Existentialism keeps resurfacing in books, movies and art in general. Woody Allen certainly seems to go with it, and now we can get to an expanded and improved translation of Simone de Beauvoir's Le Deuxième Sexe (1949) / The Second Sex (1953) by Constance Borde and Sheila Malovany-Chevallier (2010). I'm glad -- bring them all back! Existentialism plus gender issues -- both elicit interesting, compelling questions. What goes around comes around.
Guess how many women are engineers? Last I checked, 11% of engineering graduates were women. Last I checked, there was an even smaller group called The Society of Professional Women in Petroleum (SPWP). Would there be any differences in approaches to engineering if women were in charge, or better represented in terms of actual decision-making?
I have no idea -- merely asking the question.
I do feel this: that the status quo is not nearly good enough -- not for highways, urban planning, education, infrastructure, transportation, social services, foreign policy, energy policy, military strategy, longterm thinking or much of anything else. The way things stand, as a Lousiana parish leader quipped recently, it's like the world is "being run by a bunch of 7th graders" (and 7th grade boys for the most part). Or, better things are being blocked by those with the mentality of 7th grade boys -- maybe that is also true.
Do you prefer the detail from the first painting, or the second? Why? Le Deuxième Sexe or The Second Sex?
Today's Rune: Movement.
9 comments:
Yes, that literature of extreme situations seems to be coming back.
But it is somehow naive. For exammple, what fool does not know that one day the elevator isn't going to work, or tha he may be run down by a truck...Hm. Maybe my musical choice should be Simple Minds?
On the other hand, when women get to power, they sometimes take on the worst characteristics of men-- look at Indira Ghandi and Margaret Thatcher.
My late friend Stu McCarrell was a friend of Ms. de Beauvoir's sometime boyfriend Nelson Algren, who, like him, lived in Wicker Park. I posted a story about him on my old blog.
Johnny Rojo,
I clicked onto your highlighting.
Fascinating and informative article.
I have read somewhere that Simone de Beauvoir was more of a buddy to her men than an actual girlfriend.
Some say she even walked like a man.
Ah well. To each (his/her) own.
Erik, I was infinatley more mature as a seventh grader than my male counterparts--at least that's how I remember it! The second painting is so much more vibrant and clear in it's detail, that it's my pic! Enjoy this faboo weekend--you know I will!
Erik, I was infinatley more mature as a seventh grader than my male counterparts--at least that's how I remember it! The second painting is so much more vibrant and clear in it's detail, that it's my pic! Enjoy this faboo weekend--you know I will!
"Would there be any differences in approaches to engineering if women were in charge, or better represented in terms of actual decision-making?"
A BP woman made the initial call regarding the burning oil rig and her superiors were griping about a broken chain of command. Looks like she made the right decision and they didn't.
Thanks all for the comments! Much appreciated!
I was also thinking recently that it's as though kids (or idiots,) are running things. How do we stop them...that's all I want to know...
I prefer the 2nd painting, but I'm drawn to high contrast stuff.
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