I'm tired of the articles on HN telling me what to do.
Stop Telling Women To Do Startups
41–50 of 205 posts
Re: Stop Telling Women To Do Startups
#42I love Penelope Trunk and her political incorrectness. Her advice may always be controversial, but she's never afraid to speak her mind. And she's right too about women. Their natural imperative is to raise children and nurture them - not to do startups. Most also want the social companionship from friends/family as they raise children (which is missing today as most people don't live near extended family), but they…
> [Women's] natural imperative is to raise children and nurture them This is the 21st century. Are we really still talking about "natural imperatives"? If nothing else, note that women are having fewer and fewer children, later and later - clearly, they are feeling this "natural imperative" less and less. Traditional gender roles are unfair to women wanting to have a career, unfair to men who want to stay home with t…
There are also women who have been hurt by the feminist way of life. They just want to be submissive, raise a family and let their man take care of everything difficult and challenging. But other women are shaming them into having an active career and delaying the starting of family.
I don't support any dogmatic approach into shaming people doing anything. People should have accurate information without distortion and lies. They should have different options presented them in a pro/con fashion. They should be able to be themselves without feeling bad about it. Only shaped by harsh reality and their own interests, not by the opinions and preconceived notions of other people.
Re: Stop Telling Women To Do Startups
#43Very few women are actually stay-at-home moms, and it is only even an option for a narrow proportion of women married to upper-middle-class and rich men.
The women who are choosing not to do start ups aren't choosing not to in order to stay at home or work part-time. They are choosing to continue working for other people, never trying out their ideas. We are all poorer for it.
Additionally, of course, plenty of people argue that more men should take on a greater share of household tasks and primary responsibility for raising children. Men even just taking the paternity leave to which they are already legally entitled could do great things for gender equality in the work place.
Re: Stop Telling Women To Do Startups
#44There are many women, myself included, who have directly benefited from the message that I could (if not, should ) do a startup. I was previously on an academic treadmill. It was more or less assumed that if you were capable, you wanted to be a professor. It took awhile before I could really see the pros/cons of tying my research to that particular structure. I think a lot of women -- highly competent women -- are st…
None of what you say is specific to women. As a former academic, I was told that a startup is a legitimate career path precisely once (in a grad student seminar, by Stephen Wolfram). Plenty of men are stuck in the same treadmills you describe, and there are many complaints that the grad school and finance treadmills also have too few women. I don't think Trunk is asserting that encouraging women to do startups "co-op…
Though having children makes people less happy than they would otherwise be, so if that's the criteria... ;-)
Re: Stop Telling Women To Do Startups
#45There are many women, myself included, who have directly benefited from the message that I could (if not, should ) do a startup. I was previously on an academic treadmill. It was more or less assumed that if you were capable, you wanted to be a professor. It took awhile before I could really see the pros/cons of tying my research to that particular structure. I think a lot of women -- highly competent women -- are st…
None of what you say is specific to women. As a former academic, I was told that a startup is a legitimate career path precisely once (in a grad student seminar, by Stephen Wolfram). Plenty of men are stuck in the same treadmills you describe, and there are many complaints that the grad school and finance treadmills also have too few women. I don't think Trunk is asserting that encouraging women to do startups "co-op…
Because she think women are more happy by marrying and having kids. She is happier that way so she assume all women are the same.
Re: Stop Telling Women To Do Startups
#46I love Penelope Trunk and her political incorrectness. Her advice may always be controversial, but she's never afraid to speak her mind. And she's right too about women. Their natural imperative is to raise children and nurture them - not to do startups. Most also want the social companionship from friends/family as they raise children (which is missing today as most people don't live near extended family), but they…
Their natural imperative is to raise children and nurture them - not to do startups. [citation needed] There is no evidence that women naturally want to only raise children. And the implication that a woman who doesn't want spend all their life at home is a 'unnatural' woman, and there is something wrong with her, is a terribly, false, harmful meme to spread. I find this comment offensive, since it spreads a meme tha…
This is why we can't discuss sensitive subjects like this. People always take an innocent comment, which seems to be borne out by observational evidence at the very least, and then twist it to mean something entirely different.
