Transsexuality and sex-differences

In my quest to understand the biological reasons for the difference of the sexes, and in an attempt to isolate them from the possible sociological influences, I am most amazed about the wealth of information retrieved by studies on transsexuals (TS). (you may be surprised to learn that some feminists want to forbid TS to perform sex reassignments [6]).Especially female to male TS receiving testosterone are of interest in my mind. However, two of the most interesting cases are male to female transitions which were not carried out of free will though.

In short, one was David Reimer, who was raised as a girl after an OP went wrong when he was an infant due to which he lost his penis. He reported always feeling like a boy identifying with boys’ games and actions more than with females. He decided to live as a man when he grew to be an adult, but tragically took his own life shortly after.

The other is a more recent but similar example of an individual who in accordance to the authors (Susan J. Bradley, Gillian D. Oliver et al 1998)[1] is a success story. She seems to accept her reassignment and dresses female. However, the interesting bits for me were less the choice of clothing but rather the report of tomb-boyish behavior and a sexual interest in females (though she had an earlier experience with men she changed interest- I personally can totally understand that ).

These examples are so precious because the individuals were too young to be subjected to any substantive amount of socialization. Yet, they exhibit clear signs of behaving not as “mainstream” or “orderly” females as one might expect. Now one might correctly state that two individuals are hardly enough to make a clear cut scientific case of it. However, I find it startling that the only two examples we have so far are not at all success stories if the question is whether sexual orientation is heritable for instance. Or if aggressive behavior has something to do with the exposure of the brain with testosterone before birth.

Personally I found it intriguing that both individuals had jobs that would be associated to be “typical male” blue collar jobs.

In this context I found an incredibly interesting blog by an adult female to male TS. Read his blog to learn how testosterone can also alter behavior in adults. From decreased patience over possible changes in faculties like language abilities (though not in the case describe in the blog) to a heightened sexual desire and even altered sexual interests… [2, 3]

Examples like these underscore how difficult it is for psychologists and sociologists to attribute all sex differences to differences in education and social exposure. But to be fair, hardly any reasonable person does that anymore. However the question remains: what is unavoidable in terms of differences?

This question is important, because the differences in faculties like mathematical abilities, or verbal abilities for instance might- and in my mind certainly do- influence for example which hobbies we are drawn to, what our world view is like and ultimately what choices we make in life including job choices.

Eagerly to achieve what I would call numerical equality some want to go to extreme lengths like introducing quota at universities to achieve an equal distribution of male and female in all subjects. The underlying assumption being that for example men are drawn to engineering due to the way they brought up.

Certainly in some cases society has had an influence on the choice of subjects depending on gender. At karolinska institutet where I performed my phd studies the number of females studying medicine was by far lower than that of the males in the 70s. in the mid to end 80s the picture changed and today 60% of future doctors are female. Then again, in the 70s the total number of females at universities was lower anyway…

Not so, however in subjects like engineering. Numbers are almost as if they were cut in stone and unalterable. Might there be biological reasons to it in this case?

The strongest sex difference is indeed the logical and especial the spatial abilities. Amazingly this can even be found in animals like rats and mice. Why wouldn’t it influence a young man in his career choice if he notices that he is good in mathematics and technical thinking? Why would not something that we are good at have a greater satisfactory value for us than something we have to force ourselves to do in order to improve at it?

However, we have to be cautious with the differences in abilities. Again and again the mainstream media does prove to be quite a bad advisor when it comes to negotiate the scientific findings regarding this topic. Frequently they report differences based on pre-mature findings or speculation alone.

One of my favorite examples is the claim of female “multitasking abilities”. Who has not at one point heard someone claim that women are better at multitasking? (I even remember a commercial for female hygiene products claiming this as fact- don’t ask me what that has to do with menstruation, but anyway…). Yet I was unable to find any evidence. There are studies supporting the assumption that there are no differences, or if, then only in the way the male and female brain performs the multi tasking, not in the overall outcome (for more see my webpage’s “myths” section).

When looking at mathematical differences it is very important what we are looking at. What tasks were subjects asked to perform and in which age group. There might be an age difference (with increasing age males seem to outperform women in logic and mathematics). Yet, girls get the better results in school. Interestingly it seems that there is no difference in mathematics when we merely mean “calculations” of mostly practical problems.

However, when looking at more complex mathematics and university studies it is clear that men perform better. And yet, when motivated and encouraged girls are able to acquire similar capabilities as their male college peers.

What am I saying here? So it is in the end a matter of socialization? When women are paid special attention it seems to equalize for “sociological discrimination”?

