Links - 27th April 2018 (1)

Work, not sex? The real reason Chinese women bound their feet - ""In the conventional view, it existed to please men. They were thought to be attracted to small feet," said Laurel Bossen, co-author of the new book "Bound feet, Young hands." But Bossen's research suggests that the custom has been massively misunderstood. Girls who had their feet bound didn't lead a life of idle beauty but rather served a crucial economic purpose, especially in the countryside, where girls as young as 7 weaved, spun and did work by hand, Bossen said. Foot-binding persisted for so long because it had a clear economic rationale: It was a way to make sure young girls sat still and helped make goods like yarn, cloth, mats, shoes and fishing nets that families depended upon for income -- even if the girls themselves were told it would make them more marriageable... Foot-binding persisted because it ensured that young girls sat still and worked at a boring, sedentary task for many hours each day, she said, and it died out only when manufactured cloth and foreign imports eliminated the economic value of handwork"

Five Years Ago, 'Avatar' Grossed $2.7 Billion But Left No Pop Culture Footprint - "Few today will even admit to liking it... If Avatar has any legacy at all, it is by normalizing and/or incentivizing studios to release their biggest would-be tent poles with some kind of 3D modification in order to charge more money for tickets"

The Straight Dope: Can urinating on your feet in the shower cure athlete's foot? - "Gross though it may sound to normal folk, the oft-cited practice of irrigating battlefield wounds with urine isn't completely stupid - if the other options are using water of dubious sterility or letting things fester, what the hell. The question is whether it makes any sense if you've got a choice of antibacterial or antifungal agents. Instinctive answer: Of course not, nitwit"

Facebook Thinks Saying "Men Are Trash" Is Hate Speech - "“men are trash” is not hate speech. Largely, men who act offended by things like “men are trash” or “white people suck” are doing it to make a point, not because they really are offended; they seem to think being offended by a slur is a fun activity they’re being left out of. But I’m sorry, dudes: that just isn’t how it works. “Men are trash” is simply not the same thing as sexist attacks on women, because you don’t face the systemic oppression that makes sexist slurs so toxic. If you’re a man and someone calls you a stupid trash man, wow, I’m sorry you had a bad day. If someone calls a woman a bitch or a slut, that’s tinged with millennia of oppression"
Feminism!

Are jokes about men 'hate speech'? Facebook seems to think so - "She also feels that creating blanket rules to protect groups without accounting for power dynamics and privilege is unfair to the oppressed. “That is Facebook making a decision that misogyny and racism are equal to misandry and ‘reverse-racism’ and they’re ignoring the power structure,” said Belsky."

Girlfriend of Scot who trained her dog to give Nazi salutes tells court he made her 'fat, squishy dog' look 'evil' - "Meechan, 29, of Coatbridge, Lanarkshire, has denied any wrong doing and insisted he only did it to annoy his girlfriend of three years."

Why All Jokes Are Hate Speech And Should Be Criminalised - "At best, jokes are fake-news, involving as they do a fictional narrative designed to ‘provoke laughter’; at worst, jokes are hate-speech, because ultimately they offend others"

'Doxxing' new liberal weapon for publicly shaming people as neo-Nazis, Klan sympathizers - "Tony McAleer, a former white supremacist leader who devotes himself to helping neo-Nazis who want to leave their alliances to hate groups behind, says that the permanent nature of Internet postings makes it virtually impossible to shift gears and lead a new life."

The Craziest Writings Of Social Justice Warrior Academics - "The Parallel Lives of Women and Cows: Meat Markets... According to its description on Amazon, the book suggests that in America, women and cows are treated similarly...
“Hobosexual”- Resisting capitalism by having not-for-profit sex with homeless people... In The Journal of Lesbian Studies, Heather Tapley introduces the term “hobosexual” which is “a concept representative of anti-capitalist practices in both sex and labor.” In this essay, Tapley suggests that LGBT individuals having sex in urban areas is an act of protest against the American capitalistic society."

Feminist PhD Candidate: Science Is Sexist Because It's Not Subjective - "College science classes are hostile to women and minorities because they use the scientific method, which assumes people can find reliable truths about the natural world through careful and sustained experimentation, concludes a recent dissertation by a doctoral candidate at the University of North Dakota. Laura Parson, a student in the university’s education department, reviewed eight science class syllabi at a “Midwest public university” and said she discovered in them a hidden hostility to women and minorities... Throughout her dissertation, Parson assumes and asserts that women and minorities are uniquely challenged by the idea that science can provide objective information about the natural world. This is an unfair assumption, she says, because the concept of objectivity is too hard for women and minorities to understand. “[N]otions of absolute truth and a single reality” are “masculine,” she says, referring to poststructuralist feminist theory... Rather than rejecting this insulting view of women and minorities’ intellectual and rational capacities, Parson uses it as a pretext to advocate that science classes abandon the scientific method itself (which rests on the assumption that truth is unchanging and knowable) and all other “male” forms of oppression, such as “weed-out courses, courses that grade on a curve, a competitive environment, reliance on lecture as a teaching method, an individualistic culture, and comprehensive exams”... In education theory this exhibits itself as a theory called “constructivism,” and teachers who subscribe to it say students should be set free to “construct their own knowledge” by exposing them to many different environments and giving them freedom to select their own courses of study and even lessons and reading material. But cognitive research throws cold water over this outdated and ineffective theory about how people learn. It turns out that refusing to give students explicit instruction or set their course of study drastically increases minority achievement gaps."
If a feminist says it, is it still sexist and racist?

