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by tomp 3898 days ago
If it's not intentionally sexist, it's not sexist at all. Sexism is discrimination because of someone's sex. Any other claim of sexism is irrelevant and a classic statistical error, the Simpson's paradox. It's as silly as saying that doctors are sexist because they prescribe more contraception pills to women than men.

> Often times when you think you know what they are going to say, you are wrong, putting words in their mouth.

Yes, sometimes, but in average the effect is positive (i.e. the communication is more efficient).

1 comments

Sexism has to be intentional? You're redefining the word simply so you never have to deal with it. It doesn't even jibe with your own definition ("Sexism is discrimination because of someone's sex."). People do many things unconsciously, and systems push people toward certain actions without engaging the conscious consent of those involved (a fancy way of saying we humans often take the easy path rather than the thoughtful path).

You can certainly be an asshole without being intentional about it :) Try and argue that's not possible!

Right, "intentional" was not the correct word. What I mean is that sex has to be the primary motivator/discriminator of the action (whether the motivation is conscious/intentional or subconscious), not just a statistical artifact, as in your example with interrupting people and women tolerating that more.