Cyan, yeah. That was where the miscommunication came in. Thank you for untangling that.
Eliezer, I don’t see your perspective as a product of sex difference, I see it as a product of male privilege. The thing about privilege is that the primary privilege of any privileged group is to be unaware that they’re enjoying privilege. I can go to the store and buy a cellphone from Verizon Wireless and never know that my new phone has coltan in it that’s been mined very cheaply due to the instability in the Congo region and that the same instability which has afforded Verizon Wireless a fantastic deal and me by new gadget has also led to the wide spread multilation and rapeof women there. My white privilege and the privilege I get from living in a more developed part of the world lets me enjoy benefits reaped from harm to other people and never even think about the harm, never bother my precious head.
I don’t suppose you or Robin are fundamentally less than me for not seeing the things I see; I’m not saying you have eyes that cannot see, I’m supposing you’ve been cocooned in a snug little comfortable shell of male privilege so that, despite having fine eyes, there’s something between you and the world other people experience in this area. Just like there’s something between my eyes and the world as other people experience it.
I think that, from the beginning, if you at the blog had asked: hey, women readers, how are you doing? Are you sitting comfortably? Are there any areas where we could make you feel more welcome here? Rather than suggesting reasons why women obviously aren’t interested, that would have been cool.
Aside from everything else, showing that you value you people starts with being willing to listen instead of silence with a neat little explanation.
In fact, as someone who benefits from privilege, the kindest thing you can probably do is open a forum for listening, instead of making post after post wherein white men hold forth about gender and race.
Cyan, yeah. That was where the miscommunication came in. Thank you for untangling that.
Eliezer, I don’t see your perspective as a product of sex difference, I see it as a product of male privilege. The thing about privilege is that the primary privilege of any privileged group is to be unaware that they’re enjoying privilege. I can go to the store and buy a cellphone from Verizon Wireless and never know that my new phone has coltan in it that’s been mined very cheaply due to the instability in the Congo region and that the same instability which has afforded Verizon Wireless a fantastic deal and me by new gadget has also led to the wide spread multilation and rape of women there. My white privilege and the privilege I get from living in a more developed part of the world lets me enjoy benefits reaped from harm to other people and never even think about the harm, never bother my precious head.
I don’t suppose you or Robin are fundamentally less than me for not seeing the things I see; I’m not saying you have eyes that cannot see, I’m supposing you’ve been cocooned in a snug little comfortable shell of male privilege so that, despite having fine eyes, there’s something between you and the world other people experience in this area. Just like there’s something between my eyes and the world as other people experience it.
I think that, from the beginning, if you at the blog had asked: hey, women readers, how are you doing? Are you sitting comfortably? Are there any areas where we could make you feel more welcome here? Rather than suggesting reasons why women obviously aren’t interested, that would have been cool.
Aside from everything else, showing that you value you people starts with being willing to listen instead of silence with a neat little explanation.
In fact, as someone who benefits from privilege, the kindest thing you can probably do is open a forum for listening, instead of making post after post wherein white men hold forth about gender and race.