Romney's dodge on equal pay.

[Autumnlicious]

One common thing to note is that hatred other women gave Marissa Meyers when she told them to "be confident" and not phrase things weakly like "I kinda think if...".

Misogynist: A man who hates women as much as women hate one another. H. L. Mencken

Despite the usual implication that quotes attributed to long dead men being a lazy way of pushing an idea, I find a remarkable grain of truth to that.

Meeting some of the Davidson scholars, the top youth of the USA who've excelled in their fields of study (all while being between 11-17 years old), I was astounded at how similar the male and female scholars were in their response.

They were direct, clear and earnest. Nary a difference in social dynamics between either gender.

I also was unable to eavesdrop into what I normally observe as "female communications" (where they cluster and usually talk about things that are stereotypical).

Nope, they were more akin to a team that had never met but respected each other deeply.

Contrast that with the outreach events I've been part of -- it is night and day.

Between the young scholars, there is an egalitarianism that I felt the rest of academia could learn from.

Women who've attended outreach events seem to have a divide between the ones who are direct and deal with men well, and the ones who seem either terrified, censoring or unconfident.

It was most disheartening to see that.

It's bad enough most people hire out of simple delusions of liking someone instead of who could do the job best, all while relying on a "feral" (read demanding and obvious) sense of "can you do it?"

Lacking confidence makes the easy difference between "Yeah, I think she/he can do it" and "No, they're totally weak and unable to do it."