>There is no evidence that women naturally want to only raise children.
Do you see what you did there? You (perhaps unconsciously) inserted "only" in the parent's statement, completely changing its meaning. Then you attack your modified statement as being sexist. Furthermore, nothing in OPs statement implied there was something wrong with a woman who chose differently.
Discussions on subjects like these would be much more productive if we could just take statements at face value without assuming all kinds of implied sexism.
Re: Stop Telling Women To Do Startups
#47I am some what torn about this; it seems akin to "stop telling women to do math."
I think it's a matter of semantics; no one (at least in these pro-woman-startup posts) is telling particular women that they need to do a start up. They are encouraging women to go into a male-dominated field.
I strongly believe that evolutionary biology sas on-average gifted men and women with different types of strengths; and while cultural idiosyncrasies have exasperated the 'problem' of a dearth of women in engineering, etc; there is also the issue of playing to our natural strengths and preferences.
So, of course women (and men) should do whatever the hell they want; and be encouraged in that regard, and, discouraged from falling into stereotypes.
Re: Stop Telling Women To Do Startups
#48I love Penelope Trunk and her political incorrectness. Her advice may always be controversial, but she's never afraid to speak her mind. And she's right too about women. Their natural imperative is to raise children and nurture them - not to do startups. Most also want the social companionship from friends/family as they raise children (which is missing today as most people don't live near extended family), but they…
"natural imperatives" also say that people are attracted to the opposite sex. So what do we do with all those pesky gays? Probably encourage them to go to church more. Certainly, any kind of "if you think you might be gay , that's OK, be gay !" is just encouragement against "natural imperatives" - we should "Stop" doing that !
Downvoted for projecting opinions on to parent that are completely unwarranted. Pointing out what seem to be tendencies that a majority hold does not imply there is anything "wrong" with those who deviate from the norm, nor does it imply any attempt at "fixing" the deviation.
Re: Stop Telling Women To Do Startups
#49I love Penelope Trunk and her political incorrectness. Her advice may always be controversial, but she's never afraid to speak her mind. And she's right too about women. Their natural imperative is to raise children and nurture them - not to do startups. Most also want the social companionship from friends/family as they raise children (which is missing today as most people don't live near extended family), but they…
> [Women's] natural imperative is to raise children and nurture them This is the 21st century. Are we really still talking about "natural imperatives"? If nothing else, note that women are having fewer and fewer children, later and later - clearly, they are feeling this "natural imperative" less and less. Traditional gender roles are unfair to women wanting to have a career, unfair to men who want to stay home with t…
> This is the 21st century. Are we really still talking about "natural imperatives"?
People (and in particular their brains) have not evolved significantly for a very very long time.
A lot of modern unhappiness is caused by people doing things which they are socially expected to do but which go against their primal urges.
The feminist movement is perhaps the classic demonstration of this. Many women feel that they should go and get that high-powered job etc. due to social pressure, but I think many of them would be happier if they didn't.
This problem isn't limited to women, of course. Men also feel social pressures to behave in more cooperative and less ambitious/aggressive ways and this causes issues for them too.
Re: Stop Telling Women To Do Startups
#50I love Penelope Trunk and her political incorrectness. Her advice may always be controversial, but she's never afraid to speak her mind. And she's right too about women. Their natural imperative is to raise children and nurture them - not to do startups. Most also want the social companionship from friends/family as they raise children (which is missing today as most people don't live near extended family), but they…
> [Women's] natural imperative is to raise children and nurture them This is the 21st century. Are we really still talking about "natural imperatives"? If nothing else, note that women are having fewer and fewer children, later and later - clearly, they are feeling this "natural imperative" less and less. Traditional gender roles are unfair to women wanting to have a career, unfair to men who want to stay home with t…
It's not a "traditional gender role", it's biology.
>If nothing else, note that women are having fewer and fewer children, later and later - clearly, they are feeling this "natural imperative" less and less.
On the other hand, maybe they are being misinformed and thus unwittingly making choices they later come to regret:
http://www.npr.org/2011/12/01/142725547/many-women-underesti...