reh@aplvax.UUCP (Ron E. Hall) (08/17/85)
Sunny Kirsten in response to Phil Ngai in response to many others. > > So just go on rationalizing away everything I have to say. After all... > I'm so messed up I couldn't possibly have anything valid to say. > Not when it threatens your preconceived notions, your closed minds, your > sexual and genderal roles, and your total lack of ability to validly refute > anything I have to say. IF you have experienced both male and female hormones > then you might have something valid to say about the differences between the > sexes which are a result of hormones. Otherwise, you can only speak of > what it is like to be male, or to be female. > > Just keep on rejecting me. Just keep on rejecting what I've said about the > effects of hormones. Just keep on saying to the world: > Don't bother me with the facts, My mind is made up. > I will go a way. I will shut up. Because it is futile to cast pearls of > wisdom before swine. *** REPLACE THIS LINE WITH YOUR MESSAGE *** 1. I wish this discussion would go away. In forty years I've met one woman who occasionally would be grumpy and miss a day due to menstruation, and she was so competent and otherwise pleasant to work with that her employers (patent lawyers) treated her as a valuable employee. PMS does not appear to affect the job performance of most women and is not a consideration in hiring for most firms. There is no real issue here, everyone has expressed their opinion at least once on the subject, and it's time to move on. 2. Sunny's stance astride the sexes is unique, and the differences she experienced in her life as male and female provide an insight most people do not have. But my appreciation of that insight is affected by the fact that she was uncomfortable enough with her life as a male to undergo a sex-change and because I simply do not know if her experiences as a female are now or will ever be the same as the experiences of a genetic female. For example, her contention that testosterone results in the constant distraction of men by sex may have been true for her while men comfortable with male sexuality find its effects enhance their experiencee of the world and are no distraction at all. I'm not rejecting Sunny's observations, but I am placing them in context with what I know about the speaker and my experience in the world. 3. I don't know what the provocation was but certainly the response seems a little overbearing. If we were all a little more civil perhaps we could avoid offending each other and creating a trail of unpleasant and vituperative postings which seem to continue beyond all sense once started. Let's let this discussion (which seems to have become a Yes I Do/No You Don't contest) go in favor of more interesting topics. Ron Hall JHU/APL ...decvax!decuac!aplvax!reh ...seismo!decuac!aplvax!reh -- Ron Hall JHU/APL ...decvax!harpo!seismo!umcp-cs!aplvax!reh ...rlgvax!cvl!umcp-cs!aplvax!reh