Chat thread - come chat, rant, or celebrate, here!

[LRDtheFeministDragon]

With thanks to the lovely timetosmile - here's the new and rejuvenated Chat Thread.

Space to yak on, rant, post any of the good and bad stuff ... just basically any chat that you don't feel fits into a specific post. With a side order of reclaiming the word 'gossip'.

We like yellow in our house. If it is not faintly ridiculous we would have painted all our rooms bright yellow. As it is only the living room and the kids' room are bright yellow.

"They would never listen to a woman." Overheard at kids' activity group.

"Girls need pampering, boys don't." Overheard again.

All in half a day. I'm going to give up overhearing things.

Yesterday, leaving the student union pool to go back to work

"Scuse me darling, have you voted yet?" (it's the student union election time) I ignored him, I'm ineligible to vote. In a louder voice "Oi! Darling!"

In a way, afterwards, I felt a little sorry for him. In my very best ex-FE lecturer very loud voice I explained to him why calling any woman you are not in a relationship of some kind with "darling" is not a good idea unless you were also prepared to do the same for random men he didn't know either. He looked quite cowed and close to tears by the end. It's not as if I shouted or was aggressive, I'd just had a Beschdel day fail day so far and had had enough.

Well, hopefully he won't do it again slug!

Just off a transatlantic flight. 28 seats in business class. 4 with women in them. Appropriately I was reading the section of Delusions of Gender that covers the impact of fewer and fewer female role models (specifically in STEM) the more senior you get.

Just been for a wander round a bookshop with a display table labelled, "Real Princesses Save Themselves" with Pippi Longstocking, Ella Enchanted etc books.

I know I'm being a bit Health-and-safety and pedantic and all that, but I was upset at Pippi Longstocking checking whether a mushroom was edible or not by eating it.

Hello. I haven't clicked on this before but am definitely keen to say hello.

Cain pick up on the libor comment? First, can anyone point me to the list of names? As for the women element,nos that because women are more careful? Or more likely, because women aren't given that level of power and responsibility, even though people doing libor setting at banks are generally, relatively speaking, quite junior.

Hi Bling

The list was in The Times but I expect other papers without a pay wall had it too - am on phone so not easy to google. My suspicion is that there are few women in the relevant positions at Barclays rather than women in those positions being more cautious.

Lord Copper

So neighbour's child came to borrow tools which I found and gave to him, making it clear they were mine. He then asked to speak to DH to ask permission to take them away. I called him back and suggested it was me he should ask, which he did. Very polite child. Wrong, but polite. Am I being oversensitive, or can I not possibly own tools due to not possessing a penis?

How young is the child? Maybe the parent said "go and borrow Mr Copper's tools" and child wanted to stick to the letter of the instructions.

So still a stereotype but from the older rather than younger members of the house...?

About 10yo. He's an independent child and often does things on his own.

That is a bit shit, whether it was the child who thought it up, or whether the parent who assumed it'd be 'Mr'.

Having watched slug's video from the other thread, I'm going to start challenging DSs about the stories they write. Yesterday DS1 did a picture of "The Thing Family" with Mr and Mrs Thing and three children, all male. After challenging him on that he added one female child. On the subject of Mrs Thing he acknowledged that while I am not a Mrs anybody, it just happens that Mrs Thing was a Mrs Thing. Can't argue with that, I guess. Especially since one of their teachers went and changed her name after getting married recently. But we will continue the discussion!

Bump

So apparently it's a stereotype that feminists like cats.

I hadn't really heard that one before, but I do like cats, and if you like cats too there are some lovely live kittens here.

So, is this stereotype supposed to be a bad thing then? I am confused as to how liking cats is a bad thing if it is. Unless it is because cats are rather self-sufficient independent animals with staff.

I've not heard that stereotype. But I don't particularly like animals and probably just switch off when it is mentioned. I'm sure there are worse stereotypes.

(it's what the current trolly troll has been saying - I think it's a "mad cat lady alone and lonely with a million cats" sort of thing)

Anyway, the kittens are all asleep now :)

Yes, it seems there are trolls around and some who are not trolls who might well be IYKWIM.

I love cats :)

just refound this thread in TIO and I;ve been enjoying catching up.

I've just ordered Lean In too, have read lots of extracts online adn like the look of it. Has anyone here read it?

Awww, I love the live kitten feed.

I read the interview in the Guardian, and also an article by Hadley Freeman about it in this thread. I didn't find it particularly enlightening - what she said about how women's and men's identical actions being perceived differently was also discussed at length in Delusions of Gender. But I didn't find it particularly offensive either, like the OP in that thread. Since this is a chat thread rather than a fight thread I assume I can take this position.

the extracts I've read I really like, I like that she regrets not being a feminist activist earlier and is trying to solve the problem of women's representation at higher levels in companies. But I haven't read the whole thing yet and won't for a while seeing as I'm bycotting amazon so it won't be delivered for 2 weeks :(

bigkidsdidit I'm boycotting amazon too. I bought quite a few books (amongst others books 2 and 3 of the Millennium trilogy and it was quite a gamble because I really wanted them quickly ) from Green Metropolis recently and they delivered really quickly.

I guess that's a charity bookshop and won't be any good for new books. Sorry...