Well all right then. Perfect. The American Astronomical Society issued a statement Wednesday (but dated it yesterday Thursday) on the matter of The Shirt.
I hope Richard Dawkins reads it attentively.
I hope Ayaan Hirsi Ali reads it.
I hope Christina Hoff Sommers reads it.
I hope Steven Pinker reads it. [link goes to Michael Shermer quoting Pinker at a talk]
I hope Russell Blackford reads it.
I hope all the sneerers and minimizers and harassers and attackers read it.
I don’t think anybody considers the American Astronomical Society an organization of “pompous idiots” (Dawkins) or “idiot women” (Hirsi Ali).
The following statement was issued on 19 November 2014 by the Executive Committee of the American Astronomical Society on behalf of the AAS Council:
The past few days have seen extensive international discussion of an incident (known online as #shirtstorm or #shirtgate) in which a participant in a European Space Agency media conference wore a shirt with sexualized images of gun-toting women and made an unfortunate remark comparing the featured spacecraft to a woman. Viewers responded critically to these inappropriate statements, especially jarring in such a highly visible setting (one in which very few women appeared), and the scientist apologized sincerely. But in the meantime, unacceptable abuse has been directed toward the critics, from criticism of “over-active feminism” to personal insults and more dire threats.
We wish to express our support for members of the community who rightly brought this issue to the fore, and we condemn the unreasonable attacks they experienced as a result, which caused deep distress in our community. We do appreciate the scientist’s sincere and unqualified apology.
They’re talking to you, Richard Dawkins, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Christina Hoff Sommers, Russell Blackford. They condemn your unreasonable attacks on people who objected to the shirt and the unfortunate remark.
The AAS has a clear anti-harassment policy, which prohibits “verbal comments or physical actions of a sexual nature” and “a display of sexually suggestive objects or pictures.” Had the offending images appeared and comments been made under the auspices of the AAS, they would be in clear violation of our policy.
We also note the important sentiments that preface the policy:
As a professional society, the AAS must provide an environment that encourages the free expression and exchange of scientific ideas. In pursuit of that environment, the AAS is committed to the philosophy of equality of opportunity and treatment for all members, regardless of gender, gender identity or expression, race, color, national or ethnic origin, religion or religious belief, age, marital status, sexual orientation, disabilities, veteran status, or any other reason not related to scientific merit. All functions of the Society must be conducted in a professional atmosphere in which all participants are treated with courtesy and respect…
That’s not too much to ask. That’s not unreasonable or irrational. It’s not “witch hunting.” It’s just a reasonable personnel policy, intended to make it possible for people to work together productively and amicably, people of many different kinds, without invidious treatment as different or there for consumption by the top group.
The AAS Council reaffirms the importance of the Society’s anti-harassment policy to our mission to enhance and share humanity’s scientific understanding of the universe. Only when all astronomers feel welcome and supported in the profession can our discipline realize its full potential for excellence.
Apparently Dawkins and Hirsi Ali and Sommers and Blackford oppose that policy.
Why do they?
H/t PZ
I’d be very much interested in their response to that question.
The layers of wrongness in the Sommers et al. position remind me of Radio Yerevan jokes.
“Is it correct that Matt Taylor has been the persecuted victim of a witch-hunt?” “In principle….”
Kevin – I tweeted it at Sommers in reply to one of hers hassling Phil Plait. Now for the others.
I’ll admit that Pinker has been in my Never To Be Taken Seriously Again file for some years now. But it’s always good to know what Michael Shermer thinks about any matter involving the relations between genders, so that one may hie the fuck in the opposite direction.
[I think the paragraph beginning “The AAS Council reaffirms” should be blockquoted.]
Oops, thanks Blake.
Ophelia, that was Michael Shermer’s tweet that you attributed to Steven Pinker. Did he retweet it?
Shermer was already on my Twitter list of Atheist Horses’ Asses (because if I called them anything stronger than that, they’d all sue me for libel), of course.
