Re: digital and analogue photography -the essay
For clarity sake, just as I would like "the world" to know that not
all americans are pompous ass war mongers, I would like to say that
all males are not the same or think similarly.
Robert Newcomb
A middle aged white male living in the southern US.
On Jun 2, 2008, at 11:18 PM, Judy Seigel wrote:
I seem to have missed the evil comments described (my ISP may be an
MCP) but here's a simple test: Try, just try to imagine those
putdowns to someone who signed themselves "Charles Rogers."
It doesn't happen.
Nor can we say that if Catherine were famous (or more famous) she'd
get more respect. I recall, some 10 years (or more) ago, a couple
of boy-os on the History of Photography list snickering about
"Susan Sontag, the bitch." No, I'm not making that up.
In fact the language (English anyway) just about insures it. I did
an analysis of gender terms in Roget's Thesaurus (see my T-shirt
book, pages 134-143): Probably the most striking example is the
fact that slang for "femininity" devolves to "bitch."
The closest equivalent terms for men (other than feminized men) are
"bad person," or blame for financial ("Bowery bum") or outright
criminal status. Under "unchastity," men are libertine, swinger,
profligate, rake, roue, womanizer, woman chaser, gay dog, etc.,
which is to say, terms that are almost admiring; women are "whore"
or "nympho."
The unequal status for men and women is even clearer under the
entry for "old." "Adult Or Old Person" para 2, has 38 terms for old
man and elder, of which only one, "dotard" is unredeemably bad. The
others are either respectful, like "golden-ager," "patriarch, or
"Father Time," or only mildly disparaging, like "geezer" or "old
codger." However, the category for old woman has 21 terms, of
which only 2 or 3 are respectful ("grandam," "beldam"). Most, like
"old battle ax," "hen," bag, "witch,"
and "crone." are, to put not too fine a point on it, insults.
I wouldn't say the language causes the sexism, rather that it
reflects the sexism... and not so coincidentally I noticed that
Webster's Unabridged (I have 2 editions circa 10 years apart) shows
that the word "racism" entered the language approximately 10 years
before the word "sexism." Which may explain why the US press has
freely commented on Hillary Clinton's ankles, et al, but not a word
about -- oh I dunno, do Obama's ears stick out, or something ?
I'm not a shrinking violet, and I do get to experience this first
hand, which I admit, accustomed as I am, still can come as a shock...
But it occurs to me to ask, Catherine, did any of that
disparagement come from women? From the comments cited just now,
it would seem not.
Judy
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