men do. Sorry, Gabriel Aubry... prejudice against men who aren’t good providers may paradoxically clash with ambitious women’s life plans... Generally, it’s conservatives like RedState.org blogger Erik Erikson who defend the male-breadwinner role as biological (not quite the case if you look at the animal kingdom). Yet when a man and woman are in financial conflict, many feminists will line up in apparent solidarity behind a woman who upholds the most stereotypical of attitudes about gender and providing... Today feminist websites like Jezebel mock affluent men who want to pay less child support as cheap crybabies—but offer no comment on Halle Berry’s bid for child-support reduction."
People fight harder for their interests than others' rights. Even activists who claim they are for gender equality.
Smart people listen to Radiohead and dumb people listen to Beyoncé, according to study
Christian Bakers Who Lost Their Shop After Refusing to Make a Wedding Cake for a Lesbian Couple Are in for a Major Surprise - "a gay man who fervently disagrees with their stance on homosexuality is planning to willingly give them a large sum of money... as a Christian, he believes that he’s called to love even those with whom he disagrees, so he’s raising the funds so that the Kleins and their five children won’t suffer under the weight of the potentially massive fine... the family has reportedly been harassed by those opposed to their stance on the cake matter, fielding virulent emails and phone calls... “Our culture has accepted 2 huge lies. The first is that if you disagree with someone’s lifestyle, you must fear or hate them,” she wrote. “Second is that to love someone means that you must agree with everything they believe or do. Both are nonsense.” Klein concluded, “You don’t have to compromise convictions to be compassionate.”"
SBS bus driver to be disciplined for gay slur - "Public relations consultant and trans-sexual woman Leona Lo, 37, was at the Bedok temporary bus interchange on Tuesday morning when a bus driver hurled an insult at her, she said. "As I was walking to the MRT station, this bus driver started mimicking the way a woman walked and yelled 'Ah Kua'. Other bus drivers started hooting and clapping," she said. "Ah Kua" is a derogatory Hokkien term for a trans-sexual or transvestite."
Maybe he had heard of the show she put up: The Ah Kua Show
Post ID: 5249812481418155379
Monday, November 10, 2014
"You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step"
"Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step" - Martin Luther King, Jr.
Post ID: 3679149393461508401
Wednesday, November 05, 2014
Links - 5th November 2014
Is it time to get rid of the word pervert? - "For the longest time, in fact, to be a pervert wasn’t to be a sexual deviant; it was to be an atheist... Only at the tail end of the 19th century did the word ‘pervert’ first leap from the histrionic sermons of fiery preachers into the heady, clinical discourses of stuffy European sexologists... Not so long ago, some Neo-Freudian scholars were still interpreting anal sex among gay men as an unconscious desire in the recipient (or the ‘bottom’) to nip off the other’s penis with his tightened sphincter. ‘In this way, which is so characteristic of the pervert,’ mused the influential South African-born psychoanalyst Mervin Glasser in the paper ‘Identification and its Vicissitudes as Observed in the Perversions’ (1986), ‘he [is] trying to establish his father as an internal object with whom to identify, as an inner ally and bulwark against his powerful mother’... Although, happily, we’re increasingly using science to defend gays and lesbians, deep down most of us (religious or not) still appear to be suffering from the illusion of a creator who set moral limits on the acceptable sexual orientations. Our knee-jerk perception of individuals who similarly have no choice whatsoever over what arouses them sexually (be they paedophiles, exhibitionists, transvestites, or fetishists, to name but a few) is that they’ve wilfully, deliberately, and arrogantly strayed from the right course. In other words, we see them as ‘true perverts’... As a society we’ve become so focused on the question of whether a given sexual behaviour is ‘natural’ or ‘unnatural’ that we’ve lost sight of the more important question: Is it harmful?... When it comes to sexual harm in particular, what’s harmful to one person could be not only completely harmless to another but might even, believe it or not, be helpful or positive. A gay Muslim who dies only to find himself in an afterlife thronged with 72 beautiful female virgins, as the Koran promises its faithful, will be in hell, not in heaven. One man’s angels are another’s demons. once one abandons the notion that one can ‘commit’ a sin by thinking a thought, it becomes quite clear that sexual desires — no matter how deviant — are intrinsically harmless to the subject of a person’s lust, at least in the physical sense. Mental states are ‘a mere breath on the air’ as the French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre once wrote"
This is one reason people get years in jail for child pornography possession
Teach youth that gender is a cultural construct - "One can be pro-family and yet against the patriarchal family, which some religious groups support. Other cultural impositions are also possible, as “mainstream values”, by definition, exclude significant values held by minority communities. Even more frightening is the thought that progressive perspectives on gender that are taught in our universities will be cut out of the sex education curriculum. I hope I will be proven wrong... Youth who are taught that gender is a cultural construct would make sense of such research. They would recognise that the long history of the patriarchal socialisation of men, rather than nature, explains the different responses between the sexes. They would know that a progressive education can overturn such gender inequities."
The aggressive pushing of an ideological agenda: why parents are scared of sex education
Isn't the cutting out of non-progressive perspectives on gender what those who complained about Focus on the Family's sex education were aiming to do?
Leibovitz Sees Glitz and Grit, Sontag Broods on the Big Idea - "By interspersing sexy photographs of Heidi Fleiss and Nicole Kidman with closeup shots of victims of domestic violence at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital in New York City, Ms. Leibovitz and Ms. Sontag have created a book that fairly hammers you over the head with its agenda. On one page, you get three Houston socialites with big hats and fake smiles; on the next, black coal miners in Alabama. Rather than letting you get drawn into the photographs, Women wants to make sure you get the point. If you want to look at Sigourney Weaver in a fishnet body stocking and shiny black ankle boots, well, you better not skip over the photograph of two grossly overweight women outside a gas station in rural Texas. The problem is, the book’s point-that women come in all shapes and sizes; that women are still oppressed; that women grow old; that women are deans of law schools and farmers and astronauts and scientists-feels a bit tired by now. Surely we know these things. Ms. Sontag would perhaps respond that we do know them, but that we don’t know them enough. If we did, women would earn equal pay to men and would not be subject to reflexive hostility when they show ambition and independence. Fair enough. But the essay ignores the photos that accompany it. Read Ms. Sontag’s critique of “today’s hugely complex fashion-and-photography system” and you wonder if she bothered to turn to the book’s last page, where Ms. Leibovitz ends her acknowledgments with, “I am extremely grateful to Anna Wintour and Vogue .” If only Ms. Sontag had written an essay that tackled head-on Ms. Leibovitz’s financial and artistic symbiosis with “today’s hugely complex fashion-and-photography system.” What would she make of the photograph, taken from below, of the red panties and crotches of four faceless, high-kicking Kilgore College Rangerette cheerleaders? Is it commentary-the male sports establishment exploits women by making them dress up as cheerleaders-or is it appreciation? How does the photograph jibe with Ms. Sontag’s statement that this is a book about women’s “ambition,” which women have been “schooled to stifle in themselves”? Is a photograph of women’s underwear a celebration of ambition? Ms. Sontag may not be particularly interested in what male viewers think of Ms. Leibovitz’s pictures. Her essay dismisses men as bores. She writes, “A book of photographs of women must, whether it intends to or not, raise the question of women-there is no equivalent ‘question of men.’ Men, unlike women, are not a work in progress.”"
Rangerettes was quite nice
Leonardo DiCaprio with a Swan - AnOther's Lovers
Leonardo and the Swan
Every Comment On Recipe Blogs - "“I didn’t have buttermilk, so I just poured baking soda into a container of raspberry yogurt. It tasted terrible.”
“I love this recipe! I added garlic powder, Italian seasoning, a few flakes of nutritional yeast, half a bottle of kombucha, za’atar, dried onion, and biscuit mix to mine. Great idea!”"
