OK, so more than 70% of the population can't
deal with what we do with our minds. They don't
have to - they can go ahead digging ditches, or
whatever it is they do, and they don't have to
think about it.
For those of us who don't want to have to dig ditches,
or wash dishes, and who realize that they are and will
be "mental" workers from here on out, why try to make
the "other than mental" workers think we are "normal"?
We are not. We think, often for a living. Want to be
one of us? It won't help any to hide your light under
a bushel basket. People notice - "oh, that guy/gal is
thinking all the time." and, like it or not, our
category is "other". "Not them". Oh, OK, here's
"a smart one with a bushel basket". Sounds even MORE
"other", not less.
I used to be part of a feminist e-mail network, but
I had to quit because other users were uncomfortable
about having a man "listening in". Apparently a similar
syndrome, they were willing to say feminist things, but
not if a man could hear them. Was I going to rat them
out to other men? Or was it just me, the feminist guy
who wanted to further the network's goals? Maybe there
was some amount of "all the guys treat me bad, please
go away because you are a guy", and that's sad but I
respect it, but the specifics were much more personal
than that and I went away feeling like a Guantamo inmate,
banished for things I never did and no hope of any
discussion.
My daughter is now 14, I am very proud of her skills and
talents and I am teaching her electronics and software
engineering as fast as possible, before she gets too
distracted by the latest fingernail polish. I have a small
advantage there because I used to polish my left thumbnail
and know how to put the polish on smoothly... on the other
hand (hers) girls have smaller fingernails (generally).
I hope she will stand tall for who she is and what she
can do, designing circuits, writing code, and playing
concert clarinet and not have to pretend she's a
dumb blonde when she isn't dumb.
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