They Say / I Blog

In a word: Debbie Cameron on the role (and the power) of dictionaries

It might be fair to say that dictionaries generally operate in a kind of stealth mode—we probably don’t think about them too often, they’re seldom added to anyone’s wish list, and if there’s a big one in your house, it’s likely used more often as a booster seat for toddlers at the dinner table than as a reference work. Still, we often trust the dictionary to be the High Authority for settling bets or arguments, and even, sometimes, for helping with schoolwork. We trust the dictionary, and we rely on it, and we seldom question its judgment. But maybe we should. Linguist Debbie Cameron examines the problematic nature of the role of dictionaries in this July 2019 post on her blog, Language: A feminist guide.

Cameron, “Dissing the dictionary”

“Tighter worlds”: Gelfand and Choi on disparate gender treatment in the workplace

The wage gap isn’t the only way that women and people of color face discrimination in the workplace. Research demonstrates that the punishments they receive for infractions are more severe than the consequences for similar misdeeds committed by white men. Michele Gelfand, professor of cultural psychology, and Virginia Choi, doctoral student in social psychology, outline some relevant findings in this April 2019 Time essay.

Gelfand & Choi, “Women don’t just face a pay gap at work. They’re also punished far more than men”

Dear Sir or Madam: Ellen Barry on gender-specific forms of address

Dear Sir. Or Madam. Or, y’know, whatever. Does it matter?  For many people, it matters a lot. Ellen Barry, a London-based correspondent for the New York Times, filed this March 2019 report detailing a British newspaper’s controversy around the proper form of addressing letters to the editor. Lest you think that only the Brits would care about this issue, be sure to read the comments to Barry’s article, which come from readers in Finland, Germany, Australia, Mexico, France, Colombia, and the UK, as well as many US locations.

Barry,  “To sir, with wrath: A cautionary tale from Middle England”

 

To serve and satisfy: Lynn Stuart Parramore on sexist design of digital assistants

Siri. Alexa. It’s no coincidence that their voices carry easily identifiable traits of a young woman who is business-like yet eager to please. In this February 2019 essay from the NBC News blog Think, cultural historian Lynn Stuart Parramore argues that, as more and more companies introduce “she-bots” of their own,  “Big Tech is wiring the future with cultural signals that undermine the hard-won rights of women to be treated as human and paid as equals.” Read here what she thinks we should do about it.

Parramore, “Female digital assistants like Alexa and Siri remain popular in Silicon Valley. It’s time to boycott them."

Coach wears high heels: Pau Gasol on gender and the NBA

Men’s major league sports coaches are proven leaders, role models, iconic authority figures, sometimes even larger than life. And, up to now in the US, they’ve always been men, but that may be about to change. San Antonio Spurs (NBA) player Pau Gasol talks about that possibility in this May 2018 essay in the Players’ Tribune.

Gasol, “An open letter about female coaches”

Changing the culture: Kate Harding on accountability for sexual misconduct

Every day, it seems, there is a new revelation of sexual misconduct by a public figure, and every day we’re less shocked, more sickened. What can we do? How can we move forward? These are not easy questions, but they need to be addressed. Author Kate Harding proposes some concrete steps in this November 2017 Washington Post essay. 

Read it here: Harding, “I’m a feminist. I study rape culture. And I don’t want Al Franken to resign”

 

First and goal: Claire Wallace on a woman’s place in football broadcasting

Something must be wrong with my TV. The video of my football game is perfectly clear, but the announcer’s voice is too high-pitched. Oh. Wait. The announcer is a. . . . WOMAN?! Avid football fan and fantasy writer Claire Wallace responds to the historic milestone with shock and delight in this September 2017 Huffington Post article.

Read it here: Wallace, “A woman’s place is in the broadcast booth”

 

Give us a twirl: Sendhil Mullainathan on sexism in sports journalism

If you follow professional tennis closely, you may get an impression that the men on the circuit are covered very differently from the women. It’s more than just an impression, though; there is empirical evidence to show just how large the disparity is. Harvard University economics professor Sendhil Mullainathan wrote this examination of the topic for The Upshot, a New York Times blog, in September 2017.

Read it here: Mullainathan, “Sexism and shopping: Female players get most of the odd questions at the U.S. Open"

 

Ugly talk: Meredith Simons on sexist comments in the news

It’s a time-honored strategy, and unfortunately, it works very well. Newsworthy women, from Hillary Clinton to Lady Gaga to Kellyanne Conway and beyond, are often publicly skewered not for their statements and ideas, but for their clothes, their hairstyles, and their bodies. Writer and law student Meredith Simons explores the harmful effects of such public discourse in this January 2017 Washington Post article.

Read it here: Simons, “Don’t like what a woman is saying? Call her ugly”

It’s natural: Chelsea Johnson on natural hair and the art of persuasion

You’ve probably had the experience. There is something you care about so deeply that you can’t imagine how its importance wouldn’t be obvious to everyone else. And yet, when you talk about it, you see the ‘so what?’ cloud forming on the faces of your conversation partners. Sociology graduate student Chelsea Johnson had this experience when trying to explain her dissertation topic—black women’s hair—to other academics and social scientists, so she decided to share some strategies she learned about “the art of persuasion” in this August 2016 blog post on The Well.

Read it here: Johnson, "What explaining my natural hair to PhDs taught me about the art of persuasion"