Pavement-hogging cyclists caught in the act - "At least 100 cyclists were caught within an hour and 15 people were issued fines of $20, Shin Min Daily News reported. This follows a report last month by The New Paper that there were many cyclists riding along the pavements of Woodlands Avenue 9 and many near-misses with pedestrians... One resident, Ms Chen, said that many cyclists are very reckless. "My five-year-old son was nearly knocked down by a bicycle a few days ago. It was really dangerous," said Ms Chen, who is in her 40s. A police spokesman said that when cyclists cause hurt to pedestrians, they could be fined up to $5,000, jailed for up to one year, or both. Shin Min reported that the pavement where the operation took place was narrow, but in a span of 10 seconds, at least 30 bicycles would pass by. Before the Traffic Police operation started, some reckless cyclists were spotted, with two cyclists brushing against each other. Many pedestrians were also seen looking back frequently as they walked on the pavement, seemingly to look out for cyclists coming from behind. It is understood that many of the cyclists would ride from residential areas to industrial estates between 7am and 8am to get to work. Many cyclists interviewed by Shin Min said that cycling on the roads was too dangerous, so they decided to cycle on the pavement... Writing on his Facebook page about the operation in Woodlands Avenue 9, Mr Khaw said that a cycling lane had been created for cyclists but there were still those who rode along walkways."
The roads are dangerous - so we need to make pavements dangerous too
What If Hogwarts Had A Mandatory Sex Ed Class? - "'That was so informative! Did you know that witches can store their menstrual blood to use in fertility potions? Oh! And Professor McGonagal was telling us about protection charms that you can put onto your vulva so that anything that enters you without your consent will turn black and shrivel up.' They boys grimmaced and hoped they got to land a muggle girl their first time instead."
Cooking with extra virgin olive oil is a 'waste of money' because it loses its health benefits when heated - "Even after being cooked, olive oil will still be at least as healthy as vegetable oil so it is not worth replacing one with the other, said the report. But it could be ‘economically advantageous’ to use standard olive oil rather than pay more for the extra virgin variety, it added. And there are other ways to get the most out of olive oil when cooking, they added. One is to keep heating to a minimum, another is to keep adding a splash of olive oil during the cooking process so that it does not get so hot it loses its healthy properties."
mophie space pack - Built-In Phone Storage | mophie - "space pack is the world’s first rechargeable battery case with local built-in storage made for iPhone 5s/5."
“Game of Thrones” should watch its back: Why this work of nonfiction is as riveting as the fantasy - "We don’t think of Shakespeare as writing historical fiction, but his historical plays really are that, aren’t they?
Those two cycles, the two tetralogies [comprising "Richard II"; "Henry IV, Part 1"; "Henry IV, Part 2"; "Henry V"; "Henry VI, Part 1"; "Henry VI, Part 2"; "Henry VI, Part 3"; and "Richard III"] are probably the most influential lens through which we view the 15th century. So much of what Shakespeare did with those plays — although I don’t think a lot of it was deliberate – reflects the common 16th-century views of what happened in the previous century. And that has remained the way people understand the Wars of the Roses. It’s the most important historical fiction of all when we’re talking about the 15th century.
The first I ever heard of the Wars of the Roses as an American child was in the Chronicles of Narnia. Someone is explaining something complicated to Lucy Pevensie, and she throws up her hands and says “It’s worse than the War of the Roses!” So for a long time the only thing I knew about it was that it was impossible to understand...
I suppose if you could boil it down into one instant, it’s the moment of anointing... That’s what is at the heart of Shakespeare’s “Richard II,” and at the heart of the real story of Richard II as well: the terrible deed that was done by deposing and killing an anointed King. You’ve messed with someone who has literally been touched by God. It’s like when people object to doing stem cell research today. You’re messing with nature, with the rules of the world. Think about it in those terms... This is also one reason the Wars of the Roses eventually petered out. Everyone had to be out there on the front line, which leads to an enormously high mortality rate of male aristocrats in the English 15th century. You get to the end of the 1400s and there is virtually no one with any royal blood left. They’ve slaughtered each other."
Only 39% of Singapore respondents who have lived abroad want to retire here: Survey - "According to the survey, chasing a better quality of life and lower cost of living were among the key reasons for choosing to retire overseas. Countries like Australia and Malaysia were revealed to be popular retirement locations for Singaporeans."
This is one reason people get years in jail for child pornography possession
Teach youth that gender is a cultural construct - "One can be pro-family and yet against the patriarchal family, which some religious groups support. Other cultural impositions are also possible, as “mainstream values”, by definition, exclude significant values held by minority communities. Even more frightening is the thought that progressive perspectives on gender that are taught in our universities will be cut out of the sex education curriculum. I hope I will be proven wrong... Youth who are taught that gender is a cultural construct would make sense of such research. They would recognise that the long history of the patriarchal socialisation of men, rather than nature, explains the different responses between the sexes. They would know that a progressive education can overturn such gender inequities."
The aggressive pushing of an ideological agenda: why parents are scared of sex education
Isn't the cutting out of non-progressive perspectives on gender what those who complained about Focus on the Family's sex education were aiming to do?
Leibovitz Sees Glitz and Grit, Sontag Broods on the Big Idea - "By interspersing sexy photographs of Heidi Fleiss and Nicole Kidman with closeup shots of victims of domestic violence at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital in New York City, Ms. Leibovitz and Ms. Sontag have created a book that fairly hammers you over the head with its agenda. On one page, you get three Houston socialites with big hats and fake smiles; on the next, black coal miners in Alabama. Rather than letting you get drawn into the photographs, Women wants to make sure you get the point. If you want to look at Sigourney Weaver in a fishnet body stocking and shiny black ankle boots, well, you better not skip over the photograph of two grossly overweight women outside a gas station in rural Texas. The problem is, the book’s point-that women come in all shapes and sizes; that women are still oppressed; that women grow old; that women are deans of law schools and farmers and astronauts and scientists-feels a bit tired by now. Surely we know these things. Ms. Sontag would perhaps respond that we do know them, but that we don’t know them enough. If we did, women would earn equal pay to men and would not be subject to reflexive hostility when they show ambition and independence. Fair enough. But the essay ignores the photos that accompany it. Read Ms. Sontag’s critique of “today’s hugely complex fashion-and-photography system” and you wonder if she bothered to turn to the book’s last page, where Ms. Leibovitz ends her acknowledgments with, “I am extremely grateful to Anna Wintour and Vogue .” If only Ms. Sontag had written an essay that tackled head-on Ms. Leibovitz’s financial and artistic symbiosis with “today’s hugely complex fashion-and-photography system.” What would she make of the photograph, taken from below, of the red panties and crotches of four faceless, high-kicking Kilgore College Rangerette cheerleaders? Is it commentary-the male sports establishment exploits women by making them dress up as cheerleaders-or is it appreciation? How does the photograph jibe with Ms. Sontag’s statement that this is a book about women’s “ambition,” which women have been “schooled to stifle in themselves”? Is a photograph of women’s underwear a celebration of ambition? Ms. Sontag may not be particularly interested in what male viewers think of Ms. Leibovitz’s pictures. Her essay dismisses men as bores. She writes, “A book of photographs of women must, whether it intends to or not, raise the question of women-there is no equivalent ‘question of men.’ Men, unlike women, are not a work in progress.”"
Rangerettes was quite nice
Leonardo DiCaprio with a Swan - AnOther's Lovers
Leonardo and the Swan
Every Comment On Recipe Blogs - "“I didn’t have buttermilk, so I just poured baking soda into a container of raspberry yogurt. It tasted terrible.”
“I love this recipe! I added garlic powder, Italian seasoning, a few flakes of nutritional yeast, half a bottle of kombucha, za’atar, dried onion, and biscuit mix to mine. Great idea!”"
Pavement-hogging cyclists caught in the act - "At least 100 cyclists were caught within an hour and 15 people were issued fines of $20, Shin Min Daily News reported. This follows a report last month by The New Paper that there were many cyclists riding along the pavements of Woodlands Avenue 9 and many near-misses with pedestrians... One resident, Ms Chen, said that many cyclists are very reckless. "My five-year-old son was nearly knocked down by a bicycle a few days ago. It was really dangerous," said Ms Chen, who is in her 40s. A police spokesman said that when cyclists cause hurt to pedestrians, they could be fined up to $5,000, jailed for up to one year, or both. Shin Min reported that the pavement where the operation took place was narrow, but in a span of 10 seconds, at least 30 bicycles would pass by. Before the Traffic Police operation started, some reckless cyclists were spotted, with two cyclists brushing against each other. Many pedestrians were also seen looking back frequently as they walked on the pavement, seemingly to look out for cyclists coming from behind. It is understood that many of the cyclists would ride from residential areas to industrial estates between 7am and 8am to get to work. Many cyclists interviewed by Shin Min said that cycling on the roads was too dangerous, so they decided to cycle on the pavement... Writing on his Facebook page about the operation in Woodlands Avenue 9, Mr Khaw said that a cycling lane had been created for cyclists but there were still those who rode along walkways."
