The Assistants by Camille Perri – highly recommended!

Just finished reading Camille Perri’s The Assistants — highly recommended! It’s Nine to Five updated and with a great moral element; better than any nonfiction book about the income inequity between the top 1% and the rest of us … With attitude, to boot!

“Robert had tie-clips that cost as much as those [student loan] debts. one man’s private-jet ride to Key West was another woman’s second chance at life. …” (p219)

And the sexual harassment seminar — delightful!!

 

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Another reason to hate men

Another reason to hate men:

“By 2050 at the latest, and ideally before 2040, we must have stopped emitting more greenhouse gases [typically caused by the burning of fossil fuels]  into the atmosphere than Earth can naturally absorb through its ecosystems (a balance known as net-zero emissions or carbon neutrality).  In order to get to this scientifically established goal, our global greenhouse gas emissions must be clearly on the decline by the early 2020s and reduced by at least 50 percent by 2030.”  The Future We Choose: Surviving the Climate Crisis, Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac, (architects of the Paris Agreement), pxxii

Snowmobiles and ATVs “emit 25 percent as many hydrocarbons as all the nation’s cars and trucks put together, according to an EPA study.”

“In one hour, a typical snowmobile emits as much hydrocarbon as a 2001 model auto emits in about two years (24,300 miles) of driving. “

“Two-stroke PWC engines dump 25 – 40% of uncombusted fuel in the lake, the air, or on the land.”

“In a single hour of run time, a 2000-model PWC will dump about 4 gallons (15 liters) of unburned oil and gas into the water [source: CO Parks].”

Snowmobiles and ATVs “emit 25 percent as many hydrocarbons as all the nation’s cars and trucks put together, according to an EPA study.”

Over 95% of those who drive snowmobiles, ATVs, and jetskis are men.

That is to say, men are producing fossil fuel emissions — lots of fossil fuel emissions — just for fun.

(And that’s quite apart from “”Snowmobiles create a noise corridor five miles wide” and “PWC produce noise levels in the range of 85-102 decibels (dB) per unit — levels at which the American Hospital Association recommends hearing protection (above 85 dB).”  https://www.stopthrillcraft.org/statistics.htm)

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WLRN podcast: A Feminist Analysis of Christianity

https://wlrnmedia.wordpress.com/2020/11/05/edition-55-a-feminist-analysis-of-christianity/

 

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December, Like It’s 1989

December, Like It’s 1989

Tell it.
  Geneviève Bergeron, civil engineering
  Hélène Colgan, mechanical engineering
  Nathalie Croteau, mechanical engineering
  Barbara Daigneault, mechanical engineering
  Anne-Marie Edward, chemical engineering
  Maud Haviernick, materials engineering
  Maryse Laganière, finance department
  Maryse Leclair, materials engineering
  Anne-Marie Lemay, mechanical engineering
  Sonia Pelletier, mechanical engineering
  Michèle Richard, materials engineering
  Annie St-Arneault, mechanical engineering
  Annie Turcotte, materials engineering
  Barbara Klucznik-Widajewicz, nursing.

“Hey, come on.
  Not all men are like that, okay.”
  Not really a question.
  Reductio ad absurdum.
  That’s an order, okay?

Men are proud, they have all the good qualities.
  A penis.
  Inalienable rights.
  Access to female bodies.
  (Everyone knows the females don’t have real minds, okay?)
  Not really a question.

Look, don’t men suffer?
  Aren’t they brave?
  Aren’t they manly?
  Aren’t they courageous?
  Aren’t they rational?
  Not really questions.
  They deserve what they get.
  That’s an order, okay?

Cold day, ordinary winter day, right?
  Not really a question.
  “He told us to leave, and we did.”

Just walked out.
  Not one of them tried to tackle him.
  Not one of them tried to grab the semi-automatic.
  Just walked out.
  They were very rational.
  Didn’t want to get hurt.
  Weren’t they brave?
  Weren’t they manly?
  Weren’t they courageous?
  Not really a question.
  Reductio ad absurdum.
  Not all men are like that, okay?

