| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3] | Poll: A Project Manager is a man who thinks that 9 women will deliver his baby in 1 month. Do you agree? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
|
|---|
Ty Kendall 
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:11
Hebrew to English
| On sexism... | Feb 29, 2016 |
Apparently this odd analogy comes from Brooks' law:
3.Limited divisibility of tasks. Adding more people to a highly divisible task such as reaping a field by hand decreases the overall task duration (up to the point where additional workers get in each others way). Some tasks are less divisible; Brooks points out that while it takes one woman nine months to make one baby, "nine women can'... See more Apparently this odd analogy comes from Brooks' law:
3.Limited divisibility of tasks. Adding more people to a highly divisible task such as reaping a field by hand decreases the overall task duration (up to the point where additional workers get in each others way). Some tasks are less divisible; Brooks points out that while it takes one woman nine months to make one baby, "nine women can't make a baby in one month".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooks’_law
...which makes perfect sense when you read it like that, but the way it's been manhandled (no pun intended) into the poll question is weird.
Why not just "a project manager is someone who thinks that 9 women can deliver a baby in 1 month". If there's sexism in the question, it's the automatic assumption that the project manager is a man, which is at odds with my experience, pretty much 95% of the project managers I interact with are all female, someone glancing at my email account and seeing all those female names might mistake me for a gigolo...or serial philanderer.
[Edited at 2016-02-29 07:17 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Balasubramaniam L.
India
Local time: 19:41
Member (2006)
English to Hindi
+ ...
SITE LOCALIZER | The poll refers not to women PMs, but women translators | Feb 29, 2016 |
Ty Kendall wrote: Apparently this odd analogy comes from Brooks' law: 3.Limited divisibility of tasks. Adding more people to a highly divisible task such as reaping a field by hand decreases the overall task duration (up to the point where additional workers get in each others way). Some tasks are less divisible; Brooks points out that while it takes one woman nine months to make one baby, "nine women can't make a baby in one month". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooks’_law ...which makes perfect sense when you read it like that, but the way it's been manhandled (no pun intended) into the poll question is weird. Why not just "a project manager is someone who thinks that 9 women can deliver a baby...". If there's sexism in the question, it's the automatic assumption that the project manager is a man, which is at odds with my experience, pretty much 95% of the project managers I interact with are all female, someone glancing at my email account and seeing all those female names might mistake me for a gigolo...or serial philanderer. [Edited at 2016-02-29 07:16 GMT]
I think you misread the poll wording. It is not the Project Managers who are women, but the translators. And that is why it becomes even more objectionable and sexist. Surely we two are exceptions, among many others, to the implied assumption that all translators are women capable of child-bearing! And the innuendo about the (women) translators (and nine of them!) bearing the Project Manager's child is even more abhorent and vulgar.
[Edited at 2016-02-29 07:29 GMT]
| | | | Ty Kendall
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:11
Hebrew to English
| I didn't misread anything | Feb 29, 2016 |
Balasubramaniam L. wrote:
the implied assumption that all translators are women capable of child-bearing! And the innuendo about the (women) translators (nine of them!) bearing the Project Manager's child is even more abhorent and vulgar.
...but you sure did.
| | | | | I agree with Ty | Feb 29, 2016 |
I too have found that 95% of the PMs I deal with are women (unless they are actually men working under female pseudonyms). Whatever the asker was getting at, it seems safe to say that this is one of the most poorly worded poll questions I've ever seen.
| | |
|
|
|
| Disappointed | Feb 29, 2016 |
I have to say most of the responses to this poll leave me flabbergasted.
To try and work some kind of gender angle into this takes quite some effort.
Leaving aside the sad way the world is now so desperate to be offended by everything, do we really have to compete to see who can be snottiest about poll wording and snootiest about generalisations, constantly rushing to take the moral high ground while also moaning about unimaginative polls?
| | | | | It's not just PMs... | Feb 29, 2016 |
(though PMs are the ones who should be explaining to clients that 9 month-long pregnancies do not equal one healthy and well-formed baby... if the clients will listen.)
