Comments on: A linkspam stole my baby! (November 6th, 2009)

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 06:08:30 +0000

I’ve had an article published on Screen Play (Fairfax’s (Australia) gaming blog) about gaming, gender and people of colour.

I thought you might be interested:

http://blogs.smh.com.au/digital-life/screenplay/2009/11/10/yourturntheg2.html?page=fullpage#comments

And your blog rocks btw

By: Skud

Skud — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 02:11:13 +0000

It’s a quote from Samuel Johnson: “Sir, a woman’s preaching is like a dog’s walking on his hind legs. It is not done well; but you are surprised to find it done at all.”

By: PharaohKatt

PharaohKatt — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 02:09:02 +0000

Ok then. I do remember both of those titles, but I never made the connection. (Although, Linkspam standing on its hind legs? What is that referencing?)

I still have the same gut reaction when I read it, but thank you for explaining the reasoning. It makes a lot more sense now.

By: Skud

Skud — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 16:59:14 +0000

Actually, I *am* Australian, was aware of it, and if you look back at some of the recent linkspam titles you'll see that others are also riffs on well known sexist comments or quotes, eg: Studies show that women evolved to linkspam, A linkspam standing on its hind legs, so we have a bit of a running joke there. But I guess it goes to show that context counts, and perhaps linkspam titles are a bit short on context to be making jokes that require explanation.

By: Jonquil

Jonquil — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 15:56:09 +0000

“Werner quickly apologises, saying “I fully support the statements you made that this is not acceptable.” Quickest, least painful conference incident ever!”

YAAAAY. Way to play it.

By: WhyMommy (Susan)

WhyMommy (Susan) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 15:34:50 +0000

Sara, unfortunately your relative’s story is all too common. Hey, it was mine too! But I found a way to keep at it, and in fact there are more and more ways for women to get back into the science they thought they had to leave. If she’s in planetary science, she may want to check out what the Planetary Science Institute is doing for remote researchers. Even if she’s not, I’d love to have her visit our blog and talk about her experience and maybe help her get connected again.

It makes me sick to see talented women drop out because of flexibility issues.

By: Dorothea

Dorothea — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 14:23:56 +0000

Ouch. I apologize for that. We’ll definitely try to do better in future.

By: PharaohKatt

PharaohKatt — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 10:07:41 +0000

I just want to address the title of this linkspam. I actually think it’s quite problematic for a feminist site to jokingly make a reference to the Azaria Chamberlain disappearance. The case was rife with sexism; Lindy Chamberlain was tried with murder and her account not believed because she was deemed to be hysterical. “A dingo ate my baby” has become shorthand in Australia to refer to an hysterical woman.
It’s also full of racism in the way that the testimony of an Aboriginal man was ignored because he gave according to custom: spoke on behalf of his wife in the third person.

I’m assuming you aren’t Australian, and so might not be aware of all the implications. I just wanted to say that I found it really jarring and problematic.

By: elz

elz — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 21:59:41 +0000

I love the Shrinky Dink story – awesome ingenuity!

By: Sara

Sara — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 21:02:48 +0000

I had a relative who was a woman scientist at NASA for some years; ultimately, their household found that it was just not possible to juggle having twins and the long hours necessary to maintaining two engineering careers, and her husband had seniority (and therefore the larger income), so he kept his job and she stayed home with the kids.