I am the grit in the gears, the missing bolt, I am the poker of sticks into spokes.
I like to know how things work, but sometimes when I take them apart and rebuild them, I have a few pieces left over.
I am a man, so I tend to leave reading the instructions until after it goes wrong.
And like all men I have a comprehensive mental map of the world and never need to ask directions.
I never get lost, only sometimes I'm late, or end up in the wrong place entirely.
It's what we do.
Tuesday, 20 March 2012
I'm Sorry, Okay?
All the arithmetically challenged folk out there, please don't hire a hit-man, this was so funny, I couldn't resist posting it.
There are, for the record, women who can do math (this does not count as math - it's a listening exercise). My daughter, 17, answered instantly. I didn't even need an instant.
This wouldn't even bother me - there are plenty of people who are stupid or ignorant (or who have those moments even if they are otherwise intelligent - I've been there), but I'm bothered by the blonde female stereotype. I hate to see it reinforced.
I knew I should have distanced myself from the sexist/blondist slur in the video's title.
For the record, I'm mathematically challenged. Arithmetically too, My poor brain struggles with the stuff I could do easily when I was twelve years old. Most of my high-school mathematics learning seems to have evaporated completely. Now it's true, I can do the calculations I need in my everyday life, but anything resembling, say, algebra, or trigonometry? Nope. I'll be cowering in a corner, or I'll tell you I've mislaid my reading glasses. Let it be shown on the record, I am no blondist. I see no reason to assume that hair colour is any sort of reliable guide to intellect or, indeed, hair colour.
A very relevant quotation, from Dolly Parton "I'm not offended by all the dumb blonde jokes because I know I'm not dumb... and I also know that I'm not blonde." In the case of a great many women, (what proportion, I'm not even capable of guessing,) hair colour comes out of a bottle, sachet, whatever. Sensible men never enquire.
In the video, well, the woman in the video puzzles argues, and makes it clear that she has no grasp whatsoever of the concept of miles per hour, feet per minute, metres per second, she just can't see it. Which is what is fascinating. How can you grow to adulthood without ever figuring out how we measure speeds. It's not a listening exercise, she's hearing the question, she just can't figure it out.
And I'm perfectly aware that gender is irrelevant here. I know some pretty stupid males, believe me. Mind-bogglingly stupid.
I don't get it. Her reasoning seemed very plausible, especially about the size of the wheels. Her husband didn't seem too swoof though; she could have done better. I watched this several times.
Ok, I'm lying twice: I got it right away and I didn't watch it several times.
I also must admit I hate disparaging remarks about dumb blonde women, almost as much as it irritates me to see the latter-day Don Quixotes condemning this time-honored brand of legitimate humor. There is a difference between true bullying and simply poking fun at our human failings and foibles. Not realizing this, and embarking upon crusades to right imagined wrongs is indeed tilting at windmills.
I'm beginning to think the comments are more interesting than the admittedly funny video. Hair color wasn't a factor for me. As Soub pointed out, most colors come from a bottle - at least mine do - and have no impact on my intelligence. Being tired, on the otherhand, or being overwhelmed with single motherhood DOES affect my reasoning abilities. The result can be quite humourous. Suffice to say I'd be a rather dour human if I were not able to laugh at my own foibles and simple computation mistakes. There are days that 1 + 1 do not equal 2 for me.
I do follow her reasoning (as misguided as it is): as a runner you measure your speed by how many minutes it takes you to run a mile. So, yes, the lower your "number" the faster your speed per mile. I can see her attempting to extrapolate this equation based upon the assumption that the 'smaller' number means arriving at one's destination in a faster time (which is why she is stuck on halving the mph number).
Is this video an attempt at bullying or stereotyping a blonde female? I don't think so. Is her husband a crass bore for video taping her and then uploading this video for the world to see? Absolutely. I sincerely hope he suffering severe retribution at the hand of his beautiful blonde wife.
I could not watch until the end of this.
ReplyDeleteThere are, for the record, women who can do math (this does not count as math - it's a listening exercise). My daughter, 17, answered instantly. I didn't even need an instant.
This wouldn't even bother me - there are plenty of people who are stupid or ignorant (or who have those moments even if they are otherwise intelligent - I've been there), but I'm bothered by the blonde female stereotype. I hate to see it reinforced.
Not that I'm blonde.
I knew I should have distanced myself from the sexist/blondist slur in the video's title.
DeleteFor the record, I'm mathematically challenged. Arithmetically too, My poor brain struggles with the stuff I could do easily when I was twelve years old. Most of my high-school mathematics learning seems to have evaporated completely. Now it's true, I can do the calculations I need in my everyday life, but anything resembling, say, algebra, or trigonometry? Nope. I'll be cowering in a corner, or I'll tell you I've mislaid my reading glasses. Let it be shown on the record, I am no blondist. I see no reason to assume that hair colour is any sort of reliable guide to intellect or, indeed, hair colour.
A very relevant quotation, from Dolly Parton "I'm not offended by all the dumb blonde jokes because I know I'm not dumb... and I also know that I'm not blonde."
In the case of a great many women, (what proportion, I'm not even capable of guessing,) hair colour comes out of a bottle, sachet, whatever. Sensible men never enquire.
In the video, well, the woman in the video puzzles argues, and makes it clear that she has no grasp whatsoever of the concept of miles per hour, feet per minute, metres per second, she just can't see it. Which is what is fascinating. How can you grow to adulthood without ever figuring out how we measure speeds. It's not a listening exercise, she's hearing the question, she just can't figure it out.
And I'm perfectly aware that gender is irrelevant here. I know some pretty stupid males, believe me. Mind-bogglingly stupid.
I don't get it. Her reasoning seemed very plausible, especially about the size of the wheels. Her husband didn't seem too swoof though; she could have done better. I watched this several times.
DeleteOk, I'm lying twice: I got it right away and I didn't watch it several times.
I also must admit I hate disparaging remarks about dumb blonde women, almost as much as it irritates me to see the latter-day Don Quixotes condemning this time-honored brand of legitimate humor. There is a difference between true bullying and simply poking fun at our human failings and foibles. Not realizing this, and embarking upon crusades to right imagined wrongs is indeed tilting at windmills.
I'm beginning to think the comments are more interesting than the admittedly funny video. Hair color wasn't a factor for me. As Soub pointed out, most colors come from a bottle - at least mine do - and have no impact on my intelligence. Being tired, on the otherhand, or being overwhelmed with single motherhood DOES affect my reasoning abilities. The result can be quite humourous. Suffice to say I'd be a rather dour human if I were not able to laugh at my own foibles and simple computation mistakes. There are days that 1 + 1 do not equal 2 for me.
ReplyDeleteI do follow her reasoning (as misguided as it is): as a runner you measure your speed by how many minutes it takes you to run a mile. So, yes, the lower your "number" the faster your speed per mile. I can see her attempting to extrapolate this equation based upon the assumption that the 'smaller' number means arriving at one's destination in a faster time (which is why she is stuck on halving the mph number).
Is this video an attempt at bullying or stereotyping a blonde female? I don't think so. Is her husband a crass bore for video taping her and then uploading this video for the world to see? Absolutely. I sincerely hope he suffering severe retribution at the hand of his beautiful blonde wife.
xxx