Letters to the Editor
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Today's News Headline: House Dems from Florida
"Opposed to mail-in campaign or any redo of any kind."
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Respect
It is the courtesy that one gives to another regardless of his/her stance on an issue. It is when one treats another with regard. I could see how one such as yourself would not require something as trivial and tedious as respect; in order to gain respect, one must first show respect. In this regard, I am afraid you are severely lacking. True, you don't need my respect; your unwavering trust in your own opinion precludes you from any such need. So then why blog? If you are the final analysis, what is the purpose in providing your POV and exposing IT for criticism? Everyone should just fall in line, right?
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If you're interested in Larry Summers
Start reading some books on Asperger's and you can see WHY women scientists complain of the environment.
Nerds are good systematizers but this can be a hellish, isolating, alienating experience if you're one of the human beings they're trying to systematize.
Summers really didn't have the whole story.
For one: he missed the fact that Asperger's is much harder to diagnose in girls than in boys. This is partly because girls with Asperger's can often become obsessed with language and literature instead of devices and numbers.
Those girls do a better job of appearing to be socially normal than the young Aspies whose obsessions are primarily mechanical or numerical.
Another point Summers missed: not all fields in science are dominated by Aspies. Fields that demand more teamwork and don't reward solitary genius so much are more filled with people who are socially normal.
And the women in those fields don't usually complain of a hostile environment.
Still another point Summers missed: even in physics, a field that one could say is filled to a large extent with people well within the Asperger's scale, you see a wide variation between different countries when it comes to the participation of women in physics.
One could argue based on this variation that cultures that do a better job of socializing young nerds have a higher percentage of physics degrees going to women.
For example - Spain does a good job of producing women physicists, while America does a very poor job -- one of the poorest in the world.
Why does Spain do such a better job of producing women physicists?
Having met many physicists who were educated in Spain, I think it's because their culture expects much more of them socially speaking. They are not allowed to become as ill-mannered and inappropriate as are young American nerds.
Larry Summers took a tiny piece of the puzzle and when it confirmed his pre-existing prejudice, he shut off his brain and stopped thinking.
But there's a lot there to think about, for anyone willing to let go of their anti-female prejudice first.
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And why science careers can be so much harder for women with families than for men with families
You're competing for jobs not just against people who are invested in their work, but against people who are deeply, truly, selfishly and at time even destructively obsessed by and absorbed in their own work.
It's seen as heroic when a man succumbs to such a deep obsession, but when a woman descends into those pits of workaholism and extreme focus, she's seen as a bad, selfish person and an unfit mother.
In other words, Aspie traits are punished and discouraged in women, which can make life rather difficult and even unpleasant for the women who are born that way.
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Silenced
Women who pursue careers in male dominated fields are extremely marginalized.Hillary Clinton-case in point. I couldn't agree more. As the mother of autistic son, and the sister of a man who is brilliant, and quite likely an aspie, I am intrigued by your viewpoint. My brother has been recently blessed with a wife who sets aside her needs to keep him on the straight and narrow. She manages this in such a way that she keeps him on the right path without being controlling. It is a very delicate balance, but he IS the brilliant one. Female aspies should be so lucky as to find a man willing to do the same. You state your case very well. Perhaps, women should just set their sights on nursing, education and social work as Michelle Obama suggested. Then everyone can go on believing that there is social equality as long as women know their place and stick to "caregiver" type roles. That is truly "change" we can believe in, no?
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Wow we've gotta get Camille Paglia a t.v. show
Never seen female Hillary supporters this angry. I usually just avoid Paglia's stuff, I've heard she's really smart but really esoteric. I read this, figured, hey it's not that bad. She's no big Hillary fan.
Then I come here and see some of the responses. Seriously Obama people we gotta get her on t.v. I've never seen the Hillary supporters this angry before. This would make them look completely irrational.
Of course Andrew Sullivan's always argued the Hillary supporters are much worse and more dogmatic than the Obama supporters, and that they secretly know it which only feeds into their anger even more. Exhibit 1 (according to Sullivan): is this newfound refusal to even consider being Barack Obama's Vice President.
"So the candidate who has been in second place most of the race has supporters pickier than those of the candidate in first place. Entitlement, anyone? There is a great deal of anger toward Clinton among the Obama camp; but the contempt for Obama from the Clintonites is really something. "
Keep going Camille. You're doing something right.
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Hillary supporters "angry and irrational"
Really...because we agree to disagree with Obama supporters. Yeah I guess that is pretty irrational. On the other hand, the comments of many of Obama's supporters has been completely sane, well thought out and rational. May I point out the very sane comments of manos99 from Houston. Whose clever retort "For the Love of God...Piss Off," just shook me to the core-with an odd mixture of pity, revulsion and laughter. I haven't seen any anger or defensiveness at all. I know-it's "righteous indignation" when an Obama supporter spews nasty misogynistic rhetoric. When a Clinton supporter dares to disagree, we are angry and irrational. Hmmm...must be those pesky little hormones. I am not saying you personally are sexist/misogynistic but give us a little credit. We are not all frothing at the mouth.