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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

Feminist Pub 17: The Bluestocking frolics in the fells and fens of feminism

986 replies

AKnickerfulOfMenace · 07/02/2015 19:25

This is the 17th incarnation of the Feminist Pub!

Here be goats, cannons and chat on feminism and related themes. Also snacks. And booze, copious booze.

Welcome!

OP posts:
AKnickerfulOfMenace · 03/03/2015 22:20

I am navel gazing about my career. Can't claim it's a huge feminist shizzle...

OP posts:
SoMuchForSubtlety · 03/03/2015 22:40
Daffodil

Nuff said! I would be irritated by my stupid misogynistic colleague and his performance today but it's nearly Spring and I have a new garden to discover this year.

ErrolTheDragon · 03/03/2015 22:42

Maybe what you need for an icy St David's day is a nice warm welsh Dragon ? (works overtime for St George's day too).

Navel-gazing is probably most done in an actual pub so you can't remember it next morning.

EBearhug · 03/03/2015 23:48

I was given to believe there would be Welsh cakes at my Welsh class tonight, but there wasn't, and I hadn't had time to pop into M&S (only place that does them round here.)

Work is killing me with micromanagement and incompetent idiots trying to tell me how to plan my time. I said I'd go and work in the datacentre tomorrow. This is not because I am being good and helpful, it's to keep me away from people so I don't swear at them. Oh, also, I am not meant to be doing any training/women's network/culture improvement work. I foresee a visit to HR if they go much further. But there will be a ranty email to director first. I already wrote half of one on the subject, but felt so disheartened I gave up (though kept the draft.) So I won't have to do much work.

I need to do lots of training courses so I can escape. It's so demotivating, and I end up feeling totally incompetent, because every fucking thing I do is questioned to see if it's best how I should have spent my time. (Not just me, the whole department - I think - though only I have had the no women's network diktat.) I am actually pretty good at time management, and they are not. You must spend 50% of your time on this every week. You cannot average it out over a month, so doing more one week will not count against the next, even if that actually makes sense. Every person must do this, you cannot balance it out between the team, e.g. someone take on those tasks to allow that person to spend more time on these tasks. This actually makes us more inflexible and inefficient, which will be the main point of my ranty mail, as that will get me further than pointing out they're treating us like children. Except I wouldn't treat children quite so inflexibly, either.

And they're probably getting paid shitloads more for being so unutterably crap.

EBearhug · 03/03/2015 23:49

Actually, there will be some stats on micromanagement and productivity and so on. Right, that's some time spent googling Gartner and stuff tomorrow.

UptoapointLordCopper · 04/03/2015 07:13

Ebear That sounds like madness. It's time for the revolution to get rid of all micromanagers. (Reminds me of the Lego movie ...)

StormyBrid · 04/03/2015 07:36

I suspect women do the navel-gazing because you don't need to spend so much time contemplating your place in the world when that place is at the top. And can I echo the "bastarding unemployment" cry from last night? As a Daily Mail stereotype it pissed me right off that this entire system is designed to keep me unemployed and then I get to be society's scapegoat because of it.

EBearhug · 04/03/2015 07:41

It sounds like madness because it is madness. It's like they've read some guide to management and decided to do the opposite.

I may have to quote Sheelagh Whittaker, we will only have true equality when we have as many incompetent women in positions of power as incompetent men.

UptoapointLordCopper · 04/03/2015 08:04

And one of my favourite quotes from the subjection of women: "In all things of any difficulty and importance, those who can do them well are fewer than the need, even with the most unrestricted latitude of choice: and any limitation of the field of selection deprives society of some chances of being served by the competent, without ever saving it from the incompetent."

And we see it all around us... But let's not end discrimination, in case we get incompetent women. Hmm

GibberingFlapdoodle · 04/03/2015 09:57

My dh has spent lots of time in that kind of micro-managing time crap. Our commiserations. Flowers Daffodil

TheBlackRider · 04/03/2015 10:49

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

UptoapointLordCopper · 04/03/2015 11:08

Can I just say what a pleasure it is to use software that works? I love love love LaTeX! >

UptoapointLordCopper · 04/03/2015 11:09

It will be nice too if my headache and stuffy nose and cough would go away now.

TheBlackRider · 04/03/2015 11:28

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

EBearhug · 04/03/2015 14:01

Oh good, and a day working at the datacentre, to find a load of signs warning about men working behind doors.

I've asked for a policy change at all datacentres worldwide for the company and any contractors to use non gender-specific wording on signage.

Then I went to the women's loo to find I have the choice of darkness or not locking the door...

Remind me again why I encourage girls to consider working in IT?

BreakingDad77 · 04/03/2015 14:08

Ebearhug isn't there some irony in "Danger - Men working" Grin

FloraFox · 04/03/2015 14:09

liberationcollective.wordpress.com/2015/03/03/leaving-liberal-feminism/

Can I pop this here? It's a really interesting blog post.

UptoapointLordCopper · 04/03/2015 14:13

I laugh at the "Slow Men at Work" signs ...

LurcioAgain · 04/03/2015 14:45

Breaking Dad - thanks for the reply.

Flora - brilliant blog post.

AnnieLobeseder · 04/03/2015 16:01

Avery interesting blog, Flora. Hmmmm. I tend to call myself a liberal feminist but I don't subscribe to any of the philosophies ascribed to libfem in that blog. Perhaps I am a radfem after all. Confused

AnnieLobeseder · 04/03/2015 16:03

Oh, and Bearhug - that is very, very depressing. It's a catch 22 isn't it? Things won't improve for women in IT unless there are more women in the industry pushing for change. But women won't want to enter IT until it becomes more welcoming. It's very unfair that so much pressure to improve things falls on the few women already in there, like you. Flowers

UptoapointLordCopper · 04/03/2015 19:45

That's why we should have quotas.

Somewhere I read that if there is a certain number of women (and not even that many, certainly well below 50%) people start thinking of women as the norm and unconscious bias is greatly reduced.

EBearhug · 04/03/2015 21:57

Talking of slow men at work, I was doing some of my time projections for the next week or so, as directed - and I realised I am spreading work out more - no point doing that many project-related datacentre days in a single week, as it will make more sense to spread them out one a week to make it easier to make the 50% projects requirement every week...

I think it's around 30% where men start thinking women are dominating, isn't it? Wonder where I read it...

AKnickerfulOfMenace · 05/03/2015 07:15

It's at 30% of the "airtime" in a conversation, I think.

OP posts:
EBearhug · 05/03/2015 07:20

Yes, I think you are right. I would assume that if they think that about talking, it will be similar proportions for other things.

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