When woman was taken from man, man started doing and saying stupid things!

And the man said: “Let me tell you about my trouble with girls … three things happen when they are in the lab … You fall in love with them, they fall in love with you and when you criticise them, they cry.”

And then the man said: "I am sorry for what I said, but I did mean what I said.”

A male European scientist = see my previous blogs about having this triple baggage! QED.

Some other men said things like: “He’s a bit nutty for sure but he is a brilliant scientist, so it’s okay and let’s just continue as before.”

The factual information:

The first remark was made by Tim Hunt, an English biochemist who has previously admitted that he has a reputation for being a ‘chauvinist’. He uttered his now infamous words at the World Conference of Science Journalists in Seoul, South Korea. The second follow-up remark came in a BBC interview.

He had to resign from his honorary post as professor at UCL. UCL said: “UCL was the first university in England to admit women students on equal terms to men, and the university believes that this outcome (resignation) is compatible with our commitment to gender equality.”

The other remark (what other men said) is what you get from a male dominated profession where women are seen and treated as inferiors, where gender equality is just window dressing, and where the only way for women to succeed is by behaving like men – remember the former chief scientific advisor!

There is no place in science, engineering, technology or mathematics for male chauvinists – no matter how brilliant. Nor is there any place for anyone who thinks this can just be passed over and excused because the person concerned is brilliant. Such people also need to resign. So why are there so many such people willing to say stupid things? Is the answer 'because they are men or women behaving like men?'

And now for a jest! Or is it?

“Slipped back the lab this evening. Forgot to bring home the makeup! Saw male colleagues hanging from the light fittings. The head of the lab – the big silverback – the alpha male – was standing on the bench slapping his chest and roaring, asserting his authority over his kingdom. When they caught sight of me, there was a certain eroticism in the air, but the silver back made clear that I was his. I made a hasty retreat.

“What’s that? I am being sexist you say. Now you’re criticising me and hurting my feeling. I think I am going to cry.

“Okay, I apologise, but I did mean what I said. So if it’s okay for the brilliant silverback it’s okay for me. Right?

“What’s that Robert? When you decided to connect ICT and Art, it was to bring artists’ creativity into the ICT programme.

“But this is creativity Robert!

“You mean I am not allowed to apply my creativity to show just how masculine ICT is because it is shaped by male values. I am not allowed to make visible the silent narratives relating to the technocentric, technocratic, positivist beliefs on which the ICT programme is founded, and I must not highlight its technological determinism. I should not question your Enlightenment notions of progress. And certainly I must not question your appropriation of art to the Ideology of Creativity.

“Oh Robert, you are criticising me. My female brain is telling me to cry.

“This is Julia signing off. Kisses to all the guys who want to fall in love with me, but sorry, it won’t work out …”

Julia – enigmatic, unknowable, inexpressible, indefinable, and very unlike some men in DG CONNECT! But it does not mean that you are not nice people – don’t be so binary. 

Being a man is not a disease or a disability – it’s a culture. And a highly inappropriate one! It's a culture that means my children will not have a future worth having, and as a mother this concerns me and motivates me to act against you. That’s another aspect of having a female brain! You men should not take the criticism so personally. Try crying instead of being so petty minded and vindictive!

Julia xxx

PS I’ll be back!