From an e-mail recently recieved:

"http://tinyurl.com/5oqrnb
"This study looks very bogus, particularly the 63% face sexual harassment claim. How was sexual harrassment defined? How were questions worded? Did participants know what the study was about and its intended consequences before being questioned? Were males asked about sexual harrassment using the same definintion (for a control group)? "

I do agree that the study looks bogus. Somebody has some explaining to do, and by that I mean that the people who did the study ought to be very, very public about the exact nature of their survey instrument. They ought to do so in very exacting and tortuous detail, in a manner that would satisfy the rigorous stipulations proferred in the e-mail quoted above.

When you follow the link to the article (at the Computerworld website) you will discover over 100 reader comments. One of these is my own, as follows:

"Submitted by Fidelbogen on June 16, 2008 - 20:40.
"The complaints voiced by the various women were centered upon a variety of 'intangibles' -- things that are difficult to define, or to validate in purely objective terms. Consequently, it should be a point of interest to ascertain whether a feminist worldview has been imported into the discussion at any stage."

You will find the comment posted here: http://tinyurl.com/4vzddt

This once again illustrates how, in my own considered opinion, it "ought to be done". The comment is brief, and the tone is purposely staid and stodgy. But I accomplished one very important thing -- I violated the oh-so-ungolden silence which surrounds the abysmal F-word! And that was basically all I set out to do.

And although I have not read all of the comments which were posted, I know that none of the ones that i DID read contained any trace of 'feminist' or 'feminism'. Mind you, some of the comments were quite good, and certainly originating in our sector. However, they did not use the F-word!! And a fair number of the comments were slamming women, but: they said nothing about feminism!

So. . . . I was obliged to make good on their omission. I mean, WTF, the first step toward breaking the power of any taboo is to VIOLATE it!!

Which, once again, I did. I did NOT slam women, but I did (just lightly) mention feminism!

It was simple.


More...

I guess it depends on who you are appealing to. Who the message is aimed at. In some circumstances it used to be better to refer to Nazis rather than Germans and vice versa. Just so long as the right ones are hanged.