SearchWill you just shut up about gender?
Released by tynic
Human beings like to categorize. Our brains enjoy stripping things down, generalising, amalgamating large quantities of characteristics into smaller clumps of apparently similar features. It’s understandable - every second of the day, we process enormous amounts of data. If we didn’t set up some compression algorithms, our memory would be full by the time we were a few years old, and we’d either have to stop accepting input or overwrite existing memories completely. It is not surprising, then, that we have a natural predisposition towards simplifying the world around us, sociologically as well as visually or auditorially.
What is peculiar, to me, is the eagerness with which people leap on ways to do this consciously. We don’t actually need to spend our lives lumping people into stereotypical groups based on race, class or profession. We all of us have plenty of room in our minds to encompass the notion of individuality as it pertains to other human beings, and yet people seem to jump excitedly at any study which seems to offer them the potential to make sweeping generalisations based on overt genetic characteristics.
Note that I am in no way questioning the validity or relevance of such studies themselves. Any research, provided it is conducted in a proper and rigorous manner and interpreted with as little bias as possible, is useful, or at least not harmful in itself. I am, rather, bemoaning the thinking which creates this out of this, the thinking which leads to this kind of nonsense, the sheer intellectual laziness which is the hallmark of the bigot. It is laziness, pure and simple. Bigotry is not caused by stupidity or ignorance - racism and misogyny have run virulent through history’s great thinkers. It is not necessarily inspired by hatred or malice (Schopenhauer and his ilk aside) - the calmest, kindest person may abruptly display the most extraordinary prejudices (I’m looking at you, Granny). It is caused by an unwillingness to think deeply, an unwillingness to apply the mental effort required to differentiate between individuals. It is an unwillingness to think around the glib rhetoric and linguistic shorthand handed down to us by generations of sloppy reasoning (which can be seen most notably in the frequent resentment of ‘political correctness’ - god forbid we should get into the habit of thinking before we speak). It is a failure of imagination, a failure of empathy, but above all, a failure of effort.
Which brings me, finally, to my inspiration, if not my point. We have at our disposal a tool which takes away the path of easy categorization, a tool which can obfusicate gender, race, background and economic status, a tool which to a large degree forces people to interact as individuals, represented by their personality and intellect alone. On the internet, we have finally the chance to be judged at least partly on our merits, rather than on the sum total of anothers prejudice. So why the heck are we so keen to ram people straight back into their little boxes at the least opportunity?
Because we’re fucking lazy, that’s why.
What we need more of is meritocracy.
I totally agree with you. I bookmarked Digger when I was linked to it a few weeks ago, and started reading it last week. I really liked the comic, and halfway into it I learned that its writer is a woman (she mentioned her husband). But knowing that didn’t make her comic seem any better or worse; it’s still the same well written, beautiful comic, and no study on the writing of women or their artistic potential will change that.
Comment by Sami al Adeeb on May 26th, 2006 at 4:38 am |<3! again. For the substance of your post, as well as using a map-reading example (as a GIS nerd, the “wimmin-kaint-reed-dem-mapz-lol” thing makes me positively murderous) and letting me hate Dworkin (I’ve spent far too much time correcting the furphy that she said all sex is rape, despite the fact that I don’t like her general POV at all).
People who can’t cope with multiple parentheses are weak :P
Comment by The Cat on May 26th, 2006 at 6:12 am |also, that comic is fantastic. I mean, real quality!
Comment by The Cat on May 26th, 2006 at 7:04 am |It’s good, isn’t it? Definitely one of my favourites, story and dialogue-wise, and the art just makes me want to chew my computer screen.
Comment by tynic on May 26th, 2006 at 7:16 am |Unicorn jelly was done by someone with one of them vagina things. I think. It was pretty special, and the feminist blog about webcomics thing fails to mention it. Pretty sure if you wanted to take a carefull look at it, you could find a bunch of feminesque ideas in it.
ehh… you say gender is a superflious and stupid consideration on the internet(Unless I misundestand), and then I go and make a thing about a webcomic because it was done by a girl. Guess I’m not helping.
reading digger now. looks amazing.
Comment by red on May 26th, 2006 at 8:46 am |Christ, I always forget the name of the stupid bitch who says that all sex is rape. Probably because it looks kinda like Dawkins, except where one knows his shit, the other is fucking retarded.
Comment by Fencingsax on May 26th, 2006 at 9:23 am |Isn’t there a big difference between white matter and grey matter? I’d have to brush up (ie, actually study) on my neurology, but can’t white matter grow, whereas grey matter is much more like a computer? Perhaps ths would explain a lot of the old sterotypes - men are better at math/stubborn as hell, and women are more in touch with emotions/hold endlessly long grudges.
But I have a penis, so what do I know?
Comment by Poldy on May 26th, 2006 at 12:04 pm |White matter is the parts of the brain and spinal cord responsible for information transmission. Grey matter is mainly responsible for information processing.
Comment by Hacksaw on May 26th, 2006 at 12:10 pm |Right, so white matter is the nueral connections, which grow over time to result in learning/intelligence, correct?
Comment by Poldy on May 26th, 2006 at 12:11 pm |Right. White matter is comprised of axons (neuro transmitters) which grey matter concentrations to each other and carry nerve impulses between neurons.
Comment by Hacksaw on May 26th, 2006 at 12:19 pm |I just act like everybody on the web is a left-handed midget lesbian albino Eskimo and patronize them accordingly.
Comment by sacredwombat on May 26th, 2006 at 12:53 pm |fencingsax, poldy, hacksaw: too dumb for the internet.
Comment by The Cat on May 26th, 2006 at 6:16 pm |Agreed.
Comment by Sami al Adeeb on May 26th, 2006 at 6:23 pm |I love it when people dismiss scientific discussion of real gender differences, scared under the shadow of equality.
Comment by Nexus Zero on May 27th, 2006 at 1:00 pm |I love generalisations more.
Comment by Sami al Adeeb on May 27th, 2006 at 2:15 pm |But most of all I love it when people open their mouths and remove all doubt.
Comment by sacredwombat on May 27th, 2006 at 4:24 pm |How do I maek poast?
Comment by Hacksaw on May 27th, 2006 at 9:33 pm |