The roads are dangerous - so we need to make pavements dangerous too
What If Hogwarts Had A Mandatory Sex Ed Class? - "'That was so informative! Did you know that witches can store their menstrual blood to use in fertility potions? Oh! And Professor McGonagal was telling us about protection charms that you can put onto your vulva so that anything that enters you without your consent will turn black and shrivel up.' They boys grimmaced and hoped they got to land a muggle girl their first time instead."
Cooking with extra virgin olive oil is a 'waste of money' because it loses its health benefits when heated - "Even after being cooked, olive oil will still be at least as healthy as vegetable oil so it is not worth replacing one with the other, said the report. But it could be ‘economically advantageous’ to use standard olive oil rather than pay more for the extra virgin variety, it added. And there are other ways to get the most out of olive oil when cooking, they added. One is to keep heating to a minimum, another is to keep adding a splash of olive oil during the cooking process so that it does not get so hot it loses its healthy properties."
mophie space pack - Built-In Phone Storage | mophie - "space pack is the world’s first rechargeable battery case with local built-in storage made for iPhone 5s/5."
“Game of Thrones” should watch its back: Why this work of nonfiction is as riveting as the fantasy - "We don’t think of Shakespeare as writing historical fiction, but his historical plays really are that, aren’t they?
Those two cycles, the two tetralogies [comprising "Richard II"; "Henry IV, Part 1"; "Henry IV, Part 2"; "Henry V"; "Henry VI, Part 1"; "Henry VI, Part 2"; "Henry VI, Part 3"; and "Richard III"] are probably the most influential lens through which we view the 15th century. So much of what Shakespeare did with those plays — although I don’t think a lot of it was deliberate – reflects the common 16th-century views of what happened in the previous century. And that has remained the way people understand the Wars of the Roses. It’s the most important historical fiction of all when we’re talking about the 15th century.
The first I ever heard of the Wars of the Roses as an American child was in the Chronicles of Narnia. Someone is explaining something complicated to Lucy Pevensie, and she throws up her hands and says “It’s worse than the War of the Roses!” So for a long time the only thing I knew about it was that it was impossible to understand...
I suppose if you could boil it down into one instant, it’s the moment of anointing... That’s what is at the heart of Shakespeare’s “Richard II,” and at the heart of the real story of Richard II as well: the terrible deed that was done by deposing and killing an anointed King. You’ve messed with someone who has literally been touched by God. It’s like when people object to doing stem cell research today. You’re messing with nature, with the rules of the world. Think about it in those terms... This is also one reason the Wars of the Roses eventually petered out. Everyone had to be out there on the front line, which leads to an enormously high mortality rate of male aristocrats in the English 15th century. You get to the end of the 1400s and there is virtually no one with any royal blood left. They’ve slaughtered each other."
Only 39% of Singapore respondents who have lived abroad want to retire here: Survey - "According to the survey, chasing a better quality of life and lower cost of living were among the key reasons for choosing to retire overseas. Countries like Australia and Malaysia were revealed to be popular retirement locations for Singaporeans."
Post ID: 8385861328485313995
Les femmes "sensibles" et les femmes sages
"Tremblez surtout pour ces femmes actives dans leur oisiveté, que vous nommez sensibles, et dont l’amour s’empare si facilement et avec tant de puissance ; qui sentent le besoin de s’en occuper encore, même lorsqu’elles n’en jouissent pas ; et s’abandonnant sans réserve à la fermentation de leurs idées, enfantent par elles ces lettres si douces, mais si dangereuses à écrire ; et ne craignent pas de confier ces preuves de leur faiblesse à l’objet qui les cause : imprudentes, qui dans leur amant actuel ne savent pas voir leur ennemi futur !
Mais moi, qu’ai-je de commun avec ces femmes inconsidérées ? Quand m’avez-vous vue m’écarter des règles que je me suis prescrites et manquer à mes principes ? Je dis mes principes, et je le dis à dessein : car ils ne sont pas, comme ceux des autres femmes, donnés au hasard, reçus sans examen et suivis par habitude ; ils sont le fruit de mes profondes réflexions ; je les ai créés, et je puis dire que je suis mon ouvrage."
--- Les Liaisons Dangereuses / Pierre Ambroise François Choderlos de Laclos
Mais moi, qu’ai-je de commun avec ces femmes inconsidérées ? Quand m’avez-vous vue m’écarter des règles que je me suis prescrites et manquer à mes principes ? Je dis mes principes, et je le dis à dessein : car ils ne sont pas, comme ceux des autres femmes, donnés au hasard, reçus sans examen et suivis par habitude ; ils sont le fruit de mes profondes réflexions ; je les ai créés, et je puis dire que je suis mon ouvrage."
--- Les Liaisons Dangereuses / Pierre Ambroise François Choderlos de Laclos
Post ID: 7755342282418306709
Monday, November 03, 2014
Links - 3rd November 2014
Video games as research tools: The Space Fortress game - "From 1983 through 1986, several laboratories investigated the role of practice in skill acquisition in a joint project called theLearning Strategies Program. The principal research tool for this project was a video game calledSpace Fortress"
Robert Williams's answer to What are some pranks that don't hurt anyone? - Quora - "One day we just saw him looking really carefully at the tin, and he said "it's like every day there's just more cookies...""
Female monkey using her 'charms' to become top banana at Oita zoo - AJW by The Asahi Shimbun - "Zoo workers who have observed the monkeys said Mirusa's influence arises from the skillful way she gets on the good side of high-ranking male monkeys. She has been found frequently cleaning the fur and grooming the more powerful males, and she has also been observed taking provocative poses toward group bosses. When she is on the verge of losing a fight to a male monkey, Mirusa will scream and call a high-ranking male primate to her rescue."
Ahh... Patriarchy!
The Perks of Herpes - "In a world full of infinite partner choices, herpes had narrowed mine to the understanding, the open minded, the risk takers. I am now confined to partners who think my awesomeness eclipses my cellular flaw — so instead of killing my love life, herpes has weirdly deepened it. Maybe this isn’t such a bad thing to be stuck with forever, I thought as I found the entrance to the train, stepped aboard, and headed home, alone."
Maybe she should get HIV too
Walking is the superfood of fitness, experts say - "Researchers say emerging evidence suggests that combined physical activity and inactivity may be more important for chronic disease risk than physical activity alone. “Actively sedentary is a new category of people who are fit for one hour but sitting around the rest of the day," Bowman said. “You can’t offset 10 hours of stillness with one hour of exercise.” Last year researchers at the University of Texas School of Public Health asked 218 marathoners and half marathoners to report their training and sitting times. Median training time was 6.5 hours per week. Median total sitting time was eight to 10.75 hours per day, suggesting that recreational distance runners are simultaneously highly sedentary and highly active. Leslie Sansone, creator of the “Walk at Home: Mix & Match Walk Blasters” DVD, said too many people believe that spending grueling hours at the gym is the only way to fitness. “There’s this “Biggest Loser” idea out there that if you’re not throwing up and crying you’re not getting fit,” she said, referring to the popular television weight-loss show."
A Paradox of Integration - NYTimes.com - "FROM 2010 to 2013, I spent time on a historically white South African college campus to write its post-apartheid history. As I worked, I discovered what appeared to me to be a peculiar paradox: As black students’ access to the school had grown, so had their dissatisfaction with it... He was shocked by the way his new campus, the University of Cape Town, another formerly all-white school, had retained an institutional character molded by the ideology of white supremacy. The portraits at the four corners of the graduation hall depicted white men. Several prominently displayed artworks showed blacks naked, sometimes with their genitals hanging out. The professoriate remained overwhelmingly white. The curriculum was still dominated by Western thinkers... “People are fine with racial difference as long as there’s no culture conflict,” Imraan Coovadia, a creative-writing professor at the University of Cape Town, pointed out to me. In the ’80s, the historically white universities’ first black students expected the institutions to be alien — “unfamiliar territory,” as Mr. Mangcu put it. But as more black students came, their cultural expectations changed. “I want my university to say to me, ‘Black man, be proud,’ ” Mr. Mahapa, the student-council representative, told me. The contrast between the increasingly diverse student body and the homogeneous, Western institutional culture became more and more unsettling. The more black students there were on a campus, the more they felt empowered to speak up. “Together, we all have more courage,” Mr. Mahapa said.