Not quite. Many studies have shown that practice can equalize for sex differences in abilities. Other studies also have shown that girls are not as interested in mathematics, despite attempts to motivate them. But also, many studies show that already as toddlers’ girls and boys have varying abilities and interests, that seems to deepen and intensify with age.

I do think that we are born with a difference in interests. Our brains are flexible though and we can be trained when forced to acquire all kinds of abilities and faculties. The question I would raise is: does equality require that we force people to do anything? Do we need to pressure boys and girls into egalitarian behavior? Does feminism ultimately require us to restrict individual freedom? A freedom that would allow us to live as ever we desire (may this desire stem from biological or sociological influences)?

I think I have been sufficiently suggestive in my way of asking for you to figure out what my answer is going to be…

Finally, just in case you think I am exaggerating, here are my recent favorites of feminists suggesting to interfere with individual choices and freedom:

PEOPLE SHOULD NOT THINK:
Reason and logic are patriarchal. (Nye 1990); Logic is a weapon of oppression. (Nye in PK:152). These are ideas of anti patriarchal feminists. [4]

PEOPLE SHOULD NOT MARRY
Every marriage is a replication of the basic unit of patriarchy. [5]

In the interest of this blog: TRANSSEXUALS SHOULD BE OUTCASTED
I disagree with the fundamental tenets of the transgender movement, and I think it is doing damage to the feminist movement. [6]

And on a humorous note: this one (in Swedish sorry) is not so much a problem as it is just hilariously stupid; men should lactate their babies! [7]

Conclusion:

Freedom to the people. Let people choose. Not on the basis of a feministic ideology that claims to know what equality is and what people need, but on the basis of how people feel they want to live their lives’. Only if we really turn blind for what sex someone has who chooses to study engineering to stick with the example, will we achieve equality. In my mind; if we force quotas upon people and restrict their freedom of choice we put more emphasize on sex and gender than can be in the interest of equality. Was the idea of feminism not from the start to become “blind” to the notion of sex? I feel recent developments achieve the opposite…

[1] Susan J. Bradley, Gillian D. Oliver et al 1998
[2] http://www.symposion.com/ijt/ijtvo05no03_02.htm
[3] http://www.cauldronfarm.com/writing/feminist.html
[4] http://facstaff.uww.edu/shiblesw/humorbook/h9fem.html
[5] http://blog.iblamethepatriarchy.com/2007/06/13/the-post-on-marriage/
[6] http://questioningtransgender.org/lagusta.html
[7] http://www.alltombarn.se/du_och_barnet/man-nu-ar-det-din-tur-att-amma-1.6025

Star alliance’s f***ed up service

Well, forget it. there is no service with star alliance or spanair. the matter of the fact is, that if you have an entirely new suitcase and they obviously destroy it, you have no right for compensation.

Yes, that is true, they take no responsibility whatsoever for your lugage! However, seat rows are tight on the star alliance flights anyhow, and it is not comfortable exceeding anything longer than 120 min. So, take Iberia. Much better service and not all tha much more expensive!

UPDATE

After writing to staralliance they promised toforward my inquiry what had happened with my complaint to spanair. no response! I am now waiting for a response for a month, but they dont seem to think that they should at least inform their customer what they intend to do. So now I went to spanair at the airport, when i was there anyhow. they said I would have to be patient for 2 month at least. interesting!

They also gave me a number to call. I did, a message from a machine explained that you would have to go to the webpage and find the contact form… interesting… SPANAIR service really is something….something shitty! to be continued…

 

update: they got what they wanted: I gave up… good strategy, SPANAIR….

Spanish bureaucracy, part 1, – settling in

Now after roughly a month in Spain I have learned something about bureaucracy. If you are a German, Irish or Swedish you may think you know about bureaucracy- you certainly think you do, don’t you- but believe me, you have not the faintest clue unless you have experienced a five hour queue outside in front of a police station just to learn afterwards, you did not have to queue at all. But when you asked the gigantic police man at the entrance you were denied entry and harshly asked to wait outside in the cold, with the 5 hundred or so other foreigners, who seek to apply for a Spanish social secutity number.

Now the thing was that I had already applied in Sweden. It seems this possibility is not commonly known to the Spanish officials, hence the 5 (five) hours of standing outside, just to hear what I knew beforehand when I finally arrived at the desk, hungry, thirsty and angry: “No you are wrong here, try upstairs…”, and by the way: why did I wait again (5 hours, did I mention it?).

