Women can't play chess
"Because I am a woman, I must make unusual efforts to succeed. If I fail, no one will say, 'She doesn't have what it takes.' They will say, 'Women don't have what it takes.'" - Clare Boothe Luce
I found this quote on Shut Up Sit Down (I shall add it to my blogroll forthwith!) were Anji has compiled a list of wonderful women's quotations.
It reminded me of every Tuesday evening, when I play chess with various people at a local pub. I am nearly always the only woman playing. Every time I play a newcomer, or when men (they are usually men) are watching my games, I invariably feel an intense pressure not to lose and it's not because I am a bad loser. Well, actually, I can be a bad loser but that's not the point I'm raising.
The pressure I feel is that if I lose, my opponent or the people watching won't think, "she can't play chess", but "women can't play chess". It's a very uncomfortable pressure and it annoys me that men don't have to experience it.
Perhaps the men have a certain pressure when they play me, like, "I can't be beaten by a girl", but, ya know, diddums.
Last Tuesday a guy I beat said it was like being hit over the head with a feather duster. I don't even know what that's supposed to mean.
I found this quote on Shut Up Sit Down (I shall add it to my blogroll forthwith!) were Anji has compiled a list of wonderful women's quotations.
It reminded me of every Tuesday evening, when I play chess with various people at a local pub. I am nearly always the only woman playing. Every time I play a newcomer, or when men (they are usually men) are watching my games, I invariably feel an intense pressure not to lose and it's not because I am a bad loser. Well, actually, I can be a bad loser but that's not the point I'm raising.
The pressure I feel is that if I lose, my opponent or the people watching won't think, "she can't play chess", but "women can't play chess". It's a very uncomfortable pressure and it annoys me that men don't have to experience it.
Perhaps the men have a certain pressure when they play me, like, "I can't be beaten by a girl", but, ya know, diddums.
Last Tuesday a guy I beat said it was like being hit over the head with a feather duster. I don't even know what that's supposed to mean.
posted by jo22 at 3:09 PM
9 Comments:
So that's what you get up to every Tuesday is it ? MWABH
Feather duster bashing? Dunno but sounds like a put down.
Because you're so light and fluffy? Ha ha, you still beat him.
Our first team's board in the London League Division 1 is a female International Master . . . no-one can argue that she can't play chess!
it happens more than you think, and to men too.. im cuban-american.. im living in brasil.. when i play here, sometimes its not "i cant play" but "cubans" or americans cant play..
Jo:
wrt the feather duster..."it's odd to be knocked out by something so seemingly small and fluffy"...
I shoot pool. Men have the same reaction to a woman who can run a pool table on them as they do with the chess thing. I have also noticed similar reactions to a woman who can throw darts or play poker. Men see these things as 'man things'...so it's always fun to hand them their asses, is it not?
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Weird how they see those things as "man" things. It's not boxing.
At 5 ft 3 with a full head of hair I guess I am small and fluffy! Big fat balding guys must be jealous in so many ways...
;)
Do you have copy writer for so good articles? If so please give me contacts, because this really rocks! :)
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