The joys of integration
Lovesick Chinese woman, 26, dumped by boyfriend spends entire week in KFC - "Depressed Tan Shen, 26, from Chengdu, in China’s southwest Sichuan Province, decided she needed some fried comfort food to get over her ex. She stopped off at a KFC near a train station by her home, but ended up staying for a whole week because she ‘needed time to think’. Tan even phoned in sick to work to stay at the KFC, with her break-up clearly hitting her very hard... 'When we asked her if she was ok, she said she was and just needed time to think. 'And then asked for another box of chicken wings with extra large fries'... Waitress Jiang Li Lung said: 'I guess we kind of miss her. It certainly made work more interesting.'"
Gamer Gate Harassment - "Showing the often overlooked other side of this argument. If you have any evidence of SJW's attacking you for your opinion, then let me know... "maybe it's time to castrate these #gamergate degenerates""
Child-porn sentencing questioned - "Possessing child porn is vastly different from distributing or producing it, Graham said in an interview last week. “The purveyors or producers of these images deserve the most severe punishment we can give them. My concern is the people who end up possessing it.” Richard Bistline, a Knox County man, is to be in federal court on Wednesday to be sentenced for the third time for child-porn possession. His case thrust Graham into the spotlight in 2010 after the judge sentenced Bistline, of Mount Vernon, to one day in prison, 30 days of home confinement and 10 years of probation. The recommended sentence under federal guidelines was five to six years... A 2013 U.S. Sentencing Commission report on federal child-porn guidelines noted that many of the sentencing enhancements designed to further punish the worst possessors now apply to most offenders... “Most stakeholders in the federal criminal-justice system consider the nonproduction, child-pornography-sentencing scheme to be seriously outmoded,” the report says. Steve Nolder, a lawyer who directed the federal public-defender offices in Columbus, Cincinnati and Dayton until last year, said the guidelines need to be changed. “They’re the direct result of the political winds blowing out of Congress,” with legislators having increased the punishment for child-porn offenses within the guidelines in recent years, he said... What everyone wants to know, he said, is whether those who view child pornography have a greater tendency to molest children. “The psychology of that is in its infancy, but right now, the data says no,” Nolder said."
Why do men prefer nice women?: Responsiveness and desire - "Men who interacted with a responsive female individual perceived her as more feminine and as more sexually attractive than did men in the unresponsive condition. Women are more cautious than men when interpreting a stranger's expressions of responsiveness, and their perceptions of the stranger, which were seemingly unaffected by perceived responsiveness, may reflect conflicting trends among different women. "Some women, for example, may interpret responsiveness negatively and feel uncomfortable about a new acquaintance who seems to want to be close. Such feelings may impair sexual attraction to this responsive stranger. Other women may perceive a responsive stranger as warm and caring and therefore as a desirable long-term partner," Dr. Birnbaum elaborates... whether a responsive partner will be seen as sexually desirable or not depends on the context and meaning assign to responsiveness. In early dating, the meaning of responsiveness is likely shaped by gender-specific expectations. Women did not perceive a responsive man as less masculine, but even so, women did not find a responsive man as more attractive. The study helps to explain why men find responsive women sexually attractive, but does not reveal the mechanism that underlies women's desire for new acquaintanceships. "We still do not know why women are less sexually attracted to responsive strangers; it may not necessarily have to do with 'being nice.' Women may perceive a responsive stranger as less desirable for different reasons," Prof. Birnbaum cautions. "Women may perceive this person as inappropriately nice and manipulative (i.e., trying to obtain sexual favors) or eager to please, perhaps even as desperate, and therefore less sexually appealing. Alternatively, women may perceive a responsive man as vulnerable and less dominant. Regardless of the reasons, perhaps men should slow down if their goal is to instill sexual desire.""
Neil deGrasse Tyson compares entrepreneurs to cavemen - "Speaking at the MIRCon security conference in Washington last week, deGrasse Tyson got what feels a bit personal when he rather strongly implied that instead of improving society, app-builders had sent us on a path that if continued, would return us to our troglodytic past. “Society has bigger problems than what can be solved with your next app. [Problems] in transportation, and energy and health. And these are huge sectors of society and they are solved by innovations in these fields,” Tyson said. “Without it we might as well just proceed back into the cave, because that’s where we’re headed.”"
Comment: "I respect Tyson, but somebody had to pay tax so that the space programs can even exist. Entrepreneurs are taxpayers. Pragmatism..."
Foxconn workers went on strike last week, but not for the reason you think - "They wanted to work longerhours. Foxconn wasn’t giving them enough overtime."
How Fruits Have Evolved Over Time - "If someone handed you a peach 6,000 years ago, you might be surprised: the sour, grape-sized lump you'd be holding would hardly resemble the plump, juicy fruit we enjoy today. Throughout the 12,000 years or so since humans first developed agriculture, the foods we eat have undergone drastic transformations. Farmers have found ways to select for different traits when breeding plants, turning out generations of larger, sweeter, and juicier crops... Kennedy writes, "I set out to find the least natural fruit in existence, and decided it was probably the modern watermelon.In 5,000 years, the watermelon has expanded from its original six varieties to a staggering 1,200 different kinds. Modern watermelons are available in a handful of different colors and shapes, and can be bought conveniently seedless. Originally native to a small region of southern Africa, the watermelon is now grown in countries around the world. Modern watermelons are about 100 times heavier than their ancient predecessors and much sweeter. ""
Genetic engineering!
Etihad Airways offers free Flying Nannies on board long-haul flights
Robert Williams's answer to What are some pranks that don't hurt anyone? - Quora - "One day we just saw him looking really carefully at the tin, and he said "it's like every day there's just more cookies...""
Female monkey using her 'charms' to become top banana at Oita zoo - AJW by The Asahi Shimbun - "Zoo workers who have observed the monkeys said Mirusa's influence arises from the skillful way she gets on the good side of high-ranking male monkeys. She has been found frequently cleaning the fur and grooming the more powerful males, and she has also been observed taking provocative poses toward group bosses. When she is on the verge of losing a fight to a male monkey, Mirusa will scream and call a high-ranking male primate to her rescue."
Ahh... Patriarchy!
The Perks of Herpes - "In a world full of infinite partner choices, herpes had narrowed mine to the understanding, the open minded, the risk takers. I am now confined to partners who think my awesomeness eclipses my cellular flaw — so instead of killing my love life, herpes has weirdly deepened it. Maybe this isn’t such a bad thing to be stuck with forever, I thought as I found the entrance to the train, stepped aboard, and headed home, alone."
Maybe she should get HIV too
Walking is the superfood of fitness, experts say - "Researchers say emerging evidence suggests that combined physical activity and inactivity may be more important for chronic disease risk than physical activity alone. “Actively sedentary is a new category of people who are fit for one hour but sitting around the rest of the day," Bowman said. “You can’t offset 10 hours of stillness with one hour of exercise.” Last year researchers at the University of Texas School of Public Health asked 218 marathoners and half marathoners to report their training and sitting times. Median training time was 6.5 hours per week. Median total sitting time was eight to 10.75 hours per day, suggesting that recreational distance runners are simultaneously highly sedentary and highly active. Leslie Sansone, creator of the “Walk at Home: Mix & Match Walk Blasters” DVD, said too many people believe that spending grueling hours at the gym is the only way to fitness. “There’s this “Biggest Loser” idea out there that if you’re not throwing up and crying you’re not getting fit,” she said, referring to the popular television weight-loss show."
