So I was reading a fascinating story on the BBC website on the discovery of a WHOLE NEW HUMANOID SPECIES that lived in South Africa up to three million years ago. The new species, named homo naledi, may have even been the first in the genus homo. The first of us!
Reading about the discovery of the homo naledi skeletons themselves, I came across this unexpected detail. The scientists who literally went into the caves where the bones were found all had something in common:
Small women were chosen because the tunnel was so narrow. They crawled through darkness lit only by their head torches on a precarious 20 minute-long journey to find a chamber containing hundreds of bones.
Here they are:
I mention this because so many of the doofuses I write about on this blog simply assume that male bodies are physically superior to those of women — larger, able to lift heavier objects, and so forth — and so, in their minds, men must have done all the important work in human history (and prehistory), from hunting the proverbial mammoth to building the pyramids to mowing the lawn.
But not all jobs — even the very physical ones — require the brute strength of a big burly man. Especially if the burly men in question literally can’t fit in the tunnel.
You could probably produce nicotine in genetically modified potatoes and administer it by some non-smoking method, like eating said potatoes, and still have a lower cancer risk than staying at home smoking.
I’m so tall I can barely fit in most spaces that are actually designed for human bodies. Being tall is a real pro in practical greenhouse research work, where you need to reach a lot. OTOH, my fellow group members (mostly women) seem to be more skilled in the thinking part of our research.
There are anonymous threats to shoot feminists on the University of Toronto campus:
http://www.nationalpost.com/m/wp/blog.html?b=news.nationalpost.com//toronto/online-posts-about-killing-feminists-prompt-university-of-toronto-to-increase-campus-security
Scary.
Well we already know most MRAs lack imagination so of course they would assume bigger is always better. 🙂
Nonsense.
A REAL APLHA would have just torn that tunnel open wider with his bare hands! Then he would have stood on the bones, grabbed his junk, and let loose a YALP that shook the earth!
I tried to find a coat hanger, but all they’re selling these days are defective, overpriced railroad spikes.
Seriously, though, this is an amazing find and a fantastic achievement. The Dragon’s Back sounds like it was pretty perilous – apparently it’s a knife-edge ridge with steep drops on either side that they had to crawl along, then a 12-meter drop into the chamber where the bones are. My hat is off to the female scientists and the support team.
I just hope the manosphere doesn’t use this as another excuse for fat-shaming women. I can just hear them now – “See, this proves that only skinny chicks have any value!”
@Arctic Ape:
Like the Ghostbusters remake, I think it’s something that will always rankle amongst a certain sector of the populace.
Also, tall people solidarity! *fistbump*
My thighs are stuck in a wire coat hanger. Thanks.
Rupert Murdoch has just purchased National Geographic.
It’s a sad day.
In all fairness to Murdoch, unlike many media moguls, he’s never been afraid to put women in the top jobs.
He’s really stuck up for Rebekha Wade
Kudos to them. Even if I was fit for that job I wouldn’t have the courage to do so.
As a small woman I tend to live in small-people-friendly spaces. I prefer attics to basements.
One time the cops showed up and they sent two big burly men. They should not do that in areas where the houses are hundreds of years old. That’s because the first man-cop got wedged in my staircase and his partner had to call the fire department to pull him out 😛
When I worked in AV installation while in college, I always ended up on soldering duty (often precariously perched someplace because someone installed something wrong and we were doing an “in place correction” rather than a complete redo).
Little hands and fingers (and a lower center of gravity in the case of the more acrobatic work) FTW!
omg those misandrist and sizeist cave formations!
re: Tall People: I’m 5’9″ – tallish for a woman, but within the parameters for most design – but my husband’s 6’3″…that poor man and cars.
And shower heads.
And mirrors.
Some sinks.
You get the idea.
Teehee XD
OT: Admirable bravery! I’ve done spelunking once and I had a lot of fun. I also happen to be very skinny so I wasn’t too nervous about it until we had to go through a little opening the size of a small computer screen O_o.
Unrelated aside to Nintendo-people:
WOOO! I PICKED UP SUPER MARIO MAKER TODAY!
