Monday, November 19, 2018

Distinctions Vs. Differences

Prepare yourselves: There are some differences among us.

According to Hasbro, 83% of recreational Scrabble players 25 to 54 are female.
Championship Scrabble, however, rewards typically male obsessions: strategy, math, a passion for competition, and a drive to memorize facts. So...males’ excellence at a certain activity itself keeps females out.

The National Geographic Geography Bee shows similar results. Since 1989, boys have won 27 times, girls twice. Nothing prevents or discourages girls from learning the details of an atlas; it's more likely they just don't want to. But the National Geographic Society has already been sued for discriminating against girls based on that winner ratio alone.
A distinction in results implies malice.

More females than males take the SAT test in recent years. For example, in 2015, 903,719 high school girls (53.2% of the total) took the SAT compared to 794,802 boys (46.8% of the total). In that year, the percentage of males .who earned perfect scores of 800 points was 1.4% compared to the percentage of females with perfect scores of 0.62%, which is a male-female ratio of 2.26-to-1.

The obsessive among us may search for explanations, demand balance, sue for equal outcomes. Simpler minds may appreciate differences.




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