Well, in order to understand the situation I should mention that it is not because I am a foreigner, that I have been treated with ignorance. Fair is fair, and also my spanish friends were all successless in their attempt ot convince the big-mac-police-man at the door that I did NOT have to wait.

Anyhow. Now I got this social security number and I was sure that my worst experience with Spanish bureaucracy was over. But I could not have guessed that the ministry of finances with its division to take tax from me was a worse nightmare alltogether. One huge difference however, they do not make you stand and wait, they prefer to send you aroud their mother-f*** huge building, pick a number ticket for wiating from a machine to be told that you at the wrong counter again. So off to another floor, another waiting line and another wrong- again- counter.

At least no-one speaks english. So a typical foreigner as me is tempted to blame it all on the language problem. Right? Wrong! When guarded and guided by a spanish experienced and native-bureaucracy fighter you do not get things faster. In fact, as my boss noted probably correctly, in that situation I even lose the little bit of compashion bonus and the little bit of motivation the staff might have to help out of a feeling of pity for me, standing there with my big brown eyes, looking all confused and scared (which is a fasade; my real feelings are of course anger and suicidal-bomber tendancies- they know why they have scanners like they have at the airport at all of these buildings!).

Anyhow. After queuing at the right counter the lady stamed on the paper and said that we had to go to get a signature somewhere else, but that it was not going to be processed within the next 2 weeks. One must understand that without this from being processed I would not have been able to get my salary in any straight forward fashion. But o our way to get the signature this lady breathlessly cought up with us, ripped that form out of our hands and explained (in Spanish of course) that she had maken a mistake. Instead of form 481 she thought we had form 482 (which is the form she is responsible for). So this dragon-like lady turned into a pussy cat and guided us to the right counter where we did not even have to take a queing number.

Now just the signature, and off we go: “the man who is responsible for signing form 482 is not in house at the moment, and wont’t be in anymore today.” It was around 13:00, just for the record. Now even my boss who had accompanied me got a bit uneasy. But even her persistence did not help us. We would be able to get a stamp, but not the signature. Nobody else in house (I would estamte a total of 2000 employees) was authorised to sign the form.

But, lucky for us, we could already get form 118 signed, which we needed for the employer (my university). Form 118 was already printed by my university and I had filled in all details. All I needed I thought- was the authorized person who had the stamp to stamp it and – with a bit of luck- even the guy who possessed authority to sign the damn thing. When we got to the desk after walking another 15 minutes, searching the right place an then waiting another 30 minutes for our turn (which we almost missed, because the ladies who were responsible for our inquiry left for lunch, and we almost did not notice that our number suddenly appeared somewhere else almost out of our vision) we learned that it was not form 118 my employer needed (even in contrast to what my employer obviously believed and wanted) but 056. And I would not get anything else than 056 either. At least I got that, and on the way back both my both and I had to stop over for a lunch-beer to calm our nerves. Anyhow, now the worst was over, right?

We went to the university where I planed to sign my work-contract. Well, unfortunately the person who would be able to sign the damn thing had gone for lunch, and again, no one else was allowed to sign it. In fact, they did not even have the access to the computer system to sign the damn thing. We had to wait for him to come back. To my amazement I learned that he was authorised to print and sign, but before signature someone else had to stamp the contract. Luck has it that the lady with the stamp was not sick, not out for lunch nor on maternity leave, but in the office and willing to do her duty! I was employed from that moment!

I just needed that signature from the tax-office, which I went to get after a couple of days. By now they had completely forgotten about me again (even thought they had said: “do not call us, we call you, when we are done”). Anyhow, I eventually played my puppy-charm on the female staff and got what I need. The form, stamped and signed, that is.

I was amased that this time I did not even need a copy of my passport and pass-fotos. That is the key to everything you do in Spanish bureucraca, I have learned now: you want to buy this loaf of bread? Sure, please sign this form here and here; now we need to get 6 pictures of you and a copy of your passport, and your Spanish social security number. You got all that? Great! Now, let me go to the back and see if I find the baker. I got to get his stamp and signature, then the bread is yours.

Do I sound bitter? Not at all! When I went to the FOREIGNERS OFFICE yesterday, to register as a student in order to learn some Spanish (I still hold the naive believe actually speaking the language is more usefull than puppy charm) I lived another chapter of Spanish office humor. No one in the “foreigner’s office” spoke anything but Spanish. And that is the place where you enroll to…you guessed right…to renroll to learn Spanish. And- correct- the forms (with one exception) are in Spanish. Now they charge you 430 Euros (discount price- originally 500) for a 2 month course. I better know Spanish after that, else they will get to know some German-anger!

