Washington Post columnist Petula Dvorak, the latest example of the evil patriarchy trying to oppress women in the workplace comes in the form of air conditioning, yes air conditioning.
After talking to female office workers in downtown Washington, Dvorak comes to the conclusion that cool AC temperatures represent, “the gender divide, thermostat edition.”
SInce women tend to wear less clothes in summer, they are more likely to complain about feeling cold at work. Dvorak talks to a number of ladies who express their displeasure about being “freezing” in the office.
“Everything is set at 70 degrees for those testosterone-toting people,” one woman told Dvorak, explaining “how frustrating it is to put on a pretty summer outfit and then get hit with that blast of cold.”
Meanwhile, all of the men who spoke to Dvorak said they were comfortable with the temperature. Dvorak also blames men for the AC setting in a female-centric office.
“That’s right, my friends. Air conditioning is another big, sexist plot,” writes Dvorak, whose solution is to turn the temperature up and make men wear shorts.
“Does anyone else find it ironic that feminists are accusing men of secretly stacking the deck against women in order to get them to… put on more clothes?” asks Steven Crowder. “Wouldn’t it be more reasonable to assume that men would more likely crank up the heat to get women to strip down? First step: set thermostat to 91 degrees. Second step: pitch “Casual Bra and Panty Friday.”
“What’s interesting is that Dvorak acknowledges that women are able to wear lighter clothing in the summertime, while men continue to wear suits year round,” notes Cassy Fiano. “Gosh, it’s almost as if the people wearing heavier clothing might be warmer than the women in linen dresses would be! Obviously, this must be a tool of the evil patriarchy!”
People often ask me why I don’t just ignore these kind of stories and concentrate on bigger issues. The problem is that this rhetoric is no longer confined to radical leftists with tumblr blogs – it’s being parroted by major news outlets. These articles get hundreds of thousands of Facebook shares and in some cases are read by millions of people.
Last week we covered two equally insane examples – the man who allows his wife (with whom he has two children) to sleep with other men because he’s a feminist, and another man who feels guilty and embarrassed about enjoying BBQs because they reinforce traditional gender roles and are inherently misogynistic.
What we are seeing is the mainstreaming of lunacy. If this kind of warped thinking is not consistently challenged, it will eventually be accepted as the norm.
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