Like other students working in a science lab, it’s so nice to see these parodies mimic our social lives, or lack thereof, lol.

I don’t think the majority of the people with a problem with this video come from a science background. I’m more inclined to believe the Arts and Social Science majors like to make big issues out of anything to sound intelligent.

1) Lab parodies of regular songs are always truly embarrassing.

2) I don’t think it’s at all offensive because it is so clearly in the spirit of Flight of the Conchords. I’m totally willing to follow the argument proposed by the post unlike half these punks who clearly dismiss it out of hand to beat some drum about why they hate feminism (even the scientifically inclined can be extra stupid about some things) and I rarely conclude that they’re the result of overreaction. However, in my opinion, the super cartoonish context of the song makes a difference and the lab setting is less a commentary on work dynamics in science than it is the result of the creators being a bunch of bored dorks who work in a chem lab.

I can understand how women might be reminded of unfortunate situations with socially retarded lab mates of the past, though, and I think that’s the crux of this post: just one lady saying “let me explain the perspective of someone who might find this video annoying.” You don’t need to agree with the conclusion but attempt some empathy ffs.

3) Matt Saunders is the worst type of nerd. Take that shit to some message board for tedious philosophy majors or other people who’ll fall for that, jesus christ.

4) “Because of reactions like this, I will never figure out how to get a girlfriend.” -> hahahaha.

5) “I don’t value people who get easily offended.” -> hahahahahahaha.

6) @34, I thought the joke about the centrifuge was that you have to wait foreverrrr to use high demand instruments. So true, right?

7) @45, it is super excellent to have you around to point to as an example when I need to write “let’s not pretend that women are the more uptight gender: look, dudes become completely humorless and pedantic in response to tiny offhand jokes too!”

On the other hand, despite being in physics I have actually taken a few acting and cooking classes, and thus had the experience of being the only guy in the room. And it was a little uncomfortable. Despite all the women being quite nice. Very mild jokes about men felt a little awkward, in a way that they definitely wouldn’t have if the genders were split 50-50.

So yes, I understand this all depends on your experience. And those of us who haven’t had your experience should appreciate your sharing it, so we can better understand. And yes, I also understand the point of view of men who so obsess about not causing such awkwardness/offense that they rarely approach women at all to feel out a romantic relationship. I hope women understand that perspective too.

“mansplanations”? Really. An entire language to choose from and you settled on mansplanations?

It’s not just that your post is a contentless ad hominem, it’s that your contentless ad hominem doesn’t even bother to pretend that it has a genuine point to make beyond tarring, caricaturing, and preaching to a choir.

Maybe – just maybe – this might be a complex issue with strong feelings on both sides that can’t be easily reduced to black and white talking points. Maybe both sides actually have points. Maybe both sides are also capable of overstating those points in the heat of debate. Crazy right?

I got nuthin’ to add, but you made me laugh.

Yuppers. I guess it helps that I grew up in a culture and an environment where I was constantly surrounded by so much loving and I didn’t find out until my more adult years that there were these divisions into “Religions” and “Philosophies” and “Colour of skin” and “Politics” and “Gender” and so forth. People just WERE.

interesting. after reading the bending-over-backwards mansplanations in the comments (“i’m so hurt by you pointing out my sexism!”) i got the exact opposite impression. maybe there shouldn’t be so many guys in the sciences if their feelings get hurt so easily.

From following your various comments, all I have to say is: I bet you have.

Treat people as people and be willing to make mistakes.

Amen, Matthew. The reason so many guys have problems dealing with women is because they’re trying to “deal with women” rather than deal with fellow human beings. We’re not a different species from men, and we’re varied individuals with varied personalities just like men are. If a guy treats women as incomprehensible alien stereotypes, it really shouldn’t be much of a surprise to him when most chicks don’t want anything to do with him. And yet somehow it seems that there’s a large contingent of guys who are completely incapable of comprehending this.

I recommend trying out another culture, sweetie. Contrary to attempts by some at normalizing social interactions, everyone is different, I have found. Treat people as people and be willing to make mistakes. Get a wide-enough sample of people watching, and at least 1 person will be offended, no matter the action.

One of my gfs is from Czech, and she says that men in my city are too timid…they should take more risks

I find young people from non-Canadian and US countries to be quite open and relaxed…less anxious and more open to the lovely messiness that life is.

(But whatever causes people to examine themselves and their issues is all good to me)

The original is so much sleazier, with the guy talking about feeling each other up (willing to risk getting slapped for it) and comparing her to a high-class prostitute.

ix, I admit that I’m not sure taking down the video was necessary, but I do think it was necessary for the creators to respond to viewer concerns with empathy rather than dismissal, which they did. Since the video remains available from other sources, it hasn’t been lost to those who want to see it, and the creators nevertheless managed to stay classy. So it seems to me pretty much win-win on that front.

The part where it’s not so win-win is the part where the douchebag brigade took this whole affair as an excuse to once again come out and have a big ol’ party about how women are too wussy and girly and irrelevant to belong in science, and so they should shut up about their stupid whiny girl feelings already because they’re objectively wrong to have those feelings, according to men who are, due to their Vulcan awesomeness, much better at evaluating how women should feel than women are.

Your comments above weren’t as bad as some of the others, but you still seemed to pretty deeply miss the point that this isn’t just women getting upset about some irrational thing that they made up in their incomprehensible girly heads and don’t have any right to expect anyone else to be sensitive to. Instead, this is women getting upset about a real, ongoing problem that many women (although not I personally) experience on a daily basis. This is something which it’s everyone’s responsibility to have sensitivity to and to try to eliminate. Nobody’s saying you have to feel bad for enjoying the video, but you *should* feel bad about the fact that you’re dismissing as unworthy of attention the legitimate emotional responses of those who didn’t enjoy it as much as you did.

This is just a thank you, thank you, thank you for sharing things beautiful, subtle, ambiguous, and funny in the delightful, charm-filled ways that you are so skilled at. It is very rare for me to be a blog commenter, but I want you to know that I often (perhaps almost always) pause, breathe a bit, and glimpse the world at a bit of a new slant after reading something you have posted. So here’s a quiet thank you from a respect-filled reader

And Matthew Saunders, your ‘reality is meaningless’ nonsense completely belies the fact that we live in a cultural context where there ARE plenty of social assumptions in our interactions. Het men and het women from the same culture interacting in the workplace is a wild far cry from a software developer from San Francisco meeting a Pashtun goatherd for the first time.

I am stunned and disheartened by the willful denialism in the comments.