A Paradox of Integration - NYTimes.com - "FROM 2010 to 2013, I spent time on a historically white South African college campus to write its post-apartheid history. As I worked, I discovered what appeared to me to be a peculiar paradox: As black students’ access to the school had grown, so had their dissatisfaction with it... He was shocked by the way his new campus, the University of Cape Town, another formerly all-white school, had retained an institutional character molded by the ideology of white supremacy. The portraits at the four corners of the graduation hall depicted white men. Several prominently displayed artworks showed blacks naked, sometimes with their genitals hanging out. The professoriate remained overwhelmingly white. The curriculum was still dominated by Western thinkers... “People are fine with racial difference as long as there’s no culture conflict,” Imraan Coovadia, a creative-writing professor at the University of Cape Town, pointed out to me. In the ’80s, the historically white universities’ first black students expected the institutions to be alien — “unfamiliar territory,” as Mr. Mangcu put it. But as more black students came, their cultural expectations changed. “I want my university to say to me, ‘Black man, be proud,’ ” Mr. Mahapa, the student-council representative, told me. The contrast between the increasingly diverse student body and the homogeneous, Western institutional culture became more and more unsettling. The more black students there were on a campus, the more they felt empowered to speak up. “Together, we all have more courage,” Mr. Mahapa said.
The joys of integration
Lovesick Chinese woman, 26, dumped by boyfriend spends entire week in KFC - "Depressed Tan Shen, 26, from Chengdu, in China’s southwest Sichuan Province, decided she needed some fried comfort food to get over her ex. She stopped off at a KFC near a train station by her home, but ended up staying for a whole week because she ‘needed time to think’. Tan even phoned in sick to work to stay at the KFC, with her break-up clearly hitting her very hard... 'When we asked her if she was ok, she said she was and just needed time to think. 'And then asked for another box of chicken wings with extra large fries'... Waitress Jiang Li Lung said: 'I guess we kind of miss her. It certainly made work more interesting.'"
Gamer Gate Harassment - "Showing the often overlooked other side of this argument. If you have any evidence of SJW's attacking you for your opinion, then let me know... "maybe it's time to castrate these #gamergate degenerates""
Child-porn sentencing questioned - "Possessing child porn is vastly different from distributing or producing it, Graham said in an interview last week. “The purveyors or producers of these images deserve the most severe punishment we can give them. My concern is the people who end up possessing it.” Richard Bistline, a Knox County man, is to be in federal court on Wednesday to be sentenced for the third time for child-porn possession. His case thrust Graham into the spotlight in 2010 after the judge sentenced Bistline, of Mount Vernon, to one day in prison, 30 days of home confinement and 10 years of probation. The recommended sentence under federal guidelines was five to six years... A 2013 U.S. Sentencing Commission report on federal child-porn guidelines noted that many of the sentencing enhancements designed to further punish the worst possessors now apply to most offenders... “Most stakeholders in the federal criminal-justice system consider the nonproduction, child-pornography-sentencing scheme to be seriously outmoded,” the report says. Steve Nolder, a lawyer who directed the federal public-defender offices in Columbus, Cincinnati and Dayton until last year, said the guidelines need to be changed. “They’re the direct result of the political winds blowing out of Congress,” with legislators having increased the punishment for child-porn offenses within the guidelines in recent years, he said... What everyone wants to know, he said, is whether those who view child pornography have a greater tendency to molest children. “The psychology of that is in its infancy, but right now, the data says no,” Nolder said."
Why do men prefer nice women?: Responsiveness and desire - "Men who interacted with a responsive female individual perceived her as more feminine and as more sexually attractive than did men in the unresponsive condition. Women are more cautious than men when interpreting a stranger's expressions of responsiveness, and their perceptions of the stranger, which were seemingly unaffected by perceived responsiveness, may reflect conflicting trends among different women. "Some women, for example, may interpret responsiveness negatively and feel uncomfortable about a new acquaintance who seems to want to be close. Such feelings may impair sexual attraction to this responsive stranger. Other women may perceive a responsive stranger as warm and caring and therefore as a desirable long-term partner," Dr. Birnbaum elaborates... whether a responsive partner will be seen as sexually desirable or not depends on the context and meaning assign to responsiveness. In early dating, the meaning of responsiveness is likely shaped by gender-specific expectations. Women did not perceive a responsive man as less masculine, but even so, women did not find a responsive man as more attractive. The study helps to explain why men find responsive women sexually attractive, but does not reveal the mechanism that underlies women's desire for new acquaintanceships. "We still do not know why women are less sexually attracted to responsive strangers; it may not necessarily have to do with 'being nice.' Women may perceive a responsive stranger as less desirable for different reasons," Prof. Birnbaum cautions. "Women may perceive this person as inappropriately nice and manipulative (i.e., trying to obtain sexual favors) or eager to please, perhaps even as desperate, and therefore less sexually appealing. Alternatively, women may perceive a responsive man as vulnerable and less dominant. Regardless of the reasons, perhaps men should slow down if their goal is to instill sexual desire.""
Neil deGrasse Tyson compares entrepreneurs to cavemen - "Speaking at the MIRCon security conference in Washington last week, deGrasse Tyson got what feels a bit personal when he rather strongly implied that instead of improving society, app-builders had sent us on a path that if continued, would return us to our troglodytic past. “Society has bigger problems than what can be solved with your next app. [Problems] in transportation, and energy and health. And these are huge sectors of society and they are solved by innovations in these fields,” Tyson said. “Without it we might as well just proceed back into the cave, because that’s where we’re headed.”"
Comment: "I respect Tyson, but somebody had to pay tax so that the space programs can even exist. Entrepreneurs are taxpayers. Pragmatism..."
Foxconn workers went on strike last week, but not for the reason you think - "They wanted to work longerhours. Foxconn wasn’t giving them enough overtime."
How Fruits Have Evolved Over Time - "If someone handed you a peach 6,000 years ago, you might be surprised: the sour, grape-sized lump you'd be holding would hardly resemble the plump, juicy fruit we enjoy today. Throughout the 12,000 years or so since humans first developed agriculture, the foods we eat have undergone drastic transformations. Farmers have found ways to select for different traits when breeding plants, turning out generations of larger, sweeter, and juicier crops... Kennedy writes, "I set out to find the least natural fruit in existence, and decided it was probably the modern watermelon.In 5,000 years, the watermelon has expanded from its original six varieties to a staggering 1,200 different kinds. Modern watermelons are available in a handful of different colors and shapes, and can be bought conveniently seedless. Originally native to a small region of southern Africa, the watermelon is now grown in countries around the world. Modern watermelons are about 100 times heavier than their ancient predecessors and much sweeter. ""
Genetic engineering!
Etihad Airways offers free Flying Nannies on board long-haul flights
Post ID: 3512581072079785919
Feminist author Naomi Wolf dissects myth of ideal beauty
Feminist author Naomi Wolf dissects myth of ideal beauty
Last Saturday afternoon, two self- professed feminists turned the School of the Arts Drama Theatre into an arena for a jousting match.
In one corner: American author and political consultant Naomi Wolf, who wrote The Beauty Myth (1991), and one of the leaders of the third wave of feminism.
In the other: Singaporean author and artist Dana Lam, president of the Association of Women for Action and Research (Aware).
They were both on stage as part of the Singapore Writers Festival Lecture: The Beauty Myth, featuring Wolf and moderated by Lam.
The whistle was blown during the question-andanswer session when a man in the audience asked: Would Aware consider including men as full members?
Lam threw the first punch. "It's an organisation set up by women to correct an imbalance that exists in society," she argued. "And until that problem is resolved, it's too early to think of us involving men."
Wolf countered with a quick riposte. "I guess I respectfully very, very much disagree with what you just said," she said. "There isn't any room for an organisation which leaves people out on the basis of their gender, religion or culture. If we're so passive that letting men in means them taking over, then we need to work on ourselves."
Lam countered the blow with a quick dodge: "There might be a time for that, but that time, arguably, is not now."
With no knockout punch delivered, the audience was left to choose their victor.
"From that exchange, I think she (Lam) perpetuated the idea that feminism is men- hating, which is exactly what Naomi Wolf was arguing against," said student Thanusha Raj, 22.
The rest of Wolf's lecture was delivered in the same vein: Fiercely protective of her stance, keenly observant, but also quick to acknowledge the flaws and gaps in her own knowledge and Western feminism.
Wolf, 51, is the author of The Beauty Myth which argues that the "ideal beauty" of any day and age is socially constructed by patriarchy, with the goal of keeping women from coming to power and prominence.
The Yale-educated Wolf was a political consultant for presidential candidates Bill Clinton in 1996, and Al Gore in 2000.
In her hour-long talk, which was delivered to a house of mostly women, she spoke on two major topics: The myth of the ideal woman and the evolution of feminism in the West and the developing world.
