Friday Feminist Anecdote
Instead of the Friday Random Ten, which I'm getting bored with, maybe my new Friday mainstay should be bitter feminist diatribes.
This one is called:
Fuck Owen.
I was a Philosophy minor in school, as many of you know. As part of that, a course in Logic was required. You could take either Mathematical Reasoning from the Math Department, or Logical Reasoning from the Philosophy Department. Everyone I talked to said Logical Reasoning was much more difficult. So I took that one. I loved it, because I was AWESOME at it. Unstoppable. I didn't lose one point. NOT ONE single point on any essays, tests or assignments. I was like a logically reasoning machine. My professor even divulged to me that no one else was doing nearly as well.
Toward the end of the semester, the prof had us do a group project during class one day. He assigned our groups and we all clustered off. I was in a group of all guys. They kept looking longingly over to a different group. One of them said "Aww. They're so lucky. They've got Owen!" Now, Owen was another philosophy minor. He was smart, I'm not denying that. But, he wasn't smarter than me.
I tried to tell them that I had the assignment under control, not to worry. But they literally ignored every thing I said. They went on for TEN minutes talking about how brilliant Owen is, and how easy this assignment would be if he were in the group.
So, I did the assignment on my own. I handed it in and explained to the professor that I tried to work with the group, but they were busy talking about other things. He smiled and said "Well, that's unfortunate for them, isn't it?"
I got an A. 100%. The dopes in my group got C's. Owen got an A-.
Fuck Owen. Metaphorically speaking.
And goddamn there are a lot of Owens out there.
This one is called:
Fuck Owen.
I was a Philosophy minor in school, as many of you know. As part of that, a course in Logic was required. You could take either Mathematical Reasoning from the Math Department, or Logical Reasoning from the Philosophy Department. Everyone I talked to said Logical Reasoning was much more difficult. So I took that one. I loved it, because I was AWESOME at it. Unstoppable. I didn't lose one point. NOT ONE single point on any essays, tests or assignments. I was like a logically reasoning machine. My professor even divulged to me that no one else was doing nearly as well.
Toward the end of the semester, the prof had us do a group project during class one day. He assigned our groups and we all clustered off. I was in a group of all guys. They kept looking longingly over to a different group. One of them said "Aww. They're so lucky. They've got Owen!" Now, Owen was another philosophy minor. He was smart, I'm not denying that. But, he wasn't smarter than me.
I tried to tell them that I had the assignment under control, not to worry. But they literally ignored every thing I said. They went on for TEN minutes talking about how brilliant Owen is, and how easy this assignment would be if he were in the group.
So, I did the assignment on my own. I handed it in and explained to the professor that I tried to work with the group, but they were busy talking about other things. He smiled and said "Well, that's unfortunate for them, isn't it?"
I got an A. 100%. The dopes in my group got C's. Owen got an A-.
Fuck Owen. Metaphorically speaking.
And goddamn there are a lot of Owens out there.
posted by Flamingo Jones at 4/28/2006 10:31:00 AM
8 Comments:
A friend of mine went to Georgia Tech for undergrad. She said guys would never be willing to study with her in the engineering classes. And she always got A's.
So many people say women have already succeeded in getting equality. Bullshit.
I loved my logic class. I took it first semester freshman year and at the end of the semester my professor asked me to TA the class the next semester. I didn't go without ever missing a point, though... I think I ended up with a 99% overall. You win!
cmb,
You're talking about Georgia Tech. The guys there were probably scared to death of being in close proximity to anyone of the opposite sex.
Trust me. I've got a friend who went to Tech.
Hahahahahaha.
Good point.
At any rate, she seemed to think it was a lack of faith in her intellectual abilities.
I've heard similar stories from women who dared to go to the Milwaukee School of Engineering. Only 18% of the student body there is female. Brave ladies, those are.
While I agree what happened to you was sucky, to give a total understatement, and can completely empathize with what happened, being the general center of intelligence in my own groups, I don't think it was because you were a girl.
Confidence scares people. Not just guys. It scares anyone who doesn't have it. Guys don't like to work with me because I'm confident. Girls don't like to work with me because I'm confident.
But then again, don't forget that when you get a group of people together who DON'T want to do something, the person who does ALWAYS gets dumped on. That's NOT gender specific...that's LOGIC. Those guys probably knew ahead of time that you were a hard worker and knew that if they ignored you you'd do all the work. It's happened to me SEVERAL times with a variety of people...and the only reason I put up with it is because I can tell the professors and those people get lower grades because of their unacceptable behavior.
You have to remember to be objective about situations. And also to analyze the potential for other possible solutions to the problem or you will always end up thinking what you've got yourself thinking right now and you're a strong woman so that's no way to go through life.
Also try to remember that those guys were probably friends with Owen and that NO ONE likes to be told that someone else has got it all under control. The more you relinquish power, the more power you end up with.
No offense, Speechie, but I think the fact that I was actually IN the class, I knew these people for a semester at least, makes me a slightly better judge of the situation than you are.
Don't tell me what to think about my life and I won't tell you what to think about yours.
I would also like to note that I left out any number of details that would probably have preempted your lecture, for the sake of brevity and to-the-pointiness. *cough*
Speechie,
I like your Taoism. Rock on.
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