On 11 Apr 1999, Alan Shutko wrote:
> Linnea Ista <lkista at unm.edu> writes:
>> > I find that the URL "girl.crew" is pretty telling. Are they really going
> > to send teens or preteens into space. Now THAT is a story :-)
>> The editor chose that title on purpose
> (http://www2.astrobiology.com/nasa/watch.html):
>> Update: I have received several comments - all from female readers -
> which take issue with my use of the term "girl". Yes, it is a
> potentially demeaning word when used in this context - and the word
> "woman" would be, perhaps, more correct to use. But that's the point!
> Dan Goldin has sanctioned (by virtue of not saying NO when given ample
> chance to do so) consideration of a shuttle mission wherein the prime
> qualification for flying (in any role) is posession of ovaries. The
> crew's professional qualifications are secondary. I find this
> immensely demeaning to women.
So the original astronauts, who were chosen more for their possesion of an
xy chromosome than their qualifications, were, by this logic, also
demeaned. I do not understand the logic that when we get consideration of
our gender in a positive way, that we are somehow "demeaned". Presumably,
the women (not GIRLS, and there is no doubt that the offensiveness of that
term goes way beyong "potentially demeaning") are qualified astronauts.
They have most likely had to, as you state below, be "extra capable" in
order to make it to the point of being considered. Perhaps, gulp, they are
the best PEOPLE for the job?????
Look, we don't make a big deal when the crew is all male, or all Anglo,
why is it a big deal if it is all female or one person of color is
included?
>
> This is not to imply that I do not think that an all female shuttle
> crew would not be as successful or professional as a mixed or all-male
> crew. Indeed, given the male-dominated gauntlets women still have to
> confront these days in their professional lives, I suspect that the
> women in the astronaut corps are all extra-capable - and that it is
> quite possible - even likely - that their "all female" flight would be
> extra-ordinarily successful.
>>> --
> Alan Shutko <ats at acm.org> - By consent of the corrupted
> Do people know you have freckles everywhere?
>>>
