Theos-Talk Archives (December 1996 Message tl00546)

Tom Robertson wrote:
>
> At 12:25 AM 12/21/96 +0000, Bart Lidofsky <bartl@sprynet.com> wrote:
>
> >Tom Robertson wrote:
>
> >> If women have it so much worse than men do, why do they live longer?  Or is
> >> it sexist to believe that the expected longevity of men and women is
> different?
>
> >       As long as you don't believe that, if a woman dies at age 25, then all
> >men who reach that birthday must be put to death.
> >
> >       Bart Lidofsky
>
> This statement was a challenge to figure out, but, since I have plenty of
> free time, I thought I would give it a try.  I'm still not sure I have done
> so correctly.

	It is sexist to take a statistical correlation by gender without
knowing the cause, and insisting on applying it across the board to all
cases, as in, statistics say that women live longer than men, therefore
if any man lives longer than any woman, it is unnatural, therefore any
man who outlives any woman should be put to death.

	Or, if some statistical studies say women are more submissive than men,
then men should dominate women.

	Or, if some statistical studies say that men concentrate more on logic
and women concentrate more on emotion, then women should not be in
positions of authority.

	In several of your inital message(s) to this newsgroup, you took the
standpoint (remember, it was you who stated we should not try to read
between the lines) that a few unsubstantiated statistical correlations
should govern how all women and all men are treated. You expressed
surprise with the level of hostility with which those concepts were
greeted. I was attempting to use an example that even you would find
ridiculous to point out the initial illogic.

	Bart Lidofsky