From: isar@ac.dal.ca
Newsgroups: alt.romance
Subject: Re: Brilliant, eccentric women? (Was: Nice Guys?)
Date: 28 Sep 92 20:18:43 -0300
Organization: Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada


>> enough to permit us to be ourselves.. Has any one seen my mask..

    (delete delete)
> 
> i'm not sure i agree with the "cultural influences" thing. while they
> do exist, there -are- differences between the sexes. (ain't it great?)
> you might try looking up Camille Paglia's books on the subject. people
> tend to either love or hate her (i'm one of the former) but at very least
> she is a thought-provoking and humorous read.
> 
> one of the things she points out is that there have been many more 
> male artists, composers and architects and serial killers who are
> considered "great" in their fields than women. (and she does recognize
> the importance of culture.) the general trend is that men are more 
> obsessive than women, just what Jeffery Boser was commenting on.
> 
> jason "just another testosterone-laden male" steiner
> 
> --
> `,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`
> `,`     "Stark raving sane." -- Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead     `,`
> `,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,` steiner@jupiter.cse.utoledo.edu `,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`

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  I have made the acquaintance of aforementioned book and I didn't read anything
more solid than a very personal idiosyncratic interpretation of gender roles,
with some SPECULATIVE inferences about the role of DNA --- the ole Nature vs
Nurture debate.

  Think about this:  If you were taught from birth that your role in life
was to be a good, obedient, preferably silent, supportive wife and mother
and you were only allowed to "study" crochet, cooking and a little piano
playing to entertain the guests, how likely would you be to become a 
scientific/literary/artistic achiever?  You would have to possess not only
the brains to do it but also an almost super-human willpower.  It's not
easy to defy your parents and peers, especially if you are economically
dependent on them.  Still, today, for all the talk about feminism and
female achievement, society pressures women into caretaker roles, while
blaming all evils on those of us who dare *gasp* to follow other paths.

  It is not a fair comparison, this:  that one half of the human race
which has always been praised, reinforced, supported and pushed towards
achievement will be judged to be inherently better at those very same tasks
for which the other half has been(and still is) actively discouraged
and even punished from undertaking.  A genius is not of his own making;
Mozart was most certainly pushed and encouraged to develop his potential.  How
many little girls were so treated?  Do you really think audiences with the 
King would have been forthcoming were he a "she"???

  With all my years of study and  the degrees and the job etc. etc. my family's
first concern is "well, are u married yet? well, u're not getting any younger,
you know... if you want to have kids, blah blah blah.."  Sheesh, believe me,
even if I know better, the guilt load is overwhelming...  why should I have
to deal with that as well as the rigors of achievement?  The truly wonderful
thing is that so many women were able to discard years of conditioning and
frustration and shine through the thick fog of societal disapproval..


     I.R.

P.S.    
In case someone decides to misinterpret the above,

  Please note that I am NOT disparaging homemakers in any way...if that is
truly your choice,  I must say it can be demanding and rewarding, and hats
off to you.  But h**l, why should ALL women have to like it any more than ALL
men are enamored of chemical engineering?