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pktechgirlbackupFor years, doctors told women they did not have cramps while menstruating, it was all their heads. Or they were hysterical, which is hilarious if you know the history of the word. Now people use PMS to dismiss women.
Europeans held themselves to be smarter than Africans, so naturally they were in charge. Until the Asian colonists started scoring better on administrative exams than they did, when suddenly raw intelligence was not enough. Scoring too high was actually a sign that you lacked the necessary will and quick-thinkingness to lead. But not too much. Too much quick-thinkingness, such as that displayed by the Jews, was fine for basketball, but not for important positions.
During slavery, blacks were ridiculed as weak and puny. Once they had access to sufficient food, it turned out they were a few inches taller than the people who were defined as white at the time, and so the white people invented the ape stereotype (I know this is from Ta-Nehisi Coate's blog, but I can't find the link now).
Prejudice finds a way, regardless of facts. Almost regardless of actions- you can make almost anything discriminatory if you try hard enough.
This is what feminists and anti-racism activists mean when they won't tell you what the right thing to do is, you have to just believe what they do and it will work out. I think that approach betrays a certain lack of understanding of how the more left-brained among us learn, but I do at least get what they mean now.
Europeans held themselves to be smarter than Africans, so naturally they were in charge. Until the Asian colonists started scoring better on administrative exams than they did, when suddenly raw intelligence was not enough. Scoring too high was actually a sign that you lacked the necessary will and quick-thinkingness to lead. But not too much. Too much quick-thinkingness, such as that displayed by the Jews, was fine for basketball, but not for important positions.
During slavery, blacks were ridiculed as weak and puny. Once they had access to sufficient food, it turned out they were a few inches taller than the people who were defined as white at the time, and so the white people invented the ape stereotype (I know this is from Ta-Nehisi Coate's blog, but I can't find the link now).
Prejudice finds a way, regardless of facts. Almost regardless of actions- you can make almost anything discriminatory if you try hard enough.
This is what feminists and anti-racism activists mean when they won't tell you what the right thing to do is, you have to just believe what they do and it will work out. I think that approach betrays a certain lack of understanding of how the more left-brained among us learn, but I do at least get what they mean now.
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Date: 2011-02-19 11:11 pm (UTC)I'm sure Rachel could do a much better explaination than I could, here. I tend to put my foot in my mouth more often than not.