A Mistake

I realized I made a mistake on that Sunday's post, because I suggested that the comments thread could be used as a depository for the eggs of your great wisdom. It was a mistake, and I apologize for it.

It was a mistake, because I have noticed that many people don't think their opinions are great eggs of wisdom (even when they are). Women are especially prone to this belief.

Why do I think so? Mostly because of the experiences I have had over my life and also in cyberspace. It's not that all women would be modest about their ideas or worried about coming across as foolish, or that all men would be certain of the brilliance of what they say. But I definitely get less self-promotion mail from women than from men and the mail I get from women includes many more hedges and apologies. There are exceptions, naturally, in both directions. Still, there is something about the opening I used which might bias the selections. And of course what I really meant was for everybody to say whatever they wanted in the comments thread.

This topic may have a link to that age-old question why political opinion columnists tend to be men. That may be changing now that goddesses can go and bloviate, but as Digby said in her speech at the Take Back America conference, all that you need to opionionate is to have an opinion. Really. Just see what Bill Kristol gets away with and he is on television all the time.