Last week in my stats class my professor used “all women are human but not all humans are women” as an example of ecological fallacy.
Now, “all women are human” isn’t a radical statement or even one that can be disputed, and yet some guy felt the need to do just that. The second after “all women are human” came out of my professor’s mouth, the guy in the next row over was compelled to say, “not true.” Not loudly, but with enough conviction that I heard it, and so did my professor a couple rows up at the front of the classroom.
That professor, like a reasonable person, responded with a sort of defeated, “c’mon you know it’s true.” But the guy kept trucking on and said, “not true” again, this time louder. As a whole, the class moved on and we kept learning about ecological fallacies, because what else do you do? Though, I did quietly fume the rest of the class and I haven’t really been able to get his comment out of my head.
Now, I don’t believe that guy was trying to be malicious or mean. I think he truly thought he was going to get a laugh and a few females-are-crazy-am-I-right’s out of the male dominated class. I’m grateful no one laughed and he had to ruminate in his failed joke until he could escape the class, but I’m also kind of disappointed I didn’t get to call him out on what was blatant misogyny.
People in general just cannot get away with jokes or statements like that. Not only did it make me angry, but it also made me slightly uncomfortable. I’ve lived my life with a lot of privilege, and it’s not often I hear that I’m not human. It’s disheartening and slightly scary, no matter what the intention was.
And if he was sure enough in his opinion, that women are crazy or hysterical or out of control or stupid or whatever he was thinking, to say it out loud in a classroom, twice, then what are his actions? What is he like at parties with drunk girls? What does he act like when he’s angry at his girlfriend?
The joking women-are-crazy mindset really does bleed into real life situations. Those kinds of thoughts are insidious. They can be potentially dangerous.
This is the mindset that creates and excuses catcalling. It implies that women are lying when they report a sexual assault, and perpetuates the idea that a politician cannot possibly be president because she’s a woman. This mindset cannot be tolerated anymore.
Jokes are not pulled from nothing. They are reflective of the opinions of the person who make them. That’s why it can’t be brushed off. When jokes perpetuate negative stereotypes and toxic mindsets, we can’t just sit back and ignore them. Laughing at or excusing jokes like these lets people keep problematic opinions or even tells someone that it’s okay to think that way.
It’s important to create the change you see in the world, and not let people get away with the little things. Even by doing something as small as not laughing at their bad joke can do some good.
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