On Fri, 7 Jan 2000 14:41:26 -0500
Robert Kiesling <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> I don't think it's a question of "respect" and "sexism." I think more
> appropriate words would be "abuse," and "repression." If you're in
> the upper strata of the U.S. economy, you're going to view these
> limitations differently than the rest of us (or them).
This doesn't make any sense. One of my jobs is work in a small business.
I answer the phone, do catalog design, and manage the website. I have
lost count of the number of callers who refuse to talk to me since I'm
female. They also refuse to talk to my mom (hey I said it was a small
business). They'll quite happily talk to my brother or my dad.
What exactly would you call these men who refuse to speak to women to
place an order for something? The words I choose include "sexist" and
"ignorant". Ignorant, because if they knew a bit about what they were
ordering and who they were ordering from, they'd know that a woman on
the phone was quite normal. Sexist because Mom and I are quite competent
to write things down. Women have been taught to write for centuries now,
it's not surprising. We can read too! and we can *talk*. And if you can
do those three things, you too could answer the phone here and be useful
to over 50% of the customers. Add in a little experience with what we
sell, and you're at over 70%. (ok, yes I'm a little bitchy about this...
wouldn't you be bitchy about people preferring to speak to your little
brother about something when he has always been less involved in the
company than you?)
Now, I was raised in a household with a fairly high income. I tend
(unlike some women raised in lower income households) to see a male
ignoring my expertise as a sexism/ignorance/religious belief issue.
However it's not really income that determines those sorts of
additudes... it's culture and upbringing. Some women from lower income
households are just as likely as I am to call a male ignoring their
expertise sexism. Some factors that tend to produce a woman who wants
her expertise respected include: an active and involved father[1],
religious training that does not demand women be silent and helpless, an
active mother, and encouragement from the family[2] to reach for the
stars in anything. An abusive family can produce women who want respect,
but it's much more difficult.
Emily
[1] The parents don't need to be the genetic parents, for obvious
reasons I hope.
[2] The family doesn't even need to be the traditional mom, dad,
grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins type... just so long as there is
a big safety net of supportive adults, it works.
************
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