Hillary Clinton's Islam Comments -- Saying It Has Nothing to Do with Terrorism Is a Lie - "many of the same people who clutch their pearls at the mere suggestion that Islamic terrorism has anything to do with — oh, what’s the word again? — oh right: Islam, seem to have no problem making the case that “Christian terrorism” is like a real thing... what makes the lie dangerous — very dangerous — is the possibility that, to borrow a phrase from Barack Obama, these people believe their own bullsh***. The danger is twofold. On the one hand, if you engage an enemy without actually understanding its motivations and ambitions, you will inevitably screw it up because you’ll be constantly surprised by the facts on the ground. As Irving Kristol once said, “When we lack the will to see things as they really are, there is nothing so mystifying as the obvious.” On the other hand, if you are trying to rally political support for your strategy, while at the same time giving the public every reason to believe you’re operating from a home-base in fantasyland, only fellow bullsh***ers and fools will rally to your banner. And, you’ll lose the confidence and trust of those people who see through the fog of bovine excrement."

Obama as the Green Lantern - "Political scientist Brendan Nyhan has coined a mocking phrase (deriving from an earlier Matt Yglesias observation) to summarize this conventional wisdom: Political Green Lanternism. This refers to the famous DC Comics character who receives a power ring from aliens. The hook is that the ring derives its strength from the willpower of its bearer; a normal person won’t be able to accomplish much with it, but someone with strong willpower can all but move mountains. Nyhan and others rely on some fairly recent political science literature suggesting that the presidency simply doesn’t work this way, and that the powers of the president to persuade are really much more limited than previously thought. The “great persuaders” were successful not so much because of their ability to wield the office’s clout, but rather were gifted with large partisan majorities in Congress and/or a public that was enthusiastically behind their goals... Remember, the actual policy differences between Obama, Hillary Clinton, and John Edwards were pretty limited. To help distinguish himself from the pack, and to attack Clinton indirectly, Obama all but dressed up in green tights, claiming that his candidacy would enable us to put old arguments behind us, bring people together, and transform the country."

Socioeconomic status and genetic influences on cognitive development - "A prominent hypothesis in the study of intelligence is that genetic influences on cognitive abilities are larger for children raised in more advantaged environments. Evidence to date has been mixed, with some indication that the hypothesized pattern may hold in the United States but not elsewhere. We conducted the largest study to date using matched birth and school administrative records from the socioeconomically diverse state of Florida, and we did not find evidence for the hypothesis"
So much for socialisation and tabula rasa

"What's Your Major": Another Blow to the So-Called Gender Pay Gap - "if math skills are valued in the marketplace, employees with highly-developed skill – which graduates of math-heavy doctoral programs would have – are going to be paid more. That’s not discrimination... an inordinate focus on potential discrimination is neither healthy nor helpful. It’s not healthy, because it causes women to view men as oppressors and mean to view women as a lawsuit waiting to happen. And it’s not helpful to women, because it understates the degree to which they can influence their own professional outcomes through their choices. To be sure, those choices come with downsides – more work hours, more risk, less time at home with young children and, as illustrated here, perhaps focusing on a field of study that isn’t most interesting to you. But part of doing a Ph.D. is learning to focus on the real causes of events rather than imagined ones."

Researchers have finally worked out which degree actually has the biggest workload - "Media, Journalism and Broadcasting (AKA Mass Communications and Documentation) students officially lose the “I work so hard” game, with an embarrassing 19 hours of work a week... Flip-reverse to the other end of the scale and we (obviously) find Medics and Dentists. They, surprise surprise, have to grind away for a massive 37 hours a week"

God is not a man, church decides - "The Church of Sweden is urging its clergy to use gender-neutral language when referring to the supreme deity, refraining from using terms like “Lord” and “He” in favor of the less specific “God.”... The change was met with criticism, however. Christer Pahlmblad, an associate theology professor with Sweden’s Lund University, told Denmark’s Kristeligt Dagblad that the move was “undermining the doctrine of the Trinity and the community with the other Christian churches.” “It really isn’t smart if the Church of Sweden becomes known as a church that does not respect the common theology heritage”"

Video: The Guardian Says Correcting Grammar Is Racist; Expression Of White Privilege - "Correcting grammatical errors is typically a function of a racial “power imbalance” used to silence minorities who a “struggling” to have their voices heard, according to a journalist at communist bastion The Guardian. “Grammar snobs are patronizing, pretentious, and just plain wrong,” claims Mona Chalabi, before touching on how rules and standards for the use of language tend to evolve over time. Chalabi then advances the neo-Marxist narrative of power discrepancies between groups, casting “older, wealthier, whiter” persons as neo-Kulaks. Those with poorer grammar, it is implied, belong to a neo-proletariat in need of benevolent protection from enlightened bourgeois socialites such as journalists employed by The Guardian."