I was stupid enough to belive that I just needed to enroll by filling out the forms and handing over the money. Well, let me say it like this: I forgot the 6 passport fotos and that you of course can not pay there, but only at a branch of the university’s bank. At the bank you can not pay with credit card of course. Only cash. Of course- what was I thinking this is only a BANK!

Alright. Now I am not going to tell you about the fact that I tried to get money from an ATM with my Swedish bank card, and that they booked of my money without ever giving me the cash (my bank investigates). I also won’t tell you about the fact that my Spanish bank was supposed to transfer money to my swedish bank, but that money never arrived (my bank investigates).

Fortunately for you the plane I am on lands now…

Spanish bureacracy, part 3, -Banking the first

Spain has more in store for me, when it comes to difficulties with offices and institutions and companies it seems. The past few weeks were full of experiences of miscommunication or mostly no communication – and frustration.

My bank gets this month price FOR BEING A HUMOROUS COMPANION!

The were asked by me to transfer money from Spain to Sweden asap. Well, after a week I asked why the money was not there. Normally it would take 4 days, they said, but I should give it a few more days.

After 2 weeks I asked again, and the pleasant individual that is assigned to “handle” me promised to take care of it.

After 3 weeks I asked once more, hinting that I really needed the money in Sweden NOW, because my account there was in depth. She was surprised that nothing had happened, since she had written an email. She thought that should have fixed it. But she promised to write another one- just in case .

After 4 weeks I got a bit tiered of the situation and thought maybe it would be a good idea to take 2 of my beloved colleagues with me, since my “personal bank assistant” speaks no English. Well, she does not have to. That is OK, we are in Spain, and I should know Spanish. Fair is fair.

But what we discovered in the process of this communication borders to a bad joke. A candid camera stunt and has no justification in any country ireespective of the language!

She had send the form for the transfer, but had noticed that a number seemed to be missing. Not sure what that meant she decided not to do anything about it for the moment.

When I had asked her it seems she did not remember that fact. Well, the thing was, there was nothing missing at all, but she had problems reading it. Now you may think that she would have asked me to clarify the numbers to her, especially when I told her the first, or second or third time that the money was not there.

Well, to cut it short, it took 2 native Spanish and almost one hour to solve the problem. A lot of excited argument and tears (not really, but i felt like crying of dispair at times). Now I have money on my Swedish account and a free credit card for two years. Thanks to my Spanish friends!

Another SUCCESS STORY is the one where I try to get an internet connection.

It has taken me 4 days to get a step closer to getting a connection now. Well, we will see. For the moment all I have accomplished to do is to find someone that speaks “kinda” english.

I have visited 3 shops of the BRITISH company Orange who want to sell you internet connections in Spain. That was after Tele2 had told me (in Spanish) that they do not cover my area. After giving them a lot of shit for not answering in English, they “kinda” responded it english. Telling me that they do not cover my area. Well. Now I know that in two languages at least.

I want an internet connection and am willing to go for the most expensive offer. I would, if they would let me. The first thing I tried after Tele2 was an orange shop. No English.

So i called the “hotline”. No english there either. Because I thought that we had some kind of misunderstanding I called again to get another operator. But she said (in Spanish- that much I understand) that she speaks nothing but Spanish, and hung up!

I tried again, same story. This time however she did not even bother to wish me a “nice day”, in Spanish or any language.

So, back to another shop. No luck there. But the girl there was not dum. She knew her internet and so she quickly had an internet-translator at hand. This simple device helped us to “kinda” communicate. And she wrote down a name of a place where they should talk English at Orange.

When I got there after an hour they were closed for lunch (yes, they do in fact close 3 hours for lunch like in Germany in the 60s of in Sweden; well, never I guess).- Do I already sound bitter? No, wait, it gets just better!

At least I yelled through the closed door that I needed someone to talk english, just to figure out if it was worth making the long trip once more, when their break was over. But noone of the 3 people inside understood me (thought I must admit they did not ignore me- they just DID NOT understand).

Well, off to the biggest supermarket/ mall place in Madrid. To my delight they had Orange devices. But noone to talk a language I speak. The lady behind the counter must have smelled my bad tmeper at this point, because she reacted cold.

Maybe it was the tone of my voice, maybe my sweatty appearance, maybe my insane expression or maybe the fact that I yelled at her: “do you speak ENGLISH, GERMAN or SWEDISH or SOMETHING other than SPANISH?”.

