I heard a discussion on the news tonight where a woman was asked for proof that it’s a man’s world.
She said (I’m quoting from memory) “a lot of my male colleagues were promoted ahead of me.”
Why do we put up with this sort of nonsense?
If a cop pulls me over, and I think he was a jerk, I say, “Gee, that cop was a jerk.”
But if a woman gets pulled over by a cop, and she thinks he was a jerk, she says, “that cop was sexist.”
QUOTE:If a cop pulls me over, and I think he was a jerk, I say, “Gee, that cop was a jerk.” But if a woman gets pulled over by a cop, and she thinks he was a jerk, she says, “that cop was sexist.”
Couldn’t it be possible, in some cases, both are true? If so, you both wouldn’t necessarily have the same perception.
QUOTE:She said (I’m quoting from memory) “a lot of my male colleagues were promoted ahead of me.” Why do we put up with this sort of nonsense?
Why is it necessarily nonsense? Of course, this is not true in every case. Yet, in some cases, it is. Therefore, could it be she’s speaking from “her” experience and the knowledge other people who have had similar experiences that makes this observation reasonable?
Of course a cop can be a jerk as well as a sexist, racist, or anything else, and it’s possible that a person was not promoted because of sexism. It’s also possible they weren’t promoted because they suck.
The point is that we’ve allowed people to deploy that kind of excuse too easily, and to use such interactions as “evidence” of racism, sexism, etc. When it might just be evidence that the cop was having a bad day, or that the employee isn’t that good.
Then again, it could be happening the other way around: that we too easily ignore evidence of racism, sexism, and the like by just writing it off as something else (a cop having a bad day, poor performance on the part of an employee, etc.).
In times past, it was extremely difficult for people to raise these types of issues and to be taken seriously. Thus there has been a push to be heard and seen as credible. Yet, in some cases, the pendulum has swung too far in the other direction.
When these issues arise, the compliant should be heard and their claim shouldn’t be immediately dismissed as invalid. Still, the complainant has to have credible evidence to support their claim. That’s where the #metoo movement went off the rails. It began to equate “accusation” with “guilt” without credible evidence.
For example, take the recent accusation Tucker Carlson made against the NYT. Would it have been appropriate to say he was allowed to deploy his accusation too easily? Should he have been heard?… absolutely. Should his claim have been taken as valid and acted upon without credible evidence?…nope. Yet, we see his supporters acted instantly. Ironically, given his tactics, Tucker initiated the very thing he alleged of the NYT.
No one’s ever at fault. Someone or something else is always to blame. That’s just plain human nature starting from way back with Adam and the Apple. In reality, the reason for people’s negative experiences is usually because they suck so bad. That should be the default assumption until proven otherwise.
QUOTE: In reality, the reason for people’s negative experiences is usually because they suck so bad. That should be the default assumption until proven otherwise.
Didn’t some Germans have a default assumption that Jews sucked and treated them likewise? Didn’t some confederates have a default assumption that slaves sucked and treated them likewise? Didn’t some physically abusive husbands have a default assumption about their wives and treated them likewise? Didn’t some American men have a default assumption that women didn’t deserve to vote and treated them likewise? Didn’t some government doctors have a default assumption that some minorities sucked and treated them as such in conducting the Tuskegee Syphilis Study?
Hmm…I wonder if those who possessed such default assumptions would have ever changed their perceptions on their own? Could there have been any proof offered by the “suckies” to convince them otherwise? After all, these people sucked…it should be assumed that their negative experiences were simply their lot in life. Shame on the “suckies” for blaming others and desiring better treatment.