I only recently came across your newsletter so I'm late commenting on this, but I appreciate this post because I came to a similar conclusion a while ago about being female. There is a faction out there that assumes that talking about innate differences between the sexes inevitably leads to a justification of patriarchy, because some people do indeed use it that way. But what other explanations do we have of how we got here? That women are so weak-minded that we let ourselves be oppressed for no reason? Seems better to sort out the actual sex differences from the stereotypes, and challenge just why those feminine traits should relegate anyone to second-class citizenship.
I read the piece Freddie DeBoer recommended and have been working through your archives with deep pleasure and maybe a little envy at your consistent ability to write with compassion and insight.
Also, "one person’s hot water is another person’s jacuzzi" is a damn fine turn of phrase.
This book is interesting: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chosen_Few_(book). Why a history of near-universal male literacy going back 2000 years continues to produce benefits even now when universal literacy is no big deal is interesting - who knows, maybe in the future it won't.
I only recently came across your newsletter so I'm late commenting on this, but I appreciate this post because I came to a similar conclusion a while ago about being female. There is a faction out there that assumes that talking about innate differences between the sexes inevitably leads to a justification of patriarchy, because some people do indeed use it that way. But what other explanations do we have of how we got here? That women are so weak-minded that we let ourselves be oppressed for no reason? Seems better to sort out the actual sex differences from the stereotypes, and challenge just why those feminine traits should relegate anyone to second-class citizenship.
I read the piece Freddie DeBoer recommended and have been working through your archives with deep pleasure and maybe a little envy at your consistent ability to write with compassion and insight.
Also, "one person’s hot water is another person’s jacuzzi" is a damn fine turn of phrase.
This book is interesting: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chosen_Few_(book). Why a history of near-universal male literacy going back 2000 years continues to produce benefits even now when universal literacy is no big deal is interesting - who knows, maybe in the future it won't.