This also is tied to the old acclaimed 1800s universities.
I read somewhere on the internet that a woman was so mad. She felt intimidated by the old university atmosphere because she thought it was somehow too "masculine" for her. And of course she then garbled on about how this was insulting to her as a strong capable woman in charge of her own life. She apparently thinks higher education is the bastion of men.
Ah, excuse me? Guffaw-laugh. Are you serious? How in the world is intellectualism "masculine" in any way, shape, or form?
Really? Books, microscopes, shelves and shelves of tomes. Delicate little movements of operating a digital balance scale, measuring out micrograms of dry reagents or microliters of liquid chemicals, setting up an organic chemistry extraction apparatus and connecting rubber tubing to a sink.
Guffaw. How in the world does any of that possibly convey an atmosphere of being remotely manly? The pursuit of post-secondary education is not masculine, not by a long shot. Men hardly claim any sort of dominion over formal higher education.
As a matter of fact, intelligence and higher education has a distinct public image of being nerdy and geeky. If anything, it is effete and delicate, and quite distinctively asexual. It transcends all that "battle of the sexes" crap.
I grew up in New England as a child, amongst the international graduate students as well as professors, with whom my parents were very close friends. There were roughly equal numbers of men and women. Old, acclaimed universities were my playground. My parents, as they were graduate students themselves, were involved in all sorts of campus cultural events and programs. I never once got the impression that this world was reserved solely for men. I never felt unwelcome. None of the other women appeared to feel the least bit unwelcome, that they did not belong here, etc.
More recently when I was a college student myself, I never felt that this was not my place. This was home. In the chemistry lab, surrounded by funny little glass flasks, ring stands, Bunsen burners, watch glasses, I felt at peace. I never felt out of place.
No, you know what is overly masculine? Violence. Beating people up, cage fighting. Come on, do I really need to talk down to you by way of explaining? We all know the stereotype of the dumb football player jock. The meathead weightlifter at the gym. To be sure, higher education is not really feminine, either. No lipstick, heels, short skirts, none of that crap.
I read somewhere on the internet that a woman was so mad. She felt intimidated by the old university atmosphere because she thought it was somehow too "masculine" for her. And of course she then garbled on about how this was insulting to her as a strong capable woman in charge of her own life. She apparently thinks higher education is the bastion of men.
Ah, excuse me? Guffaw-laugh. Are you serious? How in the world is intellectualism "masculine" in any way, shape, or form?
Really? Books, microscopes, shelves and shelves of tomes. Delicate little movements of operating a digital balance scale, measuring out micrograms of dry reagents or microliters of liquid chemicals, setting up an organic chemistry extraction apparatus and connecting rubber tubing to a sink.
Guffaw. How in the world does any of that possibly convey an atmosphere of being remotely manly? The pursuit of post-secondary education is not masculine, not by a long shot. Men hardly claim any sort of dominion over formal higher education.
As a matter of fact, intelligence and higher education has a distinct public image of being nerdy and geeky. If anything, it is effete and delicate, and quite distinctively asexual. It transcends all that "battle of the sexes" crap.
I grew up in New England as a child, amongst the international graduate students as well as professors, with whom my parents were very close friends. There were roughly equal numbers of men and women. Old, acclaimed universities were my playground. My parents, as they were graduate students themselves, were involved in all sorts of campus cultural events and programs. I never once got the impression that this world was reserved solely for men. I never felt unwelcome. None of the other women appeared to feel the least bit unwelcome, that they did not belong here, etc.
More recently when I was a college student myself, I never felt that this was not my place. This was home. In the chemistry lab, surrounded by funny little glass flasks, ring stands, Bunsen burners, watch glasses, I felt at peace. I never felt out of place.
No, you know what is overly masculine? Violence. Beating people up, cage fighting. Come on, do I really need to talk down to you by way of explaining? We all know the stereotype of the dumb football player jock. The meathead weightlifter at the gym. To be sure, higher education is not really feminine, either. No lipstick, heels, short skirts, none of that crap.
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