The Dismal Science

Re: boo

Bill Rogers — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 12:31:17 GMT

People in this thread should read the response I (Bill Rogers) posted titled “Asian Fetish.” dollyemu responded to that posting, as well. Like in this posting, nothing apposite was said by dollyemu. I will grant however, that while dollyemu’s response to my posting was irrelevant, it was at least coherent. dollyemu’s response to Malarkey makes no sense at all. By the way, thanks for the very much to-the-point posting, Malarkey.

Re: boo

Malarkey — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 16:41:07 GMT

Well, what a deft, clever response. You really turned that one around on me. I'd better go and see if I can't re-think my position and come up with a fitting rebuttal. Gosh!

Re: boo

dollyemu — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 00:46:09 GMT

he put on the gloves for women because men obviously can't handle it.

Re: boo

Malarkey — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 15:50:08 GMT

I'm not sure if you're being sarcastic or what. But I know I for one am sick of being called a fragile ego and being insulted on the basis of my gender. Certainly there are some conclusions the writer could have drawn based on that bit of data that are not insulting to masculinity.

On the other hand, Slate isn't exactly a scientific journal, and I can't fault an editorialist too much for spicing up his prose. But I guarantee you wouldn't see that phrasing if the reverse were true. Hell, he managed to describe how "Women of all the races we studied revealed a strong preference for men of their own race" without even using the word "racist."

Why put on the kid gloves for women? Do you think they can't handle a little ribbing? Subtle bigotry indeed...

Re: boo

slatted — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 14:48:27 GMT

yeah, right!

boo

Freddie — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 14:38:31 GMT

"So, yes, the stereotypes appear to be true: We males are a gender of fragile egos in search of a pretty face and are threatened by brains or success that exceeds our own. Women, on the other hand, care more about how men think and perform, and they don't mind being outdone on those scores"

What on earth does "the stereotype appears to be true"? This is the maddening thing about generalist statements. Whatever statistical tendency a group has, that group is made up of individuals, and the data tells us nothing about any particular individual. Saying a stereotype is true implies that you can use the general tendency to predict the character of an individual. Someone is going to read this article and say, "See, all men just care about looks." But many don't. I don't. It's such a lazy rubric for an article: create a statistical survey or study, then claim that the data confirm that "human nature" prevents us from aspiring to ideals. As long as you make the claim appeal to a prurient or racialist worldview, people will think that you are "telling the unpopular truth."