SecondWind comments on November 2014 Media Thread - Less Wrong

3 Post author: ArisKatsaris 01 November 2014 03:42PM

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Comment author: NancyLebovitz 04 November 2014 08:19:18PM 8 points [-]

"Throwing like a girl" is a prime example of that sort of thing. Throwing like a girl turns out to be throwing like someone who's inexperienced with throwing.

If a boy throws like a girl, he's taught and/or shamed out of it as quickly as possible. If a girl throws like a girl, well, what did you expect?

I've phrased this in the present tense, but the culture's improved on the subject.

Comment author: Lumifer 19 November 2014 03:34:10AM 4 points [-]

Now consider a similar-sounding stereotype: "Men are physically stronger than women". Think that's fixable by different expectations?

While some stereotypes reflect cultural expectations, some reflect biological reality.

Comment author: SecondWind 09 June 2015 09:14:48PM 0 points [-]

Strength is determined by biology and behavior; the stereotype reflects both biological reality and cultural expectations. Note that boys are/were expected to be stronger than girls even before puberty actually creates a meaningful biological gap...