Brainless 'wimmin' - be afraid, be very afraid!

An exceedingly brainy woman, Christina Hoff Sommers, has written a very worrying essay on the non-subject of the fact that very few women make much progress in scientific studies.  She examples the phenomenally stringent and rigorous Math 55 course at Harvard:

• Each year as many as 50 students sign up, but at least half drop out within a few weeks. As one former student told The Crimson newspaper in 2006, “We had 51 students the first day, 31 students the second day, 24 for the next four days, 23 for two more weeks, and then 21 for the rest of the first semester.” Said another student, “I guess you can say it’s an episode of ‘Survivor’ with people voting themselves off.” The final class roster, according to The Crimson: “45 percent Jewish, 18 percent Asian, 100 percent male.”

However, in America women earn more PhDs than men in what might be called the 'soft' subjects in the humanities, social sciences, education and so forth, but in the 'hard' sciences they are only achieving some 24% of the PhDs granted each year. Cue entry of the 'feministas' whose ignorance, fanaticism and prejudice is only exceeded by their militancy and their influence amongst equally brainless male members of Congress.  Why should we worry?  Because these wretched 'wimmin' are already well on their way to destroying education both 'over there', and 'over here'.  If they now succeed in dragging down the efficacy of the 'hard' sciences then we shall lose out in all those essential disciplines that have contributed so much to the welfare of Mankind in the past 250 years.

Ms. Hoff Sommers has written a closely argued essay that I urge you to read in full rather than any poor effort of mine to precis it.

Comments

[Hank]

I would not argue with Miss Summers.

But I have known a few ladies that would have taken the Math 55 course and complained about the lack of challenge. We need a few more like them, real ones not from a quota.

One of them complained she tutored all the males in Navigation School on enough math to pass but the Navy wouldn’t let her on a ship. But she retried as a Captain her classmates didn’t.

[David Duff]

Well, you hit the point exactly, Hank, "Math 55" is open to all, irrespective of sex but only 17 women have passed the course since 1990. When interviewed, two ladies, one a graduate of the course, the other a current student, both emphasised that they had not felt the slightest male intimidation, just the opposite. That's as it should be, but it won't last whilst those batty, fixated 'wimmin' continue to browbeat useless male professors and politicians.

[Clairwil]

I cannot bear the footering with education that goes on to skew results regardless of the intended outcome.

As a crap at maths nipper I was appalled when they did away with the arithmetic o level which I could have passed with ease and replaced it with an 'unfailable maths exam'. That is actually how they billed it and were surprised when confronted with forteen year olds telling them that if it was unfailable it wasn't worth passing.

I excelled at softy subjects but was informed by my guidance teacher that I couldn't be put into the top classes for these because they were trying to encourage girls to excel at maths, sports and science and that if I didn't get out of the bottom classes in those subjects I would be automatically placed in the lower classes in all my subjects regardless of aptitude for the subject in hand. Needless to say that is when I gave up school in favour of the library.

All good character building stuff but what was the point? Why should I feign interest in subjects that bore me because of my gender? Maybe women are just naturally better at soft subjects. Maybe not, but provided talented women are not barred from entry to hard subjects I don't know why it's even an issue.

At present I have an Iranian client who had a pan of scalding hot water thrown over her, two fingernails pulled out and lost an eye in the ensuing beating for asking her husband if she could go on a hairdressing course, I have another Iranian female client who was jailed but bribed her way out for having a child out of wedlock. I therefore find western women's whining about exams to be blind self-indulgence.

I was always led to understand that feminism was about all women not just the career goals of white, western feminists. If it is then a better focus for action would be the brutal lives of the world's women, not moving the goalposts of hard exams.

[David Duff]

Spot on, 'Clairwil'!