nature/culture

[Mary C. Simmons, Hydrologic Assistant, Albuquerque, NM]

Hi Phil--

Something you said in your last nature/culture post really bothers me.  

I do want to tell you that some ways of putting our language together are 
inherently very sexist and I hate them.  So I thought I would tell you--being 
that I am quite convinced that if we can only tell each other what we want, we 
just might be able to figure out how to get through this male/female war.

OK, now to it.  You said:

"......you seem to have consented to my basic thrust."

I don't think I did any such thing.  In the first place, I think we had much 
agreement all along.  This statement strikes me as being a very 
male-sexually-dominating form of communication and I do not like it.  It feels 
as if you believe that you made me agree to something I wasn't at first 
inclined to, and so made this conquest of me.   Moreover the word "thrust" has 
some pretty sexually violent overtones.

I would request that you consider rephrasing this remark in less 
sexist/dominator tones.

Mary.
_________________________________________________________________________
Mary Simmons
U.S. Geological Survey, Water Resources Division  
Albuquerque, New Mexico 
(505)262-5332
[EMAIL PROTECTED]