Don’t ask the question.
  That’s an order.
  Pat Parker said it, paraphrasing here…
  “Brother, that system
    you hit me with
      is called
        a fist.”

Tell it.
  Geneviève Bergeron, civil engineering, 21;
  Hélène Colgan, mechanical engineering, 23;
  Nathalie Croteau, mechanical engineering, 23;
  Barbara Daigneault, mechanical engineering, 22;
  Anne-Marie Edward, chemical engineering, 21;
  Maud Haviernick, materials engineering, 29;
  Maryse Laganière, finance department, 31;
  Maryse Leclair, materials engineering, 25;
  Anne-Marie Lemay, mechanical engineering, 23;
  Sonia Pelletier, mechanical engineering, 22;
  Michèle Richard, materials engineering, 28;
  Annie St-Arneault, mechanical engineering, 21;
  Annie Turcotte, materials engineering, 23;
  Barbara Klucznik-Widajewicz, nursing, 21.

six decembre mille neuf cent quatre-vingt neuf

C. Osborne

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Why won’t misogyny die?

Because believing you’re better simply because you’re male is, like believing you’re better simply because your skin is white, the only way to high(er) status that doesn’t depend on actually doing something.

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barely tongue-in-cheek bit from Grant Naylor

“The GAS (Genetic Alternative Sports) … Sports fans were no longer interested in seeing a conventional boxing match, when they could witness two genetically engineered pugilists — who were created with their brains in their shorts, and all their other major organs crammed into their legs and feet, leaving their heads solid blocks of unthinking muscle — knock hell out of one another for hours on end in a way that normal boxers could only manage for minutes.”  Red Dwarf Omnibus (Better than Life) p490

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Toddler vs Male CEO

Great list by Justine Cotter at McSweeney’s: “Are You a Parent of a Toddler or an Assistant to a Male CEO of a Tech Startup?” https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/are-you-a-parent-of-a-toddler-or-an-assistant-to-a-male-ceo-of-a-tech-startup Share

Grocery Store Check-outs Now Gambling Casinos and …

For anyone who’s had to wait, and wait, to pay for their groceries while somoene ahead of them indugles in their gamlibling addiction, and for anyone who’s tried to use the self-serve check-outs instead, check out the scene in chap 30 of Tim Dorsey’s Tiger Shrimp.


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Male privilege

Excerpts from https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/mar/06/male-privilege-female-top-surgery-workplace “After returning to teaching, I started to receive very little, if any, pushback when I said no. This was especially the case with students. Within academia, it is not an uncommon belief that students make more requests (for grade changes, deadline extensions, and so on) of female-presenting professors. In my case, requests for extensions and grade changes decreased, and for the few that did occur, there was zero pushback to my response. It’s like I have a new superpower: the first time I say no, it is heard. Similarly, I rarely have to ask for something twice. I also experience fewer interruptions, and there are more apologies for taking up my time. Language in emails to me is more deferential than it has ever been before. I am no longer a McDonald’s where students place their orders. … “In research that specifically addresses transgender men in the workplace, sociologist Kristen Schilt has found that a majority of her respondents report receiving some type of post-transition advantage at work, including gaining authority, respect and recognition for hard work, and gaining economic opportunities and status.Respondents spoke to how men can get away with more, and are given the benefit of the doubt, while hard-working women are ignored and their work is unrecognized. Share

A great idea from Jodi Taylor

“Helen and I watched a short film about childbirth and it was so gruesome we had to turn it off. She had a stiff drink, I had a cup of tea, and we swore we’d never have sex again.” Jodi Taylor, The Long and Short of It (p181)

But yes! That should be mandatory viewing—and the whole 18 hours of it—for both sexes as soon as they hit puberty. When you have PIV without contraception, that’s the pain you’re quite possibly going to be causing to another or experiencing first hand nine months down the road.



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