However, a younger assistant helped me out. Explaining that they just sell routers, no contracts. Well, at least someone to talk to. I could not resist asking her how come that she was capable of English communication. She explained that she was just working extra there, she was studying to become an….English teacher! Ahhhh! If you meet someone to speak english in Spain, it might be an English teacher! Or a foreigner….

I tried two more companies, and the second (a daughter company of the german telekom) had one guy who “kinda” spoke english. Enough to get something rollin’ I hope.

Then I also wrote a mail to “the phonehouse” reading something like: “ I am just trying to get an INTERNET CONNECTION!!! If I wont find anyone who speaks English within a day I will kill every last motherfucking one of you…”. Then a voice from the “off” called me “honey-bunny” and I heared the name “Yolanda”. No idea what all that was about…

However, a very nice voice working for “phonehouse” answered. Appologised for her bad English. She had lived in England for more than a year, but would have to build up her vocabulary again, after a while of not speaking… “It’s the best English I heard in this good-damn-country-of-non-English-speakers”, or sometihng along these eloyuent lines must have come out of my filthy mouth I guess.

So now, we will se who is faster, Orange or the German-telekom-daughter…

Maybe I do get internet in the end?

I doubt it!

Dont get me wrong, I would learn Spanish. But when I went to my course I had to learn that everyone had already had had a course and a half before and that it was so intense that you should better not attempt to sleep, eat or work while you are doing the course. Well, I am actually interested in all three things, and therefore my attempt to learn Spanish can not be accomplished with this course. Anyhow, something must happen. You are lost here without the language!

To be continued….

UPDATE

Now it is several days later and no one has called me. Not 48 hours after I talked to people from 2 different companies neither have they written a mail, or fax as they promised…

Spanish bureaucracy, part 2

Here we go again… this time trying to get health care.

Though I have been here for a while and I have a residence and a social security number and I pay tax and I have a fixed job I have no right for healthcare. Officially that is. Of course I might get treatment (the so called “second way”; more about that later) but I do not have the necessary document to show that I am entitled.

But, since there is no automatism for these things in Spain it seems I have to go to a healthcare office and get a paper to show that I am entitled to get healthcare. In principle. In order to get that I have to have a paper with my social security number and time and patience.

After an hour or so I get to the desk. Turns out the paper they gave me at the entrance was the wrong one and they need entirely different info from me. But once the lady behind the counter has ripped the paper that took me hours to fill in (trying to translate the Spanish form with a “lilliput” dictionary takes time). She gives me a paper and luckz for me, a girl being served at another counter speaks some English. She explains that I need to got to another place (close to where I live) and show this paper in order to get a card that allows me to get treatment.

When I inquire where that place is, they write down another address in the same street and send me there (why not call them for me? I don’t know…). So, I wait there for 30 min. and then get the info where my personal place for healthcare is. So I go there, wait an hour or so and then again struggle in order to convince them that I should get this strange card and treatment. But they convince me that I am wrong and that I am supposed to have another paper first. This paper shows that I really live where I claim to live and I get it at the city council, which naturally is again somewhere totally different in town.

What was funny was that the lady (who was very kind I must note) called someone who speaks english. But instead of handing me the phone she wrote down on a paper what the other person said, hung up and then showed me the paper. Have you ever seen the way a Spaniard writes English if he or she does not actually speak English? It looks entertaining I can tell you… anyhow…

I went to the council place and waited 2 hours. When it was my turn of course I could not explain what I wanted but the lady seemed to guess what my aim was. But to my terror she told me that the contract, signed by the guy who rents the place, the other person who lives there with me and me is not sufficient to proofe that I live there. She would need the signature of the other person living there and a copy of her passport. Copy of passport is a big thing in Spain. As big as stamps and especially stamps with signature!

So, 3 days, more than 3 hours waiting time. Some 2 hours running and driving around, but no card yet.

In the end I went to my doctor (who speaks English which almost made me propose to him. Strange how you get when you are desperate!) and got treatment and drugs. I asked him how come that I get all that with my Swedish card, because usually they ask for papers (in the bureaucratic germany for example). But he explained that he was not in the mood to fill in papers. We would do it the “2nd way”. “The second way?”, I wondered. “Yes”, he explained, “there is the bureaucratic official way, which is the primary way to do things. But you should always ask for the second way. That is the unbureaucratic way. And if you are lucky and the other person has a good day, then you just forget about cards and papers and get what you need. Always at least try way number two”, he suggested.

