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Re: Does being queer and/or TGD contraindicate STEM?

Update: I responded to the original author's comments on this at the end, headed 'Further comment' below.

Replying to: Does being queer and/or TGD contraindicate STEM?

Artsty people typically work both rationally and emotionally. They want to express themselves, and are often more flamboyant - not always in the stereotypical sense, but flamboyant in their own way. Showing off your work is showing off something of yourself.

STEM requires a rational approach, but emotions have no place here. There's no point protesting those universal constants that thwart your desire to shape the world more to your liking! Flamboyance is an option that's not intrinsic to your field.

So, I suggest that people in an inherently flamboyant artsy world will typically be more visible, better expressed, and more active in shaping the rest of the world to their liking (as opposed to measuring the world as it is).

I have known techs who have been openly gay, but not obviously gay - it would only occur to me when, for example, I'd seen them kissing someone at a party. If I'd missed the party, I may never have known. Nobody ever batted an eyelid, even going back decades. I refer here to relatively hardcore tech of ISPs and of game devs, who in my experience have always been a diverse bunch.

My point is that there are likely plenty of queer people who just don't care about the recognition that you ask for them. From a personal perspective, I think I'd feel it absurd if my work, or presence in a field of work, was celebrated for my being whateverosexual.

At the same time, or perhaps on the other hand, those vocal flamboyant types are doing a great job of making diversity more of an accepted norm. Without them, we may never have progressed from Quentin Crisp strutting around London looking fabulous, but taking verbal abuse and the occasional beating.

Further comment

Replying to: Does being queer and/or TGD contraindicate STEM?

The reply expands on the original post, where the clarification seems to describe the need for a broader stereotype for queer/TGD people. Perhaps the extension of stereotypes helps dilute them to the point that they're no longer significant. I hope so, because I don't particularly like stereotypes and taxonomies, they might work well for Victorian butterfly collectors, but they suck for us, because they create illusions of 'otherness'.

However, in the last paragraph, the original author suggests I was trivialising violence against gay people. To be clear, I was not. Perhaps I should have used the more provocative and emotive form of language that's common to the fediverse and beyond.