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Tuesday, December 18, 2007 12:00 AM

Scientist: Women, stop destroying the planet!

Sir David King says women interested in reducing global warming should stop checking out men in Ferraris.

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  • Wednesday, December 19, 2007 08:55 AM

    Since there seems to be some confusion

    I'll explain what was wrong with Mr. King's comments. Basically, he packed two bad assumptions into one short phrase. The first assumption is about women being passive. His questioner asked what she could do about global warming... in other words, she asked what actions she, herself, could take. And he responded that she could "stop admiring." Which is doubly insulting, as he's asking her to stop being a passive bystander in a scenario he imagined himself.

    Secondly, he's assuming that women are responsible for things that men do. Which is absurd, if one thinks about it logically: The man in his scenario made the choice to acquire and drive a Ferrari, so surely it's his reponsibility. If he did it thinking he'd impress women that way, well, that's his problem, not theirs.

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