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[firecat]

http://twistedphysics.typepad.com/cocktail_party_physics/2011/07/is-it-cold-in-here.html

There's a phrase for what Linda Henneberg is experiencing: it's called a "chilly climate," and it describes not just overt sexism or sexual harassment -- which most people agree are unacceptable, at least in theory -- but the myriad unconscious diminishing behaviors that seem to proliferate in any male-dominated environment, whether it be a classroom, a boardroom, an Internet chat room, World of Warcraft, or an international physics laboratory.

A world without chilly climates feels profoundly worth working toward.

Comments

[wild_irises]

Another useful word here is "microaggressions," as promoted by Derald Wing Sue, an interesting anti-racism author, most of whose books are academic. Here's the tumblr page: http://microaggressions.com/

Of course, "chilly climates" and microaggressions apply to many more situations than sexism.

[firecat]

Thanks! I put a couple other links about microaggressions here.