She began by painting a picture of the "ideal woman": Tall, thin, young, perhaps Caucasian and blonde - the quintessential Barbie. She then deconstructed the ideal by exploring how it came about. She debunked the notion that Barbie is an evolutionary, Darwinian construct, citing culturally relative standards of beauty as well as the biological difficulties of reproduction if a woman is significantly underweight.
Instead, she posited that Barbie has evolved for the "need to hold women back politically". She said that in history, "when women take a giant leap forward, ideals arise in a backlash". This happens again and again, she said.
In the 19th century, when the suffrage movement began to take flight, "the ideal became tinier, more and more passive, more and more fragile, almost as a counterweight".
In the 1950s, after the war was over and women were kicked out of the workforce and back into homes, the ideal was a housewife who was "suddenly supposed to be obsessed with how shiny your floors were".
The obsession with this unattainable ideal is so that women "would not be causing the trouble that you would otherwise cause", she charged. "Barbie is just a symbol and in every culture, she's kind of a Rorschach for the ways women are oppressed."
In the second half of her talk, Wolf was fearless in pointing out the flaws in Western feminism and contrasting its iteration with the movement in the developing world. "Western feminism, which had a lot to say and was very, very valuable for 30, 40 years, has come to an intellectual standstill."
According to her, it has worked itself into intellectual cul de sacs, such as what happened with Simone de Beauvoir's 1949 book The Second Sex which "fetishises the individual at the expense of the community".
She took to task the North American estab- lishment for framing feminism as a gender war between men and women, which was a "terrible, catastrophic way of phrasing". "They begin to approach feminism not as a beautiful, enlightened ideal, but as a set of lifestyle choices."
Instead, she chose to focus on feminism in the developing world, which she said is more akin to the approach of Mary Wollstonecraft, who wrote A Vindication Of The Rights Of Woman in 1792.
"She articulated a feminism that was totally in line with enlightenment. What she said, that women need to evolve to be free exactly the way that everyone else needs to evolve to be free," said Wolf.
For teacher Baey Shi Chen, 34, the author's honesty and openness to other societies was refreshing. "It's interesting that she's so open to the fact that Western feminism has to listen to other developing cultures that are more aligned to the Age of Enlightenment," she said.
The Revolution is never Safe, and the Party cannot relinquish control until we reach Communist Utopia
Last Saturday afternoon, two self- professed feminists turned the School of the Arts Drama Theatre into an arena for a jousting match.
In one corner: American author and political consultant Naomi Wolf, who wrote The Beauty Myth (1991), and one of the leaders of the third wave of feminism.
In the other: Singaporean author and artist Dana Lam, president of the Association of Women for Action and Research (Aware).
They were both on stage as part of the Singapore Writers Festival Lecture: The Beauty Myth, featuring Wolf and moderated by Lam.
The whistle was blown during the question-andanswer session when a man in the audience asked: Would Aware consider including men as full members?
Lam threw the first punch. "It's an organisation set up by women to correct an imbalance that exists in society," she argued. "And until that problem is resolved, it's too early to think of us involving men."
Wolf countered with a quick riposte. "I guess I respectfully very, very much disagree with what you just said," she said. "There isn't any room for an organisation which leaves people out on the basis of their gender, religion or culture. If we're so passive that letting men in means them taking over, then we need to work on ourselves."
Lam countered the blow with a quick dodge: "There might be a time for that, but that time, arguably, is not now."
With no knockout punch delivered, the audience was left to choose their victor.
"From that exchange, I think she (Lam) perpetuated the idea that feminism is men- hating, which is exactly what Naomi Wolf was arguing against," said student Thanusha Raj, 22.
The rest of Wolf's lecture was delivered in the same vein: Fiercely protective of her stance, keenly observant, but also quick to acknowledge the flaws and gaps in her own knowledge and Western feminism.
Wolf, 51, is the author of The Beauty Myth which argues that the "ideal beauty" of any day and age is socially constructed by patriarchy, with the goal of keeping women from coming to power and prominence.
The Yale-educated Wolf was a political consultant for presidential candidates Bill Clinton in 1996, and Al Gore in 2000.
In her hour-long talk, which was delivered to a house of mostly women, she spoke on two major topics: The myth of the ideal woman and the evolution of feminism in the West and the developing world.
She began by painting a picture of the "ideal woman": Tall, thin, young, perhaps Caucasian and blonde - the quintessential Barbie. She then deconstructed the ideal by exploring how it came about. She debunked the notion that Barbie is an evolutionary, Darwinian construct, citing culturally relative standards of beauty as well as the biological difficulties of reproduction if a woman is significantly underweight.
Instead, she posited that Barbie has evolved for the "need to hold women back politically". She said that in history, "when women take a giant leap forward, ideals arise in a backlash". This happens again and again, she said.
In the 19th century, when the suffrage movement began to take flight, "the ideal became tinier, more and more passive, more and more fragile, almost as a counterweight".
In the 1950s, after the war was over and women were kicked out of the workforce and back into homes, the ideal was a housewife who was "suddenly supposed to be obsessed with how shiny your floors were".
The obsession with this unattainable ideal is so that women "would not be causing the trouble that you would otherwise cause", she charged. "Barbie is just a symbol and in every culture, she's kind of a Rorschach for the ways women are oppressed."
In the second half of her talk, Wolf was fearless in pointing out the flaws in Western feminism and contrasting its iteration with the movement in the developing world. "Western feminism, which had a lot to say and was very, very valuable for 30, 40 years, has come to an intellectual standstill."
According to her, it has worked itself into intellectual cul de sacs, such as what happened with Simone de Beauvoir's 1949 book The Second Sex which "fetishises the individual at the expense of the community".
She took to task the North American estab- lishment for framing feminism as a gender war between men and women, which was a "terrible, catastrophic way of phrasing". "They begin to approach feminism not as a beautiful, enlightened ideal, but as a set of lifestyle choices."
Instead, she chose to focus on feminism in the developing world, which she said is more akin to the approach of Mary Wollstonecraft, who wrote A Vindication Of The Rights Of Woman in 1792.
"She articulated a feminism that was totally in line with enlightenment. What she said, that women need to evolve to be free exactly the way that everyone else needs to evolve to be free," said Wolf.
For teacher Baey Shi Chen, 34, the author's honesty and openness to other societies was refreshing. "It's interesting that she's so open to the fact that Western feminism has to listen to other developing cultures that are more aligned to the Age of Enlightenment," she said.
The Revolution is never Safe, and the Party cannot relinquish control until we reach Communist Utopia
Post ID: 2100060638445084266
Sunday, November 02, 2014
Links - 2nd November 2014
Nationality not a recipe for good food - "The recent move by Penang to ban foreign workers from cooking hawker food might have prompted cheers among people who love the Malaysian state's rich street food culture... A couple of years ago, I remember feeling regret after ordering a plate of fried Hokkien noodles from a coffee shop near home. I had rattled off my order and when the cook replied, it was apparent that she was not from around these parts. How could she possibly make a decent version of the classic hawker dish? How many versions has she had? Yes, she is Chinese, but our kind of Hokkien mee is not found in Fujian. I ate my noodles with a serving of humble pie because the dish was cooked competently. It was not the best plate of Hokkien mee I ever had but it was not the worst either. The best and the worst were cooked by Singaporeans... my colleagues and I used to frequent a popular cafe in Far East Plaza called, rather grandly, The Ritchie Riche Restaurant. It served cheap and good claypot and hotplate dishes. Soups, sizzling noodles and a particularly succulent chicken claypot dish came out of that busy kitchen. "Look inside," my friend, a regular, told me on my first visit. I did, and saw a staff of Indian cooks busy whipping up these Chinese dishes. We patronised the place every chance we got. The food was good, and it did not matter to us who cooked it. That must surely be the guiding principle when assessing food. If it is delicious and, better yet, authentic, does it matter if the cook is not a native one? I think of domestic helpers who have mastered popiah, mee siam, chicken rice, braised duck, nasi lemak and other dishes, cooked according to treasured recipes belonging to their employers... if we have a native- cooks-only policy, does that mean that only Italian chefs can cook Italian food and French chefs can cook French food here? I would hate to miss out on the creations of Taiwan-born Andre Chiang, chef of Restaurant Andre in Bukit Pasoh. The Penang initiative was not without its detractors. One of them was Malaysian celebrity chef Redzuawan Ismail, better known as Chef Wan. He described the idea as a "ridiculous" one, and The Star newspaper quoted him as saying that the law would make Malaysia a laughing stock in the eyes of the world... It also seems absurd to think that people who grew up eating particular dishes are somehow able to cook them better than others who do not have the same taste memories. I have a wide taste memory for a lot of local classics but that does not mean I can turn out perfect chicken rice, char kway teow or, yes, fried Hokkien mee without working at it."
