“Did you hear they sent a bunch of ladies up in space?” one said to the other.
It sent me.
I’ve never heard men say “they sent a bunch of dudes…” when it’s all men. It’s so obvious to me that they see men as the default; everything is something men do, and sometimes “ladies” do it.
I know I can’t say anything. There are clever quips but none of them will change their minds. I just become the loud feminist and have given them more ammunition to talk about how women are emotional (“this woman went OFF at me on the airport when I was just trying to talk about how interesting it was that we sent women to space”)
Will it always be like this? Why would they change if no one ever shows them another perspective?
Comments
What bothers me about it is that I am being bombarded with “news” headlines about Katie Perry going to space, leaving out all other context. It’s being undermined and sold as “look what this silly famous woman is doing now. I bet she’ll write a little song about it.”