[Novalug] Wanted: advice for high school students interested in IT

[Sarah Elkins]

>  From: Beartooth <karhunhammas at Lserv.com>
>  Subject: Re: [Novalug] Wanted: advice for high school students
>         interested in IT careers
>  To: greg pryzby <greg at pryzby.org>
>  Cc: Novalug <novalug at calypso.tux.org>
>  Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.4.64.0808090719580.7416 at gvgna.yfrei.pbz>
>  Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed
>
>  On Fri, 8 Aug 2008, greg pryzby wrote:
>  > Sausage fest?
>  > I am OFFENDED by the term!
>  > Ok, not really but had I made a similar comment referring to
>  > lots females....

Yes, I agree.

>         At one time, the term "hen party" was used by both sexes
>  as simply routine English, with no offense given nor taken
>  anywhere. But the parallel is not exact. It meant a gathering by
>  choice of females only. Home ec classes in schools, for instance,
>  were strictly female (and shop classes almost as strictly male);
>  but no one would have called one a hen party.

But, "hen party" (or "knitting circle" as I heard a Brit use) isn't
really an equivalent phrase.  An equivalent phrase would use "playful"
slang for female body parts (or at least I think so, but maybe there's
a linguistic double standard operating, too?).  I don't really want to
use the phrases I'm thinking of on this list, and I probably would
have objected if Greg (or anyone) had used them.  I thought about
objecting to the men's party phrase above, too, but I hadn't got my
thoughts/words in order until I saw this note and thought more about
the delineation.  I do get the by-choice distinction you're making
(there also seems to be a social-gathering distinction in your
example), but the reason-for-gathering bit isn't the part that bothers
me.

Regards,

Sarah
http://configures.sarahelkins.org/