Now I really wanted to marry him…

I still have no card- but now I know about the “alternative” way at least…

Spanish internet banking

Has it really take the world’s population more than 15 years to realize that there is
A) global warming, and
B) it is home-made (with a 90% chance)
???

Seems so, and yet, some do not really want to realize it just quite yet, e.g. the oil-lobby: http://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/natur/0,1518,463887,00.html

The attempt to deny that observed climate changes are with a great likelihood the result of human activity ressembles the following situation; imagine a patient is being told by his physician that his health is in jeopardy if he chooses to continue smoking.

The doctor says that with a 90% chance he will suffer a lethal stroke if he does not give up tobacco. The patient replies: “so what you are saying is that there is a fair chance that my dire condition is temporary and will reverse by itselfe with a chance of 10%? So why would I stop smoking then? I rather wait and see what happens!”.

Incredible….unbelievable!

I remember when I roamed the wilderness of Tasmania about 12 years or so ago. Sitting in a cabin with open fire but no TiVo, we exchangeg thoughts and stories. And I was astonished by the reaction of my traveller friends, when I began exploring their ideas on global warming. They had none! Here we were as close to nature as one might want to be, and yet my nature-loving new friends had not really much believe in this effect (if it then existet) being human-made. For that reason they seemed to have ignored the issue mostly.

After pointing out what I considered compelling evidence at the time, they were converted to my believe, and I hoped to send my disciples into the world to spread the warning words…

After coming back to urban life, I was enrolled for studies of ecology, for the reason that I felt the urge to do something. However, things developed differently. And instead of preaching to the world about the closing in of Armageddon, I now manipulate genetic material of cells in order to learn more about a species that is close to its extinction; the human race.

I am glad however that I never went into ecology. My nerves would not have stood against the pressure of human stupidity; or shall I rather (and gentlier) call it the ignorance of the human race?

Ignorance is bliss. Hence, I decided join the masses and to let the topic rest. I felt better that way. Yet, it did not stop me from getting rid of my car back and using planes instead (accidently, what can you do , and pursuing all the little (maybe useless) attempts to conserve energy and water- our two biggest problems, I reckon.

Nevertheless, now, more than 10 years down the road the whole topic grabbed me once more and I watched Al Gore’s “an inconvenient truth”. Great! Just really spot on! Watch it….while you still can.

Feminism is dead

I do not like the term “feminism”. What does feminism even stand for? Sure if you check a dictionary you may find that feminism is defined as activity to achieve equality. However, terms and expressions change all the time and a new generation in Sweden and Germany (two countries I am rather familiar with) has turned their back on “feminism”. Young women in Sweden and women more generally in Germany do not claim themselves to be feminists. Even though it goes without saying that they are pro-equality.

What has happened?

Personally I believe two mayor things happened.

1) The media, well renowned for their liking of extremes (that gives viewers as we all know) seems to be keen on showing feminists that take extreme stand points. Extreme not really in a fundamentalist-feminist approach but in the ears of the other 98% of the population. Hence these feminists with their proposals alienate the moderate type who has no problem with societies’ values per se, but just with the values that endanger equality.

2) Modern feminism has lost its edge. This is of course the reason why the media picks up extremists’ views of feminism. Modern feminism has so little left to achieve as compared to where feminism started off that it is hard to communicate the importance of it to young women. As a result feminists easily appear to be nagging about seemingly minor issues- a turn off to most young women and certainly young men.

I should give some example for the above statements. I will do so by looking at examples from Sweden, a nation that is considered the most feministic by some and the one with highest degree of equality by many.

Regarding claim 1) there has been a TV documentary [1] (produced by a female) in Sweden that exemplified feminist extremism. In this documentary Evin Rubar interviews the head of the Swedish organization “ROKS”, Ireen von Wachenfeldt. ROKS stands for “organization watching out for women and girls”. Their service is to offer females in trouble (e.g. victims of violence) a place to stay.

Evin points to a magazine that ROKS publishes. She quotes a line in there that says: “to call a men an animal means to flatter him. He is a machine, a walking dildo, a emotional parasite”. Evin wants to know if this is something Ireen would agree on. After attempts of evading the question Ireen, talking about male violence, sex in commercials and a few other things she eventually admits: “Men are animals…don’t you think? Don’t you think?”. It seemed Evin did not. But she got what she needed for a documentary that moved the nation (for more reasons than this one statement of course that I will describe in later blogs I hope).

