The Bayou Renaissance Man discovered the tweet of the year:
Princess Content @ContentPrincess
intelligence and reason are just code words for white male privilege.
4 thoughts on “Here, let me oppress you”
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Trivia that matter
I really want to write a long, reasoned, intelligent, and logical argument from a woman’s perspective on how this is total caca. But I’ve been using my intelligence and reason all week long and I’m kind of tired right now 🙂
I think the best response is just to point and laugh.
Whether that was serious or deeply sarcastic, it’s amazing and a sign of the times that it was written at all.
Not to defend stupidity and illogic, but I wonder about context. I’ve seen professors, employers, politicians, doctors, and others write off intelligent, reasonable women (like me) by calling them hysterical, airheaded, inconsequential, or simply not bright or logical enough to pay attention to, simply because they lack a Y chromosome. Those men often misuse the words “intelligence” and “reason” to mean “owning a Y chromosome,” and when that happens, yes — that use is indeed code for male privilege. (I’m a woman, and speaking from that perspective, so I’ll leave the racial angle for another to evaluate.) That doesn’t mean that intelligence and reason themselves are irrelevant, but rather that those words can be applied as code, particularly among men who don’t want to be quoted as saying they won’t hire (or listen to, or vote for) a woman. I can verify that stupidity and illogic, like intelligence and reason, are gender-neutral. Not all women, and not all men, have any particular combination of those traits.