Maybe I missed this earlier, but this thread might be more lively if it considers the latest gender conversation: the fluidity of gender as a form of cultural identity. I have to practice constantly referring to several of my granddaughter's friends as "they", not "she" or "he" or "her" or "him."
On Thu, Jan 14, 2021 at 10:18 AM <thompnicks...@gmail.com> wrote: > Steve, > > > > Well, when good threads are bent, you and I will bend them. > > > > Let me complete my thought: There are two kinds of feminism here, right? > [Merle, please be kind.] One claims that women are not different, and > therefore should be treated equally. The other claims that women are or > may be different but that males’ and females’ natures are to be valued > equally. I have always leaned toward this sort of feminism. But I see now > that, insofar as it captures every woman I meet in a stereotype, this sort > of feminism is itself sexist. Every time I meet a woman, I engage in the > following abductive-deductive logic: > > > > This person is wearing a skirt (say) and has long hair > (say). > > This person is probably a woman. > > Women are less likely to be aggressive A-holes than men, > > Therefore, I (probably) can relax around this person. > > > > There is no escaping the sexism of this logic. > > > > I listen every week to a podcast, *Strict Scrutiny, *which begins with > the aphorism: > > > > I ask no special favor for my sex; I ask only that you take your feet off > our necks > > > > I was raised near the end of a rural road during WWII. My only chum, from > about 1 year to adolescence was a girl. After the War, my parents moved to > Boston. Before we were separated, we had a long chat about gender, she and > I, and agreed, sadly, that I was *lucky* to be a guy. > > > > Nick > > > > Nicholas Thompson > > Emeritus Professor of Ethology and Psychology > > Clark University > > thompnicks...@gmail.com > > https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson/ > > > > > > *From:* Friam <friam-boun...@redfish.com> *On Behalf Of *Steve Smith > *Sent:* Thursday, January 14, 2021 10:24 AM > *To:* friam@redfish.com > *Subject:* Re: [FRIAM] Talent and Moral Luck - Steelman attempt > > > > > > nst> Sorry. You missed my point. It was—YPTE—introspective. I was > noticing that I could not believe that a world without women was dreary > without being a sexist. > > > > nst> Probably not that interesting a thought if one is under 50, or 60, or > 70, or perhaps even 80 > > and I submit to all that the main point of the storyline is the > sorry/not-sorry (unintended/unexpected/yet-predictable) consequences of > using violence (one of the most egregious types of levers). > > The "dreariness" of a world without women would seem to be eclipsed by the > personal grief of *virtually* every male on the planet losing his > wife/mother/daughters/sisters/female-friends overnight (in the personal) > and the abrupt if delayed (by a remaining lifespan) existential grief of > the end of a spectacular (if clearly flawed, as demonstrated by the central > theme) species. Maybe a (very few?) fully psychotic misogynists found it > a pleasing condition (in which case I "blame the Mother" ;^) ) > > Unlike most post-apocalyptic storytelling, the misery is not (overtly) > miserable health crises (nuclear holocaust) or marauding bands (though they > did feature) or competition for exhausting resources, or retreating from an > angry/disappointed "mother earth", but rather a simple but profound > "absence" and incontrovertable "end of humanity", leaving the men of the > world to contemplate (or not) how they treated women before they all went > away. > > <blatant Moralizing> > > If Marcus' nihilist view that "it is all levers" is more true than not, > it explains why this grand experiment of "civilization" seems to be > collapsing into a cesspool of it's own making, under it's own weight. Or > it's own hubris. Or under the self-perpetuating seduction of vengeance and > retribution: (don't click if you hate poetry) The People of the Other > Village - Thomas Lux > <https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/48485/the-people-of-the-other-village> > > My parents taught me (mostly by example) that punishment of children was > at best a necessary last resort, resulting from and reflecting upon a > failure of good parenting leading up to the need for acute correction. > They were at least a *little* more direct/vocal about the same principle in > public life, that our criminal justice system *only* existed, with it's > myriad attempts at exacting justice without revenge and finding clever > forms of "punitive retribution" to at least appear like "natural > consequences" (not a term in parenting vocabulary at that time quite yet, > but practiced by my parents and a few others I knew). > > Our current "Lord of the Flies" scene in DC (and across the country) may > require all kinds of exacted punishment to re-align elements of society to > where we can live together in relative peace, but to not acknowledge that > the mere entertainment of the likes of Donald Trump as a national leader > represents an abject failure of our culture to "make sense". The calls > for removal/impeachment/censure/disbarment are all reasonable triage > actions to minimize continued damage, even if they are in many ways "too > little too late". But I am saddened as I hear a great deal of the > rhetoric on the topic armatured around *retribution* and *vengeance*... > > Self-Righteously yours, > > - Steve > > > - .... . -..-. . -. -.. -..-. .. ... -..-. .... . .-. . > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Zoom Fridays 9:30a-12p Mtn GMT-6 bit.ly/virtualfriam > un/subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com > archives: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/ > FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ > -- Merle Lefkoff, Ph.D. Center for Emergent Diplomacy emergentdiplomacy.org Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA mobile: (303) 859-5609 skype: merle.lelfkoff2 twitter: @merle110
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