Well, to say the least it gets pretty difficult to persuade men to think that feminism is a movement striving for equality after such interviews. The feeling I got watching Ireen was that she does not really like men too much. As a speaker and head of a feministic organization she gives me the feeling that this (and maybe other?) feminist organizations are not for men- unless as a man you want to be considered and fit the role of an animal.

But this statement also appalled women. This is one important reason why feminism as ideology is losing ground, I believe.

I mentioned above that it is also the agenda or proposals that feminists raise that can lead to confusion, mildly speaking.

I want to stick to another example from Sweden. While Sweden is considered very well on the way then it comes to equality Sweden’s former “minister for issues of equality” and deputy prime-minister Margareta Winberg claimed in a statement published in 2005 [2] that the increased equality has led to an increase in male violence against women.

This is first of all an interesting hypothesis. However, Margareta’s mistake was to mention numbers that were far off. She claimed that 40% of all Swedish women had become victims, while only 11% of Spanish women had been victims of male violence. Interestingly, the official Swedish numbers state that three percent of women in Sweden have been victims of male violence. Should a former minister for equality questions not be informed better?

The 40% figure comes from an assay by a very controversial feminist academic in Sweden by the name Eva Lundgren. Of course afterwards Margareta Winberg claimed that she was quoted out of context.

However that may be, it leaves a bitter taste of anti-male propaganda in ones mouth and does not do justice or help the women that tragically have been victims of male violence either.

A final example shall be a woman called Gudrun Schyman. Gudrun is one of Swedens most popular feminists and has been tremendously influential in the feministic movement [3].

Gudrun has been an alcoholic during a period of her political career. She has claimed that her former husband Lars Westman was violent towards her and beat her. A claim that Lars rejected strongly and has never been further substantiated by Gudrun. Some suggested that she just needed and wanted publicity for this issue of male violence and she got it that way.

However, she has received attention for her request that all men in Sweden should pay a special “batter”-tax to compensate for the fact that some men are violent towards women. Another example, to alienate the more than 97% of men that have never committed such a crime, nor ever intend to do so, from “feminism”.

Gudrun is said to have taken part in an erotic movie and has written an erotic novel (I don’t know why I mention this- isn’t it a nice factoid?). But in 2003 she announced her intention to “no longer be a torch in the behind of the patriarchy”. Followed by her latest achievement which was to leave the leftists party (where she was having a very successful career, and had been the leader of the party when it was still called “leftist party of communists”) in order to found a feminist party called “Feministisk Initiativ” (short: FI, “feminists initiative”) [4].

It is interesting to note that Gudrun had to resign as leader of the leftist party when it became public that she had employed a private housekeeper illegally, abused federal funding of taxi rides for private purposes and been drunk when appearing in her role as politician in public frequently.

She left saying repeatedly that she had no intention to start a new party. A couple of month later FI was founded. FI had a lot of struggle in the beginning but was impressive in public polls. In some polls 20-30% of people said they could imagine to vote for her new party.

In the beginning however basically all moderate voices were expelled by being bullied out of the party [6]. One of the recent proposals of FI was that children should be able to be given the names of the respective other gender (Fredrik can be a girl and Linda can be a boy- actually even funny I think- not everybody in Sweden thought so).

Furthermore, that the possibility to marry should be terminated (instead a general “relationship” definition should be introduced- I would be ok with that too, but most Swedes were alienated). Also the state’s politics regarding accommodation should be altered to foremost adapt to the needs of women (now there is my personal limit. I would also like to be able to rent accommodation). And so forth…

In total, FI’s ideas did not just alienate men but women alike. It did not help that they had some good ideas, like same wages for same work irrespective of gender (which all parties have as a basis in Sweden anyhow). From great ratings in the beginning FI is almost insignificant politically now. No surprise there and a confirmation that people do not want extremism or proposals that are rather irrelevant to their personal lives but equality.

This bring s us to my second point:

Feminism has lost its edge. I belive this is the reason FI and other feminist organizations go to such length when defining their policies. Women have reached a point in many western societies where they have equal opportunities at least in theory, i.e. by law. The problem is that there are differences in wages and possibilities to achieve higher positions in some institutions and companies. And there are issues with private child care, household tasks etc. but that is for later blog.

However, in this regard it is interesting to see that it largely depends on how you do your stats if the difference in wages is large at all. The numbers used sometimes resemble Margareta Winberg’s claims of 40% of women being victims of male violence; they are far off.

