Want to know if women really have a harder time being accepted in the science profession (and elsewhere) than their male counterparts? Ask someone who knows first-hand.
The Washington Post today ran a truly fascinating and very enlightening story about Ben Barres, a 42-year-old scientist who until 1997 was biologically female. Barres talks about how completely differently he -- and his work -- are treated and accepted since he transitioned to living life as a man.
The stories he tells speak volumes about sexism and even misogyny women face in the workplace, even workplaces where the IQ is considerably higher than average.
"By far," Barres wrote, "the main difference I have noticed is that people who don't know I am transgendered treat me with much more respect" than when he was a woman. "I can even complete a whole sentence without being interrupted by a man."
The article explores whether or not men and women are in fact engineered differently, with men being better at some cognitive skills than women and vice versa. That may be true, but one psychologist interviewed for the story says that some of these differences may have more to do with "biases among adults in interpreting the same behavior in boys and girls."
It's today's most e-mailed article on WashingtonPost.com. If you read it, you too will send it 'round. It will make you think. It will make you mad.
Male Scientist Writes of Life as Female Scientist (Washington Post, Free Registration Required)
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2 comments:
This document needs to better word itself because feminists can take this as trying to reinstate the notion that men are superior to women.
And shouldn't the word transsexual be used to better idenitfy her?
my bad. i mean "him".
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