A silly Twitter exchange this morning…Surly Amy reported EIGHTEEN Surly Women Grant winners for TAM 2012, and a guy replied
Must be great for all those females. The rest of us are on our own.
I said so she should send you instead? He said no, he just never understood why it’s only applicable to female skeptics. I said it’s because there are fewer of them, and that self-perpetuates. Then I added
Think of it as actually benefiting you, by spreading skepticism among women and thus the population. Benefits all of us.
Why isn’t this more accepted? Why isn’t it just obvious, and embraced?
We’re all in this together, after all. We can all vote. This is in many ways a tragedy; the least we can do is try to spread critical thinking around as opposed to trying to keep it a special little geeky enclave. If this means grants for women or blacks or any other under-represented group, why is that something to kvetch about? Surly Amy isn’t taking money out of Complaining Guy’s pocket to send more women to TAM, she’s just raising the money through her own efforts and handing it out as she chooses. Complaining Guy can still go to TAM! And there will be eighteen more people to talk to there, thanks to Surly Amy. What’s not to like?
Yeah, saw that tweet. I started writing a reply pointing out what I would have though was obvious (what you said) but decided not to bother.
Why do some people really need to be spoon fed the blatantly obvious? Or are they just annoyed that “feminism and stuff” is finally happening in the skeptics movement …
As my grandma would have said he’s got his shoes on the wrong feet.
I almost decided not to bother, but then…
So often the way. So I made a post out of it!
Look, I’m sick and tired of being discriminated against because I am white, male, over six feet tall, and extremely good looking. Why do minority types get all the good stuff?
This alone is irritating enough.
Ophelia,
I’m sorry, but you’re missing the rather obvious point that by Surly Amy sending women to TAM, it completely disregards his desire to be catered to by all non-males. I mean, didn’t you ever think that by only sending women to TAM, that means that there’s something out there not geared toward him and focused on his needs and wants? You’d think this would have been perfectly clear, even to a radical feminist baby eater like yourself.
So, is there no one raising money for whiny dudes to go to TAM? Why don’t they start a fundraising drive then? Why does Mommy have to do EVERYTHING for them?
Rebecca Watson responded to that tweet with this image:
http://i.imgur.com/1qIe7.jpg
For anyone who know that Quark character from Star Trek DS9 and the extremely misogynistic race he represents, it’s a pretty good reply 🙂
Giving women grants? The marginalized get all the breaks…
This post is snark tags 3.0 compliant.
THIS. THIS is why I don’t follow people I otherwise would on twitter because I waste enough of my day on social networking when I should be otherwise engaged i.e. actual work that feeds my gods er cats. THIS is why I didn’t read many blogs, until lately, (thanks a bunch Ophelia for sucking me in, lol) because then I feel the need to engage.
Anyone or organization can offer grants or scholarships with whatever conditions they choose to attach for whatever group they deem worthy. If I want to award a scholarship to humanatheist activists that only go after violations in Imperial Polk County that is my prerogative.
The more bullshit I see getting flung, the more I want to go to TAM just to experience it and then I say…NAH, never mind.
Made me think of this:
http://jezebel.com/5917887/when-theres-so-much-bullshit-online-you-forget-how-to-feel
And makes me all the more thankful that you made a post about his stupid tweet.
he just never understood why it’s only applicable to female skeptics. I said it’s because there are fewer of them, and that self-perpetuates.
I’d say he’s got a more fundamental misunderstanding of private charity work as a concept. It’s applicable to female skeptics because that’s who the grant organizers want to raise money for, and that’s who the grant donors gave money to send. Nobody should expect these grants to go to men any more than we should expect the Red Cross to spend our donations funding space research. Space research may be a very worthy thing to fund, but its not the thing the Red Cross promised potential donors it would do with their money.
Heh, sorry EllenBeth!
Hahaha – reading through Surly Amy’s tweets and retweets on this…
Y U NO BRING MY PENIS TO TAM?
Those poor men, with their 80% attendance rate. WHY WON’T YOU JUST THINK ABOUT HOW THEY’RE BEING HELD BACK?
IT IS A PENIS TRAGEDY. WE SHOULD MAKE AN OPERA.
Stupid Skepchicks. Trying to keep women away from TAM with their talk about “harassment”. And simultaneously sending women to TAM with their “grants”.
Can’t those uppity bitchez be consistent so the dudebros will know what they’re supposed to be hating on them for?
BTW, for anyone who doesn’t already know, the JREF itself offers grants–for everyone, regardless of gender. Just go to the JREF Forums.
That would require this clown to read and comprehend more than 40 characters at a time. I suspect his privilege just wouldn’t allow that.
Plus he can’t move his lips fast enough.
“Beta as fuck”
“A gangbang of whining”
Proud mottos of 4chan’s /r9k/ board, sounds like where this guy is coming from. Not Safe For Work and probably aggravating for readers here, but I’ll link for sociological reference.
Salty Current @5- that drives me up the bloody wall. I hear it in a robotic whine, “beepboop What are these creatures you call Fe-males? beepboop“
Why waste money on sending all those bitches to TAM, when all they’re gonna do is whine about being raped?
Much better value to send some levelheaded menz, who can solve all the worlds problems with UFOs and telepathy with their superior cooly rational manbrains.
The way things are going today, I’m not going to TAM.
Any new developments? Haven’t looked through my google reader today …
Pity. I’d love to see the video of you chewing out the audience from your bully pulpit.
And yours and Sastra’s not getting together will be a great loss to skeptickind.
Lots of new developments; too many to keep up with at the moment.