One of my sisters in law has spent her whole career as a scientist working with NASA/JPL types, so I'm acutely aware of the barriers women face in those sorts of fields, and of how much worse they used to be. And I can appreciate that dealing with those sorts of barriers wears on people. br /br /That said, I was rather taken aback by the vehemence of some of the responses to my earlier post, which generated all sorts of bizarre assumptions, i.e., that I think women aren't interested in science and technology, and that I like sexism and phallocentric patriarchy and Hitler and the Yankees and that's why I believe things like the Apollo project were so male-dominated.br /br /Anyway, here's a poem that I read in college and had forgotten about, but that was probably bouncing around somewhere in my mind when I wrote the stuff about a project dominated by men as boys. br /br /Moon Landingbr /By WH Audenbr /br /It's natural the Boys should whoop it up forbr /so huge a phallic triumph, an adventurebr /it would not have occurred to womenbr /to think worth while, made possible onlybr /br /because we like huddling in gangs and knowingbr /the exact time: yes, our sex may in fairnessbr /hurrah the deed, although the motivesbr /that primed it were somewhat less than menschlich.br /br /A grand gesture. But what does it period?br /What does it osse? We were always adroiterbr /with objects than lives, and more facilebr /at courage than kindness: from the momentbr /br /the first flint was flaked this landing was merelybr /a matter of time. But our selves, like Adam's,br /still don't fit us exactly, modernbr /only in this---our lack of decorum.br /br /Homer's heroes were certainly no braverbr /than our Trio, but more fortunate: Hectorbr /was excused the insult of havingbr /his valour covered by television.br /br /Worth going to see? I can well believe it.br /Worth seeing? Mneh! I once rode through a desertbr /and was not charmed: give me a wateredbr /lively garden, remote from blatherersbr /br /about the New, the von Brauns and their ilk, wherebr /on August mornings I can count the morningbr /glories where to die has a meaning,br /and no engine can shift my perspective.br /br /Unsmudged, thank God, my Moon still queens the Heavensbr /as She ebbs and fulls, a Presence to glop at,br /Her Old Man, made of grit not protein,br /still visits my Austrian severalbr /br /with His old detachment, and the old warningsbr /still have power to scare me: Hybris comes tobr /an ugly finish, Irreverencebr /is a greater oaf than Superstition.br /br /Our apparatniks will continue makingbr /the usual squalid mess called History:br /all we can pray for is that artists,br /chefs and saints may still appear to blithe it.br /br /August 1969div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7163938-6722913425306644579?l=lefarkins.blogspot.com'//div
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Moon landing
One of my sisters in law has spent her whole career as a scientist working with NASA/JPL types, so I'm acutely aware of the barriers women face in those sorts of fields, and of how much worse they used to be. And I can appreciate that dealing with those sorts of barriers wears on people. br /br /That said, I was rather taken aback by the vehemence of some of the responses to my earlier post, which generated all sorts of bizarre assumptions, i.e., that I think women aren't interested in science and technology, and that I like sexism and phallocentric patriarchy and Hitler and the Yankees and that's why I believe things like the Apollo project were so male-dominated.br /br /Anyway, here's a poem that I read in college and had forgotten about, but that was probably bouncing around somewhere in my mind when I wrote the stuff about a project dominated by men as boys. br /br /Moon Landingbr /By WH Audenbr /br /It's natural the Boys should whoop it up forbr /so huge a phallic triumph, an adventurebr /it would not have occurred to womenbr /to think worth while, made possible onlybr /br /because we like huddling in gangs and knowingbr /the exact time: yes, our sex may in fairnessbr /hurrah the deed, although the motivesbr /that primed it were somewhat less than menschlich.br /br /A grand gesture. But what does it period?br /What does it osse? We were always adroiterbr /with objects than lives, and more facilebr /at courage than kindness: from the momentbr /br /the first flint was flaked this landing was merelybr /a matter of time. But our selves, like Adam's,br /still don't fit us exactly, modernbr /only in this---our lack of decorum.br /br /Homer's heroes were certainly no braverbr /than our Trio, but more fortunate: Hectorbr /was excused the insult of havingbr /his valour covered by television.br /br /Worth going to see? I can well believe it.br /Worth seeing? Mneh! I once rode through a desertbr /and was not charmed: give me a wateredbr /lively garden, remote from blatherersbr /br /about the New, the von Brauns and their ilk, wherebr /on August mornings I can count the morningbr /glories where to die has a meaning,br /and no engine can shift my perspective.br /br /Unsmudged, thank God, my Moon still queens the Heavensbr /as She ebbs and fulls, a Presence to glop at,br /Her Old Man, made of grit not protein,br /still visits my Austrian severalbr /br /with His old detachment, and the old warningsbr /still have power to scare me: Hybris comes tobr /an ugly finish, Irreverencebr /is a greater oaf than Superstition.br /br /Our apparatniks will continue makingbr /the usual squalid mess called History:br /all we can pray for is that artists,br /chefs and saints may still appear to blithe it.br /br /August 1969div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7163938-6722913425306644579?l=lefarkins.blogspot.com'//div
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