Quickies

Skepchick Quickies 3.1

Amanda

Amanda works in healthcare, is a loudmouthed feminist, and proud supporter of the Oxford comma.

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15 Comments

  1. I am a guy AFOL much to my chagrin. Anyway we’ve been paying attention to friends for long. The sets themselves were always good quality in build complexity and aesthetics. The pinkification comes mostly in the advertising front. It is pretty annoying all boxes have to be pink. However, the LEGO friends sets tend to use a more “pastel” palette than other sets.

    What really annoys me is the need to segregate it from the other things. Putting other kinds of figures in the sets. And also implicitly saying that the other themes are for boys. Including creator and technic.

    There were non-stereotypically girly role models in LEGO friends since the first wave. My favorite set is http://www.brickset.com/detail/?Set=3933-1 I of course got it because of the awesome little robot.

    That picture of the girl in 2010 is great. But LEGO friends were released in 2012, so it shows that at least in that case the pinkification was not needed to bring her to building.

  2. Re: Using a smartphone is “emasculating”

    Am I alone in thinking that using the word “emasculating” in this context is weird? You only have to imagine a woman saying the exact same thing to realize how ridiculous — and sexist — this is. Mr. Brin: there are _some_ things in this world that aren’t about your penis. Your smartphone (and how you use it) is one of them. (Or maybe he just doesn’t know what “emasculate” means.)

    1. It appears to me he ACTUALLY meant to actually say you don’t look particularly manly when using a smartphone.

  3. What a poor choice of words, though I think Brin really means depersonalizing or dehumanizing.

    1. Everyone seems to be falling all over themselves to excuse Brin (not picking on you, going by many articles in tech press).
      Why not just admit the dude has a problem? Google Buzz outs people all over inadvertently. Google+ policy on being anonymous forces women and LGBT to reveal their identities, or not participate. There’s a track record there.

      1. So I finally had some time to look up this talk he gave a little bit more and I have no interest in defending him. It really does read to me as if he misspoke in some way, but I’ll leave it at that.

        In the wider sense of Google’s policies around its products ultimately yes, those policies and their outcomes do fall on the shoulders of upper management at Google. I see why Google as a company chose many of those policies, but I agree with you that they’re wrong to keep them. There have been numerous, reasonable critiques of their policies as regards to privacy across a host of issues, not least of which are the ones you brought up, but also political dissenters or, for instance, their initial business and censorship in China. Even simple privacy for the sake of privacy, regardless of why one would want things private. It’s important to keep the heat on Google, even though sometimes it seems to have no effect.

        While not perfect I think twitter’s got firm legs to stand on with all of these concerns.

    2. So if you’re not seen as Manly Man Man, then you’re depersonalied or dehumanized? Yeah, that’s not any better. Because he really did mean that you don’t appear to be a Manly Man Man. Which is why he chose “emasculating”.

  4. To get to the nub of the issue, textwalking in a crowded city street at peakhour is not emasculating, it’s FUCKING ANNOYING!
    The HUD specs will only encourage the habit.
    !

  5. All I have to say is I can’t wait for the Google glasses to arrive. I can’t decide between the Vehicular Homicide model to the Pedestrian Suicide model though.

    1. Maybe a great present for somebody we dislike – such as the boss, for instance?
      Then somebody else might take the emasculating into their own hands, so to speak.
      Like in Breaking Bad, with a squeegee across the battery terminals of his car!

  6. Is anyone else having trouble downloading the ‘Read it and Weep’ podcast? I know I’m stuck with a slowish connection, but I’ve been trying all day and it just keeps dropping part way through.

    1. I quit listening to them for that very reason over a year ago. Their download took anywhere from 5-10 minutes on a connection on which most downloadads take 1-2 minutes. I contacted them and they seemed uninterested, so I figured it was my own problem.

  7. Real men use land lines and safety razors.

    Google Glass is the real man’s answer to those Kosher light switches or those Amish power tool conversions.

  8. Loved the read it and weep podcast. So funny! and the no longer quiverring blog is excellent.

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