Generalizations. I fear tackling a subject so large because I have so many conflicting thoughts, but turning my head & looking the other way doesn’t help either. Strangely, the topic arose because of James Watson’s racist comments – his generalizations about Africans. I was sharing with a friend how disheartening I felt it was to have a respected intellectual such as Dr. Watson speak out of his prejudice (this is my own assessment after looking into what he said, suggesting he would get agreement from anyone who had employed a black person? …suffice it to say that in saying this I don’t think that he was addressing a biological difference in aptitudes for tests measuring intelligence, said tests having a known racial and sex bias.) I was upset that he would make such a statement without noting potential bias of the methods used for these measurements. As a scientist, and as a respected intellectual, I fear his prejudice could be more easily disguised as truth, making this prejudice seem to me to be even more virulent than that held by, for example, a KKK member or a stereotypically closed-minded redneck.

(Ah, but even there I have put forward more examples of generalizations.)

Without digressing or taking tempting tangents, and without jumping ahead, I told my friend it reminded me of ye ol’ Larry Summers. Remember him? (Former?) President of Harvard University who unleashed his own opinions or conjectures regarding reasons as to why there are less women at higher levels in science and math careers.

I said this as a woman. I said this as a lover of calculus. I said this as a scientist. I said this as me, because all of these are who I am.

My friend, similarly lacking in Y chromosomes, agreed. With Larry.

What?!?!

She says that I’m an exception, and also that I am exceptional. She wanted me to have a better understanding of ‘average’ and of ‘people in general’ and that they are different from me. This is where I start to unravel. This is where, I start to think, in general? Generalizations suck.