Re: Just a single Question for the Candidates

[tb@becket.net (Thomas Bushnell, BSG)]

Ben Burton <bab@debian.org> writes:

> people will bully her because she's female.  She simply fears that
> people will bully her (as they bully others, male or female), and her
> claim is that males (by social training or otherwise) are better suited to
> such environments than females are.

I think there's something sexist there--not in you, but in her.  If
there is any truth to the notion that men are better at being bullied,
then I think it is only because men get bullied more and have had to
learn to deal with it.  That's not an excuse for the bullies, but I
don't believe there is an constitutional difference.

Nobody likes being bullied; perhaps Helen reacts to it in such a way
that she needs to avoid any risk of it.  But if so, that's because
she's Helen, and has nothing to do with the fact that she's a woman.

Thomas