But Malaysia is already a laughing stock...
Why Portland Is Wrong About Water Fluoridation | But Not Simpler, Scientific American Blog Network - "First, the chemical is labeled “toxic,” but it isn’t mentioned that everything is toxic in the appropriate amounts. Advil and Tylenol are toxic at high enough concentrations, as is water. Many chemicals are harmless within a range of toxicity, and many are beneficial up to certain point. Next, the chemical’s dangerous effects at massive concentrations are stated. But 1/100 or 1/10 of an ounce of fluoride would never be in a glass of tap water in a regulated area—indeed, you are much more likely to find dangerously high levels of fluoride in unregulated water supplies. One part-per-million is the recommended dose, and so one ion floats among a million water molecules. What happens at higher doses can be terrible, which is precisely why you won’t find those levels in regulated water supplies. The final effort is to link the chemical to other scary things that contain it. This may come as a surprise, but it shouldn’t scare you—your body produces formaldehyde. It does so naturally, but the chemical doesn’t damage or kill you. It’s all about the dose; it makes the poison. Just as a natural amount of formaldehyde in your body isn’t a cause for alarm, neither is a regulated, and proven beneficial, amount of fluoride in your water. And the fear is selective. Where is the anti-chlorine lobby? Chlorine is a chemical—also an ion—added to water, also considered one of the greatest public health measures in history. It too is proven to reduce disease and create a more healthy population. Chloride has all the attributes that make fluoride “scary.” When an identical situation produces almost no blowback, it speaks to the basis of fluoride fear. It’s not science...
Could the government…?
Control each and every scientist who has ever published a study on water fluoridation?
Control each and every website that promotes the use of fluoridation?
Have significant private control of the infrastructure of the Internet to suppress conspiracies?
Keep every government employee or scientist who knew about fluoridation for the last 65 years from mentioning one word about its dangers at recommended levels?
Control and coordinate advocacy groups on the local level to write reports and organize in favor of the process?
Have the time and resources to conduct all these suppressive operations for half a century?
Fluoridation conspiracy theorists can’t trust the government to safely add/remove something to/from their water—as they do for chlorine, cryptosporidium cysts, carbon-based solids, oil, grease, arsenic, lead, and selenium—but will give the government the benefit of the doubt when it comes to policing every shred of information on fluoridation for the last 65 years. As with most conspiracies, pulling on the thread unravels the theory."
Research: Recession Grads May Wind Up Happier in the Long Run - "Victoria Medvec and colleagues famously showed that athletes who won silver medals at the Olympics were less satisfied with their results than those who won bronze. Clearly the silver medalists performed better, yet they felt worse. Why? Silver medalists were more likely to agonize over whether a faster stroke or a smaller splash might have earned them a gold. This fixation on how they might have done better often dampened their satisfaction with what they had accomplished. Bronze medalists, on the other hand, tended to be relieved to be on the podium at all. For them, the salient alternative was fourth place, a result that would have sent them home unadorned. Thus, rather than stewing over how they could have done better, these athletes derived satisfaction from what they had achieved. Could similar mental calculations be working in favor of recession graduates?... People who earned their college or graduate degrees during economic downturns were significantly more satisfied with their current jobs than those who earned their degrees in more prosperous times. These effects could not be explained by industry or occupational choices, generational differences, or differences in career trajectories. In subsequent studies, I found that much like bronze medalists, these graduates spent little time ruminating over how they might have done better and tended to be grateful to have a job at all. Those who graduated during more prosperous times, however, looked at their current jobs differently. Rather than revel in their good fortune, these graduates tended to wonder if they could have or should have done better. Much like silver medalists, they were more likely to be plagued by regret, second-guessing, and what ifs. What surprised me most about these findings was how long these effects endured. Recession graduates were typically happier with their jobs even decades after receiving their diplomas – and even after markets stabilized, recessions slowed, and hiring ramped up. The difficult and often demoralizing conditions of their early working lives seemed to shape positively how they thought about and evaluated later work environments. This is consistent with recent research in psychology which shows that some lifetime adversity is associated with greater happiness than either too much or too little. Too much adversity can be emotionally debilitating. Too little can weaken resilience, allowing people to magnify and exaggerate the bumps of everyday life."
Previous exposure to trauma and PTSD effects of subsequent trauma: results from the Detroit Area Survey of Trauma. - "History of any previous exposure to traumatic events was associated with a greater risk of PTSD from the index trauma. Multiple previous events had a stronger effect than a single previous event. The effect of previous assaultive violence persisted over time with little change. When they examined several features of the previous exposure to trauma, the authors found that subjects who experienced multiple events involving assaultive violence in childhood were more likely to experience PTSD from trauma in adulthood. Furthermore, previous events involving assaultive violence--single or multiple, in childhood or later on--were associated with a higher risk of PTSD in adulthood."
That which does not kill us gives us PTSD
Loke QL's answer to Why do Singapore students dislike engineering as their choice of study in Singapore? - Quora - "As many others have said, we are not well remunerated. We don't seem to invent that much in Singapore. Quite frankly, a person doing clerical work at a bank can earn as much or more than an engineer. Just a few years ago, I saw 2 job advertisements:
- Clerical work at ****** Bank. Salary FROM $3000 *Fresh grads welcome!*
- Electrical Engineer at **** COMPANY. Salary UP TO $3000. Min 2-3 years experience.
How exactly is that appealing is beyond my comprehension.
The prospects aren't bright either, since we do not have a strong manufacturing sector with factories using the latest state-of-the-art equipment in Singapore, and can barely hope to progress far up the corporate ladder. Despite the long working hours (sorry for rubbing this in)."
Poorvisha Ravi's answer to How can a woman misuse the concept of feminism? - Quora - "The concept of only females being oppressed is so deeply ingrained in us, that even feminism, a concept of equality, is tinged with this thought. It starts from childhood- this so called fighting male oppression by not playing fair... If someone slaps you, you slap them back. You don't take a chainsaw and massacre their whole race down."
Ukraine's Darth Vader bids to lead nation to the dark side - "In November 2013 he was carried by his stormtroopers to Odessa city hall where he declared himself mayor. According to local media reports he has also reportedly demanded a plot of land to park his spaceship. "I alone can make an empire out of a republic, to restore former glory, to return lost territories and pride for this country," Vader said in a party statement."
The white tourist’s burden - "As admirably altruistic as it sounds, the problem with voluntourism is its singular focus on the volunteer’s quest for experience, as opposed to the recipient community’s actual needs. There is a cost associated with such an endeavor... well-to-do tourists sign up to build schools, clean and restore riverbanks, ring birds and act as caregivers to AIDS orphans for a few weeks. This led to the creation of a profitable industry catering to volunteer tourists. The orphans’ conditions are effectively transformed into a boutique package in which “saving” them yields profits from tourists. The foreigners’ ability to pay for the privilege of volunteering crowds out local workers... These children essentially work as orphans because their parents cannot afford to send them to school. Instead of helping parents cater to the needs of their children, the tourist demand for orphans to sponsor creates an industry that works to make children available for foreigners who wish to help. When the external help dries up, these pretend orphans are forced to beg on the streets for food and money in order to attract orphan tourism... Typically other people’s problems seem simpler, uncomplicated and easier to solve than those of one’s own society. In this context, the decontextualized hunger and homelessness in Haiti, Cambodia or Vietnam is an easy moral choice. Unlike the problems of other societies, the failing inner city schools in Chicago or the haplessness of those living on the fringes in Detroit is connected to larger political narratives. In simple terms, the lack of knowledge of other cultures makes them easier to help. This imagined simplicity of others’ problems presents a contrast to the intangible burdens of post-industrial societies. Western nations are full of well-fed individuals plagued by less explicit hardships such as the disintegration of communities and the fraying of relationships against the possibilities of endless choices. The burdens of manic consumption and unabated careerism are not as easily pitied as crumbling shanties and begging babies. Against this landscape, volunteerism presents an escape, a rare encounter with an authenticity sorely missed, hardship palpably and physically felt — for a small price."
