I recognize that "female" is sometimes taken this way now, but I seem to remember a time when it was the use of "woman" as an adjective that seemed more problematic. I grew up watching TV reruns from the 50s & 60s, and in shows from that era, you'd hear characters intended to be seen as sexist railing about "women drivers", "women reporters", etc. To my (admittedly young) ear, part of the insult or intended derision in these terms came from the intentional clunkiness of the terms. As no one would say "man driver" or "man reporter", it made the phrase "woman driver" seem unnatural, and by extension then the idea of a woman driver unnatural. If the characters had used the more clinical sounding "female driver", it would likely only come off as equivalent to "male driver", and so lose much of its punch.
I realize that there is now some ick associated with some uses of the word female, but if efforts aren't made to reclaim it, I think we are doomed to it becoming strictly pejorative - and who wants that?
Firstly, I saw several pieces of news coverage on the grandmother case before all of the details came out, and in the end the story was more grim than I had anticipated. Early in the coverage, I had assumed that one of the two parents of the children was responsible. Soon, it became clear that the father was not involved, which left only the mother, grandmother, or possibly one of the children. I admit that I did not want to consider it possible that it would be the grandmother, and was horrified to find out that it was. I could not, and cannot, conceive of anyone killing her child and the children of her child. I do not know what circumstances drove her to do this, but my thoughts of course went to mental illness, dementia, substance abuse etc.
Then, today I see the post you've quoted above and the first sentence - what a weird way of phrasing this. I mean, wouldn't you have a hard time understanding anyone's reasoning? The sentence seemed so "needlessly gendered". Unless the poster finds such murders committed by women reasonable, or thinks that women don't commit such murders, or finds the motives of men especially baffling, then what is the point of phrasing it in this way?
I'd hoped that my post would nudge the original poster into explaining, but "somehow" that conversation was derailed and I haven't gotten a reply.
All of these cases are sad, and I saw no discussion at all on the grandmother case. From your comments, you seem to prefer to look at tragedies like these through a gender lens. I just don't.
You jumped in to present a case as a way to say “not all men”.
That's not at all what I said, or implied. You seem quick to jump to that conclusion, but no. (I'm wondering how you even think that that reading makes sense in context)
I'm allowed to respond to that.
It would be great if you'd respond to what people actually say.
I'm not trying to derail the conversation. My initial post was directly relevant to the post it responded to, which was also building out from the original topic. That's how conversations work.
You may not like where all conversations go, but you really must stop trying to be internet-policeman when other people are talking.
So glad someone in my town has been cutting these things down. We had fewer than a dozen to begin with, and now the only two that I'd personally seen are gone (just the roughly cut stump of the pole is left of one of them). I doubt the city will be looking to put in additional cameras.
Off the top of my head, the closest I can come up with is "alot".
I recognize that "female" is sometimes taken this way now, but I seem to remember a time when it was the use of "woman" as an adjective that seemed more problematic. I grew up watching TV reruns from the 50s & 60s, and in shows from that era, you'd hear characters intended to be seen as sexist railing about "women drivers", "women reporters", etc. To my (admittedly young) ear, part of the insult or intended derision in these terms came from the intentional clunkiness of the terms. As no one would say "man driver" or "man reporter", it made the phrase "woman driver" seem unnatural, and by extension then the idea of a woman driver unnatural. If the characters had used the more clinical sounding "female driver", it would likely only come off as equivalent to "male driver", and so lose much of its punch.
I realize that there is now some ick associated with some uses of the word female, but if efforts aren't made to reclaim it, I think we are doomed to it becoming strictly pejorative - and who wants that?
Stop yelling
[ just points at all of him ]
Over the years, I've put on a few pounds. The way I figure it, I'm sequestering carbon.
Sorry, I just thought the guy in the pic strongly bore a resemblance to the actor later famous for playing Sherlock Holmes.
This guy was Jeremy Brett before it was cool.
For the record? Anyway...
Firstly, I saw several pieces of news coverage on the grandmother case before all of the details came out, and in the end the story was more grim than I had anticipated. Early in the coverage, I had assumed that one of the two parents of the children was responsible. Soon, it became clear that the father was not involved, which left only the mother, grandmother, or possibly one of the children. I admit that I did not want to consider it possible that it would be the grandmother, and was horrified to find out that it was. I could not, and cannot, conceive of anyone killing her child and the children of her child. I do not know what circumstances drove her to do this, but my thoughts of course went to mental illness, dementia, substance abuse etc.
Then, today I see the post you've quoted above and the first sentence - what a weird way of phrasing this. I mean, wouldn't you have a hard time understanding anyone's reasoning? The sentence seemed so "needlessly gendered". Unless the poster finds such murders committed by women reasonable, or thinks that women don't commit such murders, or finds the motives of men especially baffling, then what is the point of phrasing it in this way?
I'd hoped that my post would nudge the original poster into explaining, but "somehow" that conversation was derailed and I haven't gotten a reply.
All of these cases are sad, and I saw no discussion at all on the grandmother case. From your comments, you seem to prefer to look at tragedies like these through a gender lens. I just don't.
That's not at all what I said, or implied. You seem quick to jump to that conclusion, but no. (I'm wondering how you even think that that reading makes sense in context)
It would be great if you'd respond to what people actually say.
I'm not trying to derail the conversation. My initial post was directly relevant to the post it responded to, which was also building out from the original topic. That's how conversations work.
You may not like where all conversations go, but you really must stop trying to be internet-policeman when other people are talking.
Can't we just agree that all family annihilation is bad?
And I'll never understand a grandmother's reason for doing this
Hell, DHL could probably destroy the one ring
Not in my experience
Hey bot, you are broken! Summary wrong, headline wrong. Go away bot
So...they'll be manipulated first?
What are we even talking about here - tensile versus compressive strength? How do you directly compare them?
So glad someone in my town has been cutting these things down. We had fewer than a dozen to begin with, and now the only two that I'd personally seen are gone (just the roughly cut stump of the pole is left of one of them). I doubt the city will be looking to put in additional cameras.
That's the dirty ouroboros