Thursday, October 29, 2015

Ufology and Misogyny

Male-dominated ufology's general view of women

Every now and then someone writes a well-meaning blog post or article about the problems with ufology, and how to fix them. Virtually none of those articles mention the misogyny that permeates ufology, and which represents one of the biggest and most pernicious problems with the ufological subculture. Nowhere has that been on display more fully than in the coverage of the Emma Woods story over the past several years. If you want to see it in full force, check out some of the comments at the Paracast forum thread discussing the latest appearance by David Jacobs on that program. It should act as an eye-opener for anyone who hasn't been paying attention.

Paul Kimball

7 comments:

Regan Lee said...

Paul, I appreciate your comments. Too few people in UFO Land -- men and women alike -- make note of this obvious fact. (Linked to my blog.)

Terry the Censor said...

> Misogny

Misogyny

Paul Kimball said...

Thanks Terry. I got it right in the post, but dropped the second "y" in the title. Correction made. That's what I get for making a post on my I-pad mini as opposed to my computer! :-)

PK

Paul Kimball said...

Hi Regan,

It's not a charge I would level casually, but I've seen enough of it within ufology over the years, at all levels, to know that it's a systemic problem with deep roots.

Paul

Paul Kimball said...

"When a man gives his opinion, he's a man. When a woman gives her opinion, she's a bitch.” ― Bette Davis

Dia Sobin (Araqinta) said...

Oh, you are so right, Paul... so much so that I'm almost amazed to find this post here. Thanks for a pleasant surprise!

Sadly, misogyny is rampant across the (circuit) board... and the older one gets the more apparent it becomes... and the more oppressive. As a woman, of course, my opinion on this subject has no impact... but, perhaps, the same words coming from a man might actually wake up a few slumbering mentalities. The message is simple: what men and women seem to think they know about each other is, generally, wrong.

In the end, we're just people.





Karyn said...

I know several women whose ideas and insights were ignored until they were repeated by someone with, as one woman put it, a penis and a lab coat. This has happened to me personally several times.