Often it is claimed that differences are such that womens’ wages are around 70% of the wages paid to men. The office for statistics in Sweden admits that such calculations are difficult and based on what and how you want to compare. A recent study in Germany came to the conclusion that women do not earn less than men, when taking position, total time of work experience (time taken off for child care is one “problem” in this respect), education, etc into account.

In Sweden the numbers for the public sector are that women earn 96-98% the wages of men. The private sector offers women 91-94% the wages of men in 2006 [7]. Interestingly, these numbers have roughly been the same since 1996 (before there are no exact statistics for all sectors). This is a far distance from an outrageous 70% of females’ wages of that of men. Nevertheless these made up numbers never seem to die out in private nor some public discussions in Sweden.

It is true that there are still fewer women in higher positions, but the reasons for that are multiple and too complex as that I would like to discuss them right now (in a later blog though- relax). Just that: they are rising and they will continue to do so. Quotas, as they are discussed in Sweden (i.e. to force companies to have 50% women on their boards and in high positions) are not necessarily always in everybody’s interest.

In some situations (just think about engineering) you will simply not find sufficient numbers of highly qualified women without discriminating seriously against men. However, this discrimination is called “positive discrimination” in Sweden. So now feminism did not only define men as animals but some discrimination as positive?

Do we really want and need to force 50% of all nurses to have to be male? And do we want 50% of all kindergarten caretakers to be male? And do we need 50% of all bus drivers to be female? Do we need 50% everywhere, absolutely EVERYWHERE? Really?

The assumption here is that women and men have exactly the same interests and faculties. I will certainly blog about this misconception later on. For now I just like to say: no, it is not only because we are socialized in a certain manor that we have varying interest and faculties. And that should be fine. Another reason why feminism is not accepted as ideology any more is that its assumptions contradict some of peoples’ fundamental life experiences. But as I said: that is for a later blog.

Concluding: feminism is on a downward spiral, alienating people from its ever more extreme propositions. I propose to call the striving for equality “humanism”. Or what would you propose? Let me know! For me almost anything might be better than the tainted term “feminism”.

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[1] http://www.svd.se/nyheter/inrikes/artikel_425393.svd
[2] http://www.thelocal.se/article.php?ID=1691&print=true
[3] http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gudrun_Schyman
[4] http://susning.nu/Gudrun_Schyman
[5] http://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/article242511.ab
[6] http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feministiskt_initiativ
[7] http://www.scb.se/templates/tableOrChart____149083.asp

Freedom from religion

Warren Jeffs, a religios nutcase, has been charged with rape. He likes to have multiple women and encourages or even enforces multiple marriages of others and preaches against internet, TV and other sources of information (1).

At the same time in Sweden, 50% of all Swedes think that veils in school might be forbidden and almost 70% of all Swedes believe that there is no way to integrate “certain” groups of immigrants into Swedish society (2).

Interestingly, the American Atheists reported this week online, that Sweden is the most secularised nation on the face of the earth (3), Heja Sverige!!

In the discussion going on on the Swedish website that reported the survey, someone points to freedom of religion in order to say that we must accept veils in schools and other public places.

But where to draw the line?

Freedom of religion; does it allow nut-Jeff to have as many women as he pleases? Or does it allow parents to keep their children from life-saving medical treatment for religious reasons (Jehovah’s Witnesses).

I think not. And I do not think that religious people should have any MORE rights than the not religious thinking individuals.

When the concept of freedom of religion was developed it has been done so in the spirit of tolerance and acceptance. Sadly, nowadays it is the religious fundametalists from Bin Ladin to George Bush Jr. who put this planet in a painfull position.

It is time for the atheists to stand up and put an end to the insanity. Religious groups have proven to all of us that they cannot contain the fundamentalism amongst their followers. As we would do with any political group we have to restrict their rights, in individual cases even withdraw the acceptance as a religious organisation.

In which case they lose their rights to execute whatever crazy behaviour they want to have protected under a religious umbrella.

Meanwhile we do not have to accept intrusion into our secular freedom. We do not have to accept people to take freedom for religion in public spaces. Prayers, dress codes and religious symbols belong into the private spheres, not public.

Religion must become a private pastime. Religion can be as annoying and at times as dangerous to ones health as passive smoking- which now starts to be the reason for smoking to be outlawed.

We had it – and we demand our freedom now. Our freedom is the freedom from religion. We have a right for that in the 21st century.

Let’s make the world a secular and enlightened place- finally!

PS. check nice links to atheist/bright/humanists on my webpage

(1) http://www.dn.se/DNet/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=148&a=697046
(2) http://www.dn.se/DNet/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=147&a=697122
(3) www.atheists.org/