Xn
Women can’t have anything just for women.
She doesn’t say where this is, so I tried Google: the only two institutions named are UCL and the University of Washington Bothell – Bothell being a suburb a few miles northeast of Seattle. UW Bothell doesn’t have the status or fame or infrastructure of the UW itself, which is in Seattle. I’m guessing UCL is the more likely culprit, being much less obscure than a suburban branch of a west coast state university. That’s just a guess though.
So let’s get acquainted with UCL Womxn in STEM Society:
KCL Womxn in STEM (WiSTEM) was founded in 2015 by a group of students in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) departments.
We are a network of students, professionals, academics, and researchers who aim to support underrepresented people in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths).
But then why call it Womxn in STEM? That suggests women, not people. Why not call it People in STEXM? Or Underrepresented People in STEM?
The root causes of the gender disparity are diverse and intersectional and require a multifaceted approach to continue to improve the situation in STEM.
The gender disparity? So they do mean women? But then why call it Womxn in STEM and why say it’s for underrepresented people?
Our aims include:
– To support and encourage all intersections of women and non-binary people in STEM to continue their career in academia.
Ah specificity at last – it’s “womxn” because of non-binary people. But why? Why include men who call themselves non-binary? Why take something that was for women, because women are underrepresented, and make it also for men who claim to be “non-binary” – a descriptor that doesn’t mean anything? Why can’t it just be for women? It’s not as if women are a small and trivial group.
And what are intersections of women? Or intersections of women and non-binary people? And why does this group think they need encouragement and support?
– To recognise and raise voices of all women and non-binary people in STEM including people of colour, trans people, people with disabilities, people holding religious beliefs, socioeconomic status, sexuality.
So it’s for everyone. Anyone and everyone can tick at least one of those boxes – everyone for sure has an economic status and probably a sexuality.
– Educating the wider university community about the issues faced by women and non-binary folk in STEM
Just woman and non-binary folk? What about the people who have an economic status? What about the folk who have a sexuality?
Tragically stupid.
Okay, so reading it with a bit of a squint, I THINK what they are going for is the idea that they’re for women (er, womxn, which includes ‘non-binary’ males, apparently), with a particular emphasis on those womxn who are ALSO in one of those other categories (hence, ‘intersectional’). This isn’t a horrible idea, other than the notion of letting men opt-in by declaring themselves NB. Lesbians, WoC, poor women are all even more underrepresented in STEM than the broad category of ‘women’ (ignoring that stupid x for the moment). So an extra push on those fronts means increasing diversity overall.
They just had to wreck it by making sure the Penis Brigade didn’t feel left out.
It’s not horrible, in fact it’s fine, but they really ought to be able to say it clearly.
Well sure, include everybody, let them study, but why exalt, or give special status to gender goblins? Does that have something to do with any STEM curriculum? I don’t see the connection. Are they more entitled? Obviously they want special status, but based on what? In STEM studies? Absurd.
I think the “non-binary” and the “xn” is a nod to women who don’t want to be referred to as women. I’d interpret it as still being for females only.
maddog, that may be so, but the tweet indicates that the males came.
I’m sure some of them did, wearing dresses and lacey underwear in public.
I apologise for hijacking this thread (I’m not sure when the last ‘miscellany’ thread was, but I think it’s been a while–please delete if this is wildly inappropriate, and my apologies), but I have some exciting news for iknklast–‘otter’ is apparently a recognised identity on OKCupid:
https://uploads.ovarit.com/7602f58c-d5dd-5a27-8db2-17bccafa0693.jpg
The last miscellany thread is still going strong here.
I’m not sure our good ecologist wishes to be identified as that kind of otter. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that [etc.])
Céline says this is “A famous uni on the US East Coast…”
https://twitter.com/CelineVivet/status/1566479032711086082