Brave or foolish? Man installs air conditioner on high balcony

Steeplejack, ladies’ man, owner of a shed full of archaic machinery powered by a train, all-round flat cap-wearing, jam jar-bespectacled badass. The whole town came out to line the streets for Fred’s funeral.

8 Likes

Yep. His tether line goes through the window above the empty bracket he’s trying to reach.

Of course women can do gutsy things, and if you’d like to coin a descriptive adjective for those gutsy women that expresses admiration for their courage in a jocular way, I’d welcome it.

1 Like

But you’re the one who attributes male bravery to a particularly male biological attribute, not me. Since I don’t see a need for sexual differentiation in terms of bravery, I think “guts” works just fine.

It’s a slangy metaphor.

Do you seriously think that I believe Fred would be a less courageous climber if he’d lost his testicles in a climbing accident??

Do you seriously think I don’t see that it’s a metaphor?

What you’re not seeing, or maybe pretending you don’t see, is that it’s a sexist metaphor.

5 Likes

“Brave or Follish”? My guess is that he’s hot. Besides, can you be hurt if you fall down a bottomless pit? Just be careful of the sides.

It was not hard to draw that conclusion -

1 Like

Okay, if it makes you happy, then go ahead and make the implicit explicit there, by adding the word “metaphorically” after “bravery.”

I sense reluctance on your part to address the actual topic at hand…

Look. All she is doing is pointing out that using this particular metaphor implies that doing risky things is the provenance of people who possess testicles, and that if you don’t wish to imply that over half the population is incapable of such things, maybe choose a different one.

If you’re in the habit of speaking a certain way, it can be a pain in the ass to pay attention to what you’re saying and get rid of some of your pet phrases–and this applies to many issues, not just sexism. I have some language habits I need to work on, myself. But if it makes the world more inclusive, why wouldn’t you want to make the effort?

3 Likes

And the AC unit? How is it being prevented from falling what looks to be a few dozen stories?

Safety third. Lunch second.

1 Like

2 Likes

Big. Brass. Ovaries.

You ladies have more ‘guts’ than us dudes. Literally. :wink:

Please, go on about how other people informed by their experience which you have not shared are ‘irrational’. Do tell the group how that isn’t an attitude based in personal exceptionalism.

1 Like

To be fair, when was the last time a woman’s last words were “Hold My Beer, Watch This”? :wink:

2 Likes

The hint is in the first two words of the sentence you quoted. It is an opinion, not a statement of fact. If you want to have a discussion about a difference of opinion, you’re being pretty rude about it.

1 Like

When someone says “For me you are irrational” I’d like to remind them that they’re couching a harsh judgement in neutral terms. “You appear or sound irrational to me” is a different sentence than “You are irrational if you believe X”. Nobody appears to like it when I reflect that back. I don’t care about that.

Also, that wasn’t @milliefink comment, but the foibles of this system have made it appear so.

Also, my rudeness is “in your opinion”, it is not “in my being”. Does your language reflect that distinction, taking it from the personal to the observational? Will you be responsible for the implication of the unstated latter? :wink:

Please note: I am not telling you who/how/what you are as part of my opinion. There is something about rudeness there, too, if you wish to ponder it.

I’m rude to people who appear rude to me. But I’m not personal about it, just short. Get used to it!

Maybe, but if it were a woman in the video, and someone saying she had “brass balls” (a mythical thing than no man or woman actually CAN possess) how would that conversation go? Honest question.

Weird how the system keeps having you quote other people as me.

Anyway, to answer the question, I’d still object and express a desire for different terminology. “Balls” is something men have. They’re associated with testosterone, something that supposedly gives men bravery. Size is also a stupid canard that’s snarled up with the whole sexist mess. To say that something a woman does shows she has balls is to say she’s as brave as a man, which of course is stupid, because many woman are more brave than many men.

And I don’t like hearing about metaphorical ovaries as some sort of winking substitute either. As I said, “guts” does the job just fine, as in “intestinal fortitude.” Both men and women and can be brave, courageous and so on. I’d rather we leave sex-based metaphors out of it, since they seem to inevitably reproduce a broader patriarchal set of power relations.

2 Likes