Fuck Sexism

[ZeaLitY]

Fuck this goddamned Teach Yourself Czech book. This chapter marks the third time out of ten chapters that a sexist joke or observation has been made.

[Thought]

A book that might be of interest to those concerned with gender equality is "Ale, Beer, and Brewsters in England" by Judith Bennett. Essentially, it addresses why women were squeezed out of the brewing industry in the late Medieval/Early Modern age and attributes it to a diffuse system of patriarchical systems.

[FaustWolf]

Thanks Thought! Here's some Google Books linkage for anyone interested. I'mma take a look at this. Naturally, everything goes good with a pint.

[Thought]

"diffuse system of patriarchical systems"? Wow, apparently I need more sleep.

Thanks for posting that link, Faust. Of particular interest is probably the introduction and chapter 8 (the conclusion). The book is interesting because the author is arguing that the social status of women really hasn't changed much from the 1300's. Back then women earned about 1/2 to 3/4th the wages of men, a statistic disturbingly close to the modern era. Bennett's main insight seems to be that while the form of women's work has changed (in this case, brewing over several centuries), the substance of it has not. She doesn't blame a specific, singular, unified patriarchy, but rather several smaller institutions that include such basic assumptions but which survive for other reasons (guilds, for examples, or family division of labor).

And yes, alcohol makes any academic book better

[FaustWolf]

So, my Dad's out Christmas shopping, and he's staring at this incredibly unwieldy office chair he wants to buy from Office Max. I'm like, 20 miles away, and I'm still worried the guy's gonna croak from a heart attack any day now. I ask him over the phone to make sure he's going to get help from someone in the store for transporting this thing to the car, and he replies: "Don't worry, there's a young lady here who'll carry it for me."

Just thought that anecdote might instill some holiday cheer in this thread.

[Lord J Esq]

Indeed. Bon Holiday, all!

[tushantin]

So, my Dad's out Christmas shopping, and he's staring at this incredibly unwieldy office chair he wants to buy from Office Max. I'm like, 20 miles away, and I'm still worried the guy's gonna croak from a heart attack any day now. I ask him over the phone to make sure he's going to get help from someone in the store for transporting this thing to the car, and he replies: "Don't worry, there's a young lady here who'll carry it for me."

Just thought that anecdote might instill some holiday cheer in this thread.

Still didn't get what that meant (kinda seemed a bit morbid), but happy holidays to you and your family. 

[Sajainta]

So, my Dad's out Christmas shopping, and he's staring at this incredibly unwieldy office chair he wants to buy from Office Max. I'm like, 20 miles away, and I'm still worried the guy's gonna croak from a heart attack any day now. I ask him over the phone to make sure he's going to get help from someone in the store for transporting this thing to the car, and he replies: "Don't worry, there's a young lady here who'll carry it for me."

Just thought that anecdote might instill some holiday cheer in this thread.

Still didn't get what that meant (kinda seemed a bit morbid), but happy holidays to you and your family. 

Means that there wasn't any "Oh a GIRL couldn't possibly help me carry this thing because, you know, she's a wimpy girl."

[tushantin]

Means that there wasn't any "Oh a GIRL couldn't possibly help me carry this thing because, you know, she's a wimpy girl."

XDDD Oh. I see now. Unfortunately, here most females are proud of their status. If a man asks a woman to help him carry a chair, whether old or not, the response (from most, not all) would usually be, "Excuse me? I'm a woman; lifting things and barbaric chores are a man's job." <----- Or something along those lines. Nevertheless, here at least a gentleman is supposed to assist a lady anyway. Primary courtesy and respect. 

[FaustWolf]

Heh heh, lest I give the wrong impression of what happened, she was a store employee and not a fellow shopper my Dad randomly flagged down or anything. Just part of her job. What interests me most is the split second pause before I exclaimed my relief; it shows that what's commonly called chivalry is still ingrained into my subconscious, and I wonder if it'll always be that way. Is this the nature of cultural programming one receives in childhood?

[tushantin]

xDDD Indeed! Humans have this amazing ability to completely change from what's defined in their DNA and leave the rest to evolution. Basically, program and reprogram a brain as your genes are passed down. It could be good or bad, but mostly good's come out of it. I think you might be in an article by David Wong at Cracked where he mentions how morality is important in a civilization.

Anywhos, this is a thread about Feminism. Anybody's got any idea of the sexuality status at the time of Cleopatra and Nefertiti? I mean gender priority and discrimination status, that is.

[alfadorredux]

Anywhos, this is a thread about Feminism. Anybody's got any idea of the sexuality status at the time of Cleopatra and Nefertiti? I mean gender priority and discrimination status, that is.

Relative gender status in Ancient Egypt? My understanding is that it's complicated, but surprisingly, there's some evidence that things were more equal there than they would be later on. You might be interested in looking up Hatshepsut--female pharaoh, reigned for something on the order of 20 years, and probably commanded at least one military campaign while on the throne, IIRC. She's a more interesting example than Cleopatra (remembered mainly for stringing Roman generals along) or Nefertiti (remembered mainly because of artwork depicting her and because of her rather strange husband, the pharaoh Akhnaton). In general, though, Ancient Egyptian women were allowed to own property and all that good stuff, and had an important role in their religion (again, IIRC).

[FaustWolf]

What's this I see? An old game that passes the Bechdel Test?

Not that the technical requirements of the Bechdel Test are the be-all and end-all of judging media for this thread's purposes, but still. Brings a little tear to me eye, it does.

(Oh, if the music sounds oddly familiar, that's just the usual FW video tinkering habit).

[Manly Man]

That game distinctly reminds me of the Breath of Fire series for some reason.

[FaustWolf]

One of the volunteers who canvassed with me during the Obama Campaign is leading an effort to investigate and stop human trafficking in our area. Damn, I am just... so proud of this guy!

Fighting ethnic massage parlors is such an uphill battle due to the risk of essentially misfiring and looking like a prude in the process. I mean, these places operate quietly and in plain sight on major avenues, so people assume everything's on the up-and-up. These ones being targeted in our area definitely advertise sex acts and look creepy enough that I've been paying particular attention to them since I've become more aware of this issue. I just wish definitive probable cause for a police or FBI investigation could be found! I'm thrilled that this person & co. are taking the bull by the horns finally.

I still need to find out more, as I just saw this in the local news, but from what I gather the only way to really combat these is to pressure local city councils to outlaw ethnic massage parlors completely. I think this is the route the local group is going for, starting with a public awareness campaign. This is particularly messy, as it quickly gets wrapped up in discussion of sexual rights, and the shadier operations get the same blanket shield in public opinion as the, I guess, not-so-shady outfits. How can we improve the mechanics of rooting out human trafficking, I wonder? I'll keep you guys up to date on how this situation progresses in my area.

While researching this, I discovered a RAND corporation report about human trafficking in Ohio while researching this more; I'm not sure whether RAND has a series of these for every state.