I was recently given some episodes of a new, not-yet-broadcast series to subtitle. "Some episodes" as in 2 out of the 6 in each season. And within each episode, I was probably also given about one scene out of three. I completely understand that the production company was worried about leaks - this was their Big New ... See more (though PMs are the ones who should be explaining to clients that 9 month-long pregnancies do not equal one healthy and well-formed baby... if the clients will listen.)
I was recently given some episodes of a new, not-yet-broadcast series to subtitle. "Some episodes" as in 2 out of the 6 in each season. And within each episode, I was probably also given about one scene out of three. I completely understand that the production company was worried about leaks - this was their Big New Series with Big Name Actors - but it absolutely baffled me that they could imagine I or any of the other translators on the project could do anything that would add up to a good, coherent job. So I conscientiously flagged up all the instances when it seemed likely my translation might be less than ideal due to lack of context - and fumed...
Edited to say that I was brought up slightly short by the question, thought about it, realised that it was a clever and funny analogy - and got on with answering the point. Yes, it would have avoided all the heat to say "someone" rather than "a man" - but get over yourselves, folks!
(Signed, a card-carrying feminist)
[Edited at 2016-02-29 15:46 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Ty Kendall
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:11
Hebrew to English
| Not "sexist" | Feb 29, 2016 |
Victoria Britten wrote:
Yes, it would have avoided all the heat to say "someone" rather than "a man" - but get over yourselves, folks!
(Signed, a card-carrying feminist)
[Edited at 2016-02-29 12:17 GMT]
I don't even really think it's sexist (not consciously anyway), but it's certainly *conspicuous* when:
a) most PMs tend to be female (not just in my experience, as I have been made aware)
b) the more "natural" construction (imo) would be the genderless one
In my opinion "a PM is a man who..." is certainly marked (in the linguistic sense) given a) and b) above.
Whether it is "sexist" or not is open to debate, although it's not a debate I'd be altogether interested in.
(Signed a card-carrying anti-fourth wave feminist).
| | | | | Not sexist, just an analogy | Mar 19, 2016 |
Sorry, I'm coming to this discussion a bit late. I think the idea of the analogy is that the man is meant to be the woman's husband ("his baby"), the progenitor of the baby in question, rather than the implication that all PMs are men, or that all translators are women. Perhaps it could have been better worded: "A Project manager is like a man who thinks....".
Also, I don't see this discussion as "snotty" or "snooty" as others have done. After all, we are only doing what comes naturally ... See more Sorry, I'm coming to this discussion a bit late. I think the idea of the analogy is that the man is meant to be the woman's husband ("his baby"), the progenitor of the baby in question, rather than the implication that all PMs are men, or that all translators are women. Perhaps it could have been better worded: "A Project manager is like a man who thinks....".
Also, I don't see this discussion as "snotty" or "snooty" as others have done. After all, we are only doing what comes naturally - analyzing the nuances and shades of meaning in the text. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Pages in topic: < [1 2 3] | To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator: You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request » Poll: A Project Manager is a man who thinks that 9 women will deliver his baby in 1 month. Do you agree? | TM-Town | Manage your TMs and Terms ... and boost your translation business
Are you ready for something fresh in the industry? TM-Town is a unique new site for you -- the freelance translator -- to store, manage and share translation memories (TMs) and glossaries...and potentially meet new clients on the basis of your prior work.
More info » |
| | CafeTran Espresso | You've never met a CAT tool this clever!
Translate faster & easier, using a sophisticated CAT tool built by a translator / developer.
Accept jobs from clients who use Trados, MemoQ, Wordfast & major CAT tools.
Download and start using CafeTran Espresso -- for free
Buy now! » |
|
| | | | X Sign in to your ProZ.com account... | | | | | |
Login to reply/comment 
