So, word's out all over the Internet that you guys are colonizing the place worse than RIAA & MPAA combined. Just like on the playground and the Roman Empire and space. You boys are always out there, on the run, making things happen, exploring, conquering, taking credit. Why should the Internet be any different from anything else? Doesn't anyone study anthropology any more?
Anyway, I do get tired of these gender oppression themes, mostly because I think for all you guys gain in boys club, it's a pretty thin place compared to the richness of my life. And, frankly, there are a lot of advantages to being one of the only girls in the world who gets the Internet. And I don't mean get it on my cable, I get it that it's the big hook up nook in the sky. It's the new meta-reality, the interactive medium all us Communications majors have been waiting for.
So, check out the link above to the Newsweek story that got the noise level up about Keith Jenkins' and
Rebecca MacKinnon's comments. And don't miss
Chris Nolan's comments on the matter. And, for those of you who don't think I'm fair and balanced, here's Larry Summer's (or similar asshole's) article in the
National Review who seems to think women don't have any opinions. He obviously hasn't read mine, or probably any other woman's. Unlike the tech editors, he doesn't quite get it that just because there's no gate closing off the field doesn't mean that it's level. See, with all the work I do for you, you don't even need all those boy blogs... stick with me... who loves ya baby?
Feel free to share your feelings about all this... you don't even need a blog to comment anymore. These things are interactive you know, and I know you're out there because I check my Adsense every day. I also get a friggin ton of email comments, (particularly about the last post, for some reason) some of which are hysterical, most are quite perceptive.
Since I guess I am in the rather unusual position of being a woman with a significant underground following of progressive male readers, I may as well use this opportunity to lay a bit of my take on the ways of the world on you. When we talk about things men and women, we all tend to forget one central and overriding factor. While we've undergone incredible tech changes over the past few hundred years, we are, all of us inhabiting bodies that have evolved over hundreds of thousands of years.
Chris Rock once said, women would rule the world if we didn't hate each other. It's not that we hate each other, it's just we never had to learn to operate in groups the way the guys did. While the women focused on their kids first and the girl's club second, guys had to go out and score that bison... boys club goes way way back. We can't compete in group loyalty and functioning on any major level, not the same way. For eons, women did focus on a smaller world of kids and home and nesting while the guys went out for the big kills, and had to organize to do it. Evolution favored those of each sex that conformed the best. Check out
Ashley Montagu, or
Desmond Morris, a zoologist, both of whom have written extensively about this.
Plus, guys have testosterone. Hundreds of studies have shown the effectiveness of it when it comes to aggression and the sheer doing of stuff. I must admit, compared to me, Jon Newton, over at P2Pnet, is like a whirling dervish. The guy spends all day long accumulating info, writing, hooking up with larger entities. I think his wife does most of the childcare, and, god bless him, he deserves all the success in the world for all the RIAA bashing alone. But, there is a deep analytical quality to my work that exists almost nowhere on the web. I read it all, but I don't write it all. I take topics that I think are important and develop them in a way the guys don't. It's like, the guys love to go out and get those puzzle pieces, but it's often women who'll take the time to put the pieces together (bigger corpus callosum... remember?)
I bring in spiritual and global themes (and BTW, I did check out that supposedly pro-woman blog referred to by MacKinnon, Global Voices, and it's not even tech oriented). I hook up the tech issues with larger ones, so it makes sense. Show me another blog that does that. Now, one of the observations about the girls is that they don't promote themselves, and, it's true, certainly of me. But then, my biology isn't set up for it.
We think we're so modern and beyond our bodies but, it's all about biology... just ask Jack Welch. Anyway, my sistas out there are coming up with all sorts of theories about why only the male bloggers get the press. I refer you to my 1/20/05 post for the professional women's take on the boy's club bit. But, I also got an earful from the housewife set, at least in those early days when the work seemed bigger. It was like, those poor guys have to go out there to prove their validity. If they were naturally valuable and productive like us, they wouldn't have to justify their existence and laud it over us. Now, I think the smarter ones are realizing who has the last laugh, but, a lot of them may also be content in their little nests.
So, there's the inside dirt boys. While you're looking down at us for doing so little, we're laughing at you for having to go through so much to get happy. Just remember... the fence swings both ways and either way it goes, I'm gonna enjoy the ride. I got sucked into that team stuff before but, what can I tell you, there are just too many hot men out there to hang it up. So, I don't root for a side, I root for y'all to get it together and join the fun cause these segregated groups can never offer the interest and learning that comes with exposing yourself to that which is different and challenging... on the Internet or "real world". Mixed race children tend to be biologically stronger than those of parents who are genetically similar, and it works the same way in the mental realm. Putting disparate things together almost always produces a stronger result.