But Malaysia is already a laughing stock...
Why Portland Is Wrong About Water Fluoridation | But Not Simpler, Scientific American Blog Network - "First, the chemical is labeled “toxic,” but it isn’t mentioned that everything is toxic in the appropriate amounts. Advil and Tylenol are toxic at high enough concentrations, as is water. Many chemicals are harmless within a range of toxicity, and many are beneficial up to certain point. Next, the chemical’s dangerous effects at massive concentrations are stated. But 1/100 or 1/10 of an ounce of fluoride would never be in a glass of tap water in a regulated area—indeed, you are much more likely to find dangerously high levels of fluoride in unregulated water supplies. One part-per-million is the recommended dose, and so one ion floats among a million water molecules. What happens at higher doses can be terrible, which is precisely why you won’t find those levels in regulated water supplies. The final effort is to link the chemical to other scary things that contain it. This may come as a surprise, but it shouldn’t scare you—your body produces formaldehyde. It does so naturally, but the chemical doesn’t damage or kill you. It’s all about the dose; it makes the poison. Just as a natural amount of formaldehyde in your body isn’t a cause for alarm, neither is a regulated, and proven beneficial, amount of fluoride in your water. And the fear is selective. Where is the anti-chlorine lobby? Chlorine is a chemical—also an ion—added to water, also considered one of the greatest public health measures in history. It too is proven to reduce disease and create a more healthy population. Chloride has all the attributes that make fluoride “scary.” When an identical situation produces almost no blowback, it speaks to the basis of fluoride fear. It’s not science...
Could the government…?
Control each and every scientist who has ever published a study on water fluoridation?
Control each and every website that promotes the use of fluoridation?
Have significant private control of the infrastructure of the Internet to suppress conspiracies?
Keep every government employee or scientist who knew about fluoridation for the last 65 years from mentioning one word about its dangers at recommended levels?
Control and coordinate advocacy groups on the local level to write reports and organize in favor of the process?
Have the time and resources to conduct all these suppressive operations for half a century?
Fluoridation conspiracy theorists can’t trust the government to safely add/remove something to/from their water—as they do for chlorine, cryptosporidium cysts, carbon-based solids, oil, grease, arsenic, lead, and selenium—but will give the government the benefit of the doubt when it comes to policing every shred of information on fluoridation for the last 65 years. As with most conspiracies, pulling on the thread unravels the theory."
Research: Recession Grads May Wind Up Happier in the Long Run - "Victoria Medvec and colleagues famously showed that athletes who won silver medals at the Olympics were less satisfied with their results than those who won bronze. Clearly the silver medalists performed better, yet they felt worse. Why? Silver medalists were more likely to agonize over whether a faster stroke or a smaller splash might have earned them a gold. This fixation on how they might have done better often dampened their satisfaction with what they had accomplished. Bronze medalists, on the other hand, tended to be relieved to be on the podium at all. For them, the salient alternative was fourth place, a result that would have sent them home unadorned. Thus, rather than stewing over how they could have done better, these athletes derived satisfaction from what they had achieved. Could similar mental calculations be working in favor of recession graduates?... People who earned their college or graduate degrees during economic downturns were significantly more satisfied with their current jobs than those who earned their degrees in more prosperous times. These effects could not be explained by industry or occupational choices, generational differences, or differences in career trajectories. In subsequent studies, I found that much like bronze medalists, these graduates spent little time ruminating over how they might have done better and tended to be grateful to have a job at all. Those who graduated during more prosperous times, however, looked at their current jobs differently. Rather than revel in their good fortune, these graduates tended to wonder if they could have or should have done better. Much like silver medalists, they were more likely to be plagued by regret, second-guessing, and what ifs. What surprised me most about these findings was how long these effects endured. Recession graduates were typically happier with their jobs even decades after receiving their diplomas – and even after markets stabilized, recessions slowed, and hiring ramped up. The difficult and often demoralizing conditions of their early working lives seemed to shape positively how they thought about and evaluated later work environments. This is consistent with recent research in psychology which shows that some lifetime adversity is associated with greater happiness than either too much or too little. Too much adversity can be emotionally debilitating. Too little can weaken resilience, allowing people to magnify and exaggerate the bumps of everyday life."
Previous exposure to trauma and PTSD effects of subsequent trauma: results from the Detroit Area Survey of Trauma. - "History of any previous exposure to traumatic events was associated with a greater risk of PTSD from the index trauma. Multiple previous events had a stronger effect than a single previous event. The effect of previous assaultive violence persisted over time with little change. When they examined several features of the previous exposure to trauma, the authors found that subjects who experienced multiple events involving assaultive violence in childhood were more likely to experience PTSD from trauma in adulthood. Furthermore, previous events involving assaultive violence--single or multiple, in childhood or later on--were associated with a higher risk of PTSD in adulthood."
That which does not kill us gives us PTSD
Loke QL's answer to Why do Singapore students dislike engineering as their choice of study in Singapore? - Quora - "As many others have said, we are not well remunerated. We don't seem to invent that much in Singapore. Quite frankly, a person doing clerical work at a bank can earn as much or more than an engineer. Just a few years ago, I saw 2 job advertisements:
- Clerical work at ****** Bank. Salary FROM $3000 *Fresh grads welcome!*
- Electrical Engineer at **** COMPANY. Salary UP TO $3000. Min 2-3 years experience.
How exactly is that appealing is beyond my comprehension.
The prospects aren't bright either, since we do not have a strong manufacturing sector with factories using the latest state-of-the-art equipment in Singapore, and can barely hope to progress far up the corporate ladder. Despite the long working hours (sorry for rubbing this in)."
Poorvisha Ravi's answer to How can a woman misuse the concept of feminism? - Quora - "The concept of only females being oppressed is so deeply ingrained in us, that even feminism, a concept of equality, is tinged with this thought. It starts from childhood- this so called fighting male oppression by not playing fair... If someone slaps you, you slap them back. You don't take a chainsaw and massacre their whole race down."
Ukraine's Darth Vader bids to lead nation to the dark side - "In November 2013 he was carried by his stormtroopers to Odessa city hall where he declared himself mayor. According to local media reports he has also reportedly demanded a plot of land to park his spaceship. "I alone can make an empire out of a republic, to restore former glory, to return lost territories and pride for this country," Vader said in a party statement."
The white tourist’s burden - "As admirably altruistic as it sounds, the problem with voluntourism is its singular focus on the volunteer’s quest for experience, as opposed to the recipient community’s actual needs. There is a cost associated with such an endeavor... well-to-do tourists sign up to build schools, clean and restore riverbanks, ring birds and act as caregivers to AIDS orphans for a few weeks. This led to the creation of a profitable industry catering to volunteer tourists. The orphans’ conditions are effectively transformed into a boutique package in which “saving” them yields profits from tourists. The foreigners’ ability to pay for the privilege of volunteering crowds out local workers... These children essentially work as orphans because their parents cannot afford to send them to school. Instead of helping parents cater to the needs of their children, the tourist demand for orphans to sponsor creates an industry that works to make children available for foreigners who wish to help. When the external help dries up, these pretend orphans are forced to beg on the streets for food and money in order to attract orphan tourism... Typically other people’s problems seem simpler, uncomplicated and easier to solve than those of one’s own society. In this context, the decontextualized hunger and homelessness in Haiti, Cambodia or Vietnam is an easy moral choice. Unlike the problems of other societies, the failing inner city schools in Chicago or the haplessness of those living on the fringes in Detroit is connected to larger political narratives. In simple terms, the lack of knowledge of other cultures makes them easier to help. This imagined simplicity of others’ problems presents a contrast to the intangible burdens of post-industrial societies. Western nations are full of well-fed individuals plagued by less explicit hardships such as the disintegration of communities and the fraying of relationships against the possibilities of endless choices. The burdens of manic consumption and unabated careerism are not as easily pitied as crumbling shanties and begging babies. Against this landscape, volunteerism presents an escape, a rare encounter with an authenticity sorely missed, hardship palpably and physically felt — for a small price."
Post ID: 280661817610912912
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