After having read the article about “gallerinas” (that I got so angry about here), I talked to a couple of female friends about how the article described the role of women: Smart is good, but looks are more important. Even though my friends live on different continents - one in the US, one in Europe, they both basically wrote the same thing, namely (paraphrased) “We’ll, we women are quite used to be being treated like that.” For me, that’s unacceptable; even though one could point out that it’s easy for me to say that since I’m a man, and I don’t have to deal with it. But then sexism - just like racism - can (in fact: should) be offensive also for people who are not subjected to it. In any case, on her blog, Cara Phillips (the American friend I had talked to) just published a long discussion of this general topic - a very recommended read!

Update (6 April): Check out this follow-up post!