I’ve already loaded it up, gotten all of the updates out of the way, and loaded our Amiibo for mystery mushrooms (also bought a Classic Colors Mario 😀 ) so the older two don’t have to wait through anything.
My 3-year-old’s observations while in GameStop:
* This looks like Minecraft! (About Super Mario Maker)
* They have MORE STAR WARS STUFF! (She’s been noticing the uptick in merchandise.)
* LOOK! A DOCTOR FROM DOCTOR WHO! (About a Harry Potter Funko Pop…I explained that while he does look quite a bit like one of the Doctors, he is not).
Oh!
An off-topic but theme-related article:
Gamergate: A Culture War for People Who Don’t Play Videogames http://zite.to/1KIXwQH
Thanks to this site, I recognized several of the names.
Speaking of women working in fields that are male dominated when I was in the military I served under 3 successive female officers (there was a rumor in our company that our unit was used as a training point for female officers moving up).
The first left shortly after I joined the unit, but I got along really well with the 2nd one who came in. She liked and trusted me so much that she assigned me to help her with numerous tasks which led to incessant teasing back in my bunk where the guys kept saying I had a crush on her or vice-versa.
What I saw was a person who worked harder than the officers around her, who was politically savvy and great at building relationships with others and was dedicated wholly to her job. She was also an attractive woman and in this instance unfortunately it worked against her – it was much harder for men to take her seriously and many questioned why she was even in the military. I spent quite a bit of effort to open the eyes of my fellow mates and though many scoffed off my attempts I am glad to report that at least 3 of my mates got what I was saying and in turn respected her more.
On an end note to the story, once she left and the 3rd officer came in she actually passed my contact information to the newcomer with strong recommendations! I had to endure even more teasing which I was fine with. Maybe they were jealous that I was popular with women 8p?!
My experiences with these 2 women officers were very positive and also demonstrated to me clearly their worth, their value and their dedication. I can say that I was proud to have served under them.
@ReallyFriendly – I can say I’ve met some real piece of shite women in the military, but I’ve also met some real piece of shite men there (you know, people who can’t even manage to not be Blue Falcons).
What I can definitely say: The women who make a career out of it (or do any considerable stint) do tend to be really exceptional, probably because it has to be something that they both want and are good at to stick with it despite all of the BS that can come with being a female soldier (or Marine, etc).
A group of women go into a cave where they discover the bones of a newly species?
Uh oh… http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0435625/
“Newly species”? Damn you, uneditable comments!
Okay, now that I’m done nerding over this with other palaeontologists, I can nerd about it here instead.
*NERDS*
Aaagh this is so cool and they are so lucky. @_@ I’ve tried spelunking in subfossil caves before, both on and off the clock, but I’m just too damn tall for it. Despite what height-obsessed MRAs might think, being 6’1 doesn’t help every career path.
@mockingbird I didn’t meet any terrible women in the army when I was there (I also worked with a female warrant officer who fought very hard for people serving under her) but have no doubt that they exist.
To me the military mindset was one that didn’t mesh that well with me and there were certain elements of brainwashing instilled into the entire system that I was not comfortable with. It was still, overall, a positive time for me when I look back.
In regards to that particular Gamergate panel it was immediately obvious to me (but not to the Gators) what it meant once they announced it. I find it just adorable that they keep accusing Anita for not being a real ‘gamer’ but then decided to send a panel of non-gamers to speak for gamergate… wtf? Also, the only journalist they did send (you know, because ‘ethics’) was one already famous for being horribly biased and having a history of poor journalist integrity.
It was the type of panel an Anti-GG group would approve of since it was too bizarre (but not unexpected). You should also listen to the content when you get the chance and be as confused as the moderators who tried their best to keep the panel on point – they were trying to be political in a discussion about ‘ethics in journalism’.
The bomb threats to the event also made all the Gators have a minor meltdown (nothing conclusive about who made the threat) and made their conspiracy detectors explode out of their skulls.
All in all, the whole event left me utterly bemused.