Word 'Too' Sexist -- Huffington Post Article - "If you think Schaeffer’s reaction to the word “too” is crazy, don’t worry. She thinks it’s crazy, too — crazy that a “a well-versed feminist” like her didn’t realize that she needed to be outraged sooner"

The Truth About Being a White Guy in Asia - "this “it’s easy for white guys” mantra was even said by the manager (a Japanese man) of the guest house I was going to be living in. I actually have the entire conversation on video. He basically said, “You’re lucky because you’re white, and girls in japan love white guys.”... Language barriers, cultural barriers, shame barriers, weird taboos all hit us like a bag of bricks... There are some big obstacles you’ll be faced with being a “white guy” in Asia. Even if one argues it’s “easier” for a white guy in some aspects, there are definitely many “great walls” that make it very “not easy” and therefore offset the alleged advantage...
3) Shame & Self-Image Barriers: Disturbing examples of this are girls who spontaneously begin crying after kissing me for the first time, then holding me crying saying “I want kiss but feel shame,” or girls telling stories about their fear of friends talking about them and hurting their reputation. Other examples include girls covering their faces after sex or kissing, admitting they really enjoy it but feel bad as if they committed a crime... Mickey Mouse Mode is basically being a character who gets a lot of attention but none of it is romantic. Everyone stares at Mickey Mouse, everyone wants a photo with Mickey Mouse, but nobody really wants to fuck Mickey Mouse... the reason the clubs I liked had hookers was because hookers love going to clubs with Western men because most of them are naive horny tourists."
Comment: "The ONLY country you got right (from my experience) is, Korea. The reasons and cultural background were spot on but in ANY south East asian country you are pounced on."

When Did 'Hello' Become Harassment? - "if this tape represents that experience and widespread “harassment,” I’m very confused... Out of the 100 catcalls, the tape includes approximately 30 encounters, and features the following verbal assaults:
“How are you this morning?
“Have a nice evening.
“What’s up, Miss?
“Have a nice evening, darlin’.
“What’s up, beautiful? Have a good day.”
Note: Joey Tribbiani (Friends) is alive and well in New York. Several of the men who spoke to Shoshana offered his familiar catchphrase, “How you doin’?” by way of introduction. (In the unenlightened ‘90s, we used to think this was amusing.)... I can only assume the video offers a representative sampling of her day. If that’s true, out of the 100 or so, 2 percent of the guys were stalker-ish, although, given the public setting, not overtly threatening her harm... Call me naive, but many of the men were what we used to call “friendly.”"

Viagra-popping seniors lead the pack for STDs - "the rate of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in older men taking erectile dysfunction drugs like Viagra is twice as high as in their non-medicated peers... 50-year-olds are six times less likely to use a condom than men in their 20s"

Taiwan’s Social Safety Net Is the Street Market - Foundation for Economic Education - Working for a free and prosperous world
Comment: "To say that this man has no idea what the hell he is talking about is like saying Jupiter is a large planet. This piece is a pile of romanticized rubbish that substantially misrepresents Taiwan. Taiwan has an extensive welfare state, including one of the best health insurance systems in the world, employment insurance, government pension programs, and the like... The idea that street food in Taiwan is safe is entirely fanciful. Anyone with over 20 years here, like myself, knows perfectly well how totally untrustworthy it is, with widespread fakery, using bleach on fruit to keep it from spoiling, longtime reuse of oil, etc etc etc. (The lack of) Food security is a major political issue in Taiwan. Street vendors are great, and I adore them, but I don't have any romantic ideological delusions about their nature or function"

Who said Singapore is so stressful? - It is HEAVEN for Japanese working ladies - "It was quite big company in Japan and has many many branches and factories in all over Japan. There were over 100 staffs in the department where I was.
But the thing was there were no cleaning staffs in the office. And once every two weeks, yeah i think is was Friday if I'm not wrong, all employees needed stick together and cleaned the floor and rooms with sweeping, mopping etc....
Since I came to Singapore, I seldom get a feeling of gender discrimination.
You are either men or women, as long as you are capable enough, u would have a chance to get promoted and are able to explore their career opportunities in this country."