I don’t know about STEM or Academia, but every employer I’ve worked for (mostly white collar office stuff) either had an explicit policy (and training) about sex harassment that would have clearly identified #TheShirt as a no-no, or had an unwritten rule about professionalism, representing the company etc. One of the solar companies I used to work for did an event with Jerry Brown while he was running for election in ’08, and there was going to be alot of press there. I can tell you that even in a fairly lax environment (we were a small-mid size company and still in start-up stages) our representative would have never considered wearing such a shirt to such an event because doing so would have been in poor taste and would have garnered negative attention to the company. It’s just such basic common-sense, especially in any business that gets press coverage.
Hell, I’ve worked places where just to be safe when public eyes would be looking at us, they bought us all matching shirts we were required to wear that day.
My company has such a strict dress code that when a couple of years ago my department wanted to have a “luau in February” party we had to get permission from the VP HR to wear Hawaiian shirts and other tropical clothing.
Re the Hirsi Ali comments: um…..I’m kinda pretty mostly definitely sure that a very large component of the “feminist” reaction to the shirt was exactly in pursuit of girls being able to get an education. If support for educating girls and women is legitimate feminism, AEI-approved feminism, then shirtgate is exactly that sort of feminism. Also known as common sense. Taylor was sending a very dismissive (if not outright hostile) message to girls worldwide, girls who might pursue educational opportunities, and women who might pursue professional opportunities. And people responded with a well-deserved “hey dude, that was shitty”. I mean, the motivation underlying the backlash against his shirt was EXACTLY in support of educational opportunities for girls and women. She’s an asshole.
Jake @ 6 – it’s Shermer’s tweet about something Pinker said at a talk (he cited The Shirt as an example of a moral panic).
I edited the post to say that.
anbheal – yup – but the official Sommers Line is that that’s Victim Feminism, and that women are tough enough to deal with things like shirts.
Which is a line of thinking that just makes me want to projectile vomit.
If I’ve learned anything, it’s that as a man I can get away with whining, pouting, and throwing temper tantrums.
So if any of that projectile vomit hits me…. 😉
The plan is coming to fruition. Through our evil entry-ism, we’ve stacked the AAS with militant feminazis who’ll churn out missives that support the reduction of Great Men of Science to crying, whining, shrill, baby girls. Emasculation is the feminazi way. Next, pro-football! Onward valiant feminazis and adjunct manginas! Muahahaha!
To be honest, I can no longer even remember the name of the comet.
Decker @16
It appears that Decker is confused about someone being sex-positive and someone being sexist.
Sex-positive feminism is the idea that sexual freedom is an essential component of women’s freedom. As such, sex-positive feminists oppose legal or social efforts to control sexual activities between consenting adults, whether these efforts are initiated by the government, other feminists, opponents of feminism, or any other institution. They embrace sexual minority groups, endorsing the value of coalition-building with members of groups targeted by sex-negativity.
Sexism is discrimination against people due to their perceived gender. Far and away, women experience the most blatant forms of sexism, the most outright of which is pure misogyny. While not legally barred from any particular position in the western world, women face extreme discrimination in political office, upper management in corporations, academia and STEM fields. Objectification of women, like wearing a shirt displaying scantily-clad women, is one way that sexism discriminates against women.
This has been another lesson in Feminism 101, a free service for the education of oblivious trolls.
Oh no, Decker, not you too?!
If feminism is allowed to continue, you’ll soon find yourself so distracted from what’s really important that you won’t even remember how to walk and chew gum at the same time!
@ Decker:
Wow, I never realized how powerful the international feminist conspiracy must be, if it’s caused you to forget the existence of internet search engines, too!
Wait a minute… it’s Gugle? Googel? Or is it Yoohoo!
Decker – what the hell? Don’t post random quoted passages without saying where they’re from or what your point is. And don’t keep posting drive-by random turds, either; I just told you that the other day.