We’ve hit that time of year when the “air conditioning is sexist!!” argument typically gets trotted out by woke feminists who firmly believe the patriarchy is behind the frigid AC temperatures they have to endure in the summer months in their offices.
This year’s example comes from Taylor Lorenz, who writes for The Atlantic. On Sunday, Lorenz tweeted out a fairly balanced piece on the debate from style writer Penelope Green at the New York Times. But while Green’s take on the issue was firmly on middle ground, Lorenz’s most definitely was not:
https://twitter.com/TaylorLorenz/status/1147879487121559553
Because her tweet was getting ratioed, Lorenz moved on to her next link, which was a piece from May on the same issue by one of her colleagues at The Atlantic. In another tweet, she chided male colleagues for having the audacity to want to be cooler in the summer even if it meant the poor thing might have to cover up a little more in the office:
https://twitter.com/TaylorLorenz/status/1148042013834657792
Twitter users promptly schooled Lorenz on some of the main reasons why men typically want it cooler indoors than women do in the summer. And after all was said and done, it was Lorenz who came off as the one making a sexist argument:
The majority of men in business settings are wearing multiple layers of clothes to conform to dress code.
Put on a goddamn cardigan and stop making me ashamed to share a chromosome with you
— 🥄🦓🧶ʝԹԺȝ🧶🦓🥄 (@Librumtinia) July 8, 2019
'Ugh! I want to wear my cute summer dresses to work and you sexist men literally dehydrating in full suits are making me less productive with your insistence on turning the temperature below 85°!!'
Feminism 2019.
— Chad Felix Greene (@chadfelixg) July 8, 2019
National Review‘s Charles C.W. Cooke got to the heart of the matter on why the #BanAC movement is all wrong and insufficiently woke:
#BanAC? I spent the summer of 2003 in France. There was a heatwave. I saw some of the consequences with my own eyes. Nearly 15,000 people died. per the NIH. pic.twitter.com/qXVAhMCWie
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) July 8, 2019
There’s also the privilege thing:
Alternatively, air conditioning has bettered the lives of hundreds of millions of people and saved tens of thousands of lives, and you’re just arguing over the thermostat. https://t.co/xFrzPHbWZ7
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) July 8, 2019
As to the “gotten sick” complaint, well there’s a reason for that:
It’s not temperature that facilitates spreading infection. It’s the concentration of individuals in conditioned spaces that makes passing viruses and bacterium more common.
The same thing happens with “winter colds”, when people congregate in warm spaces.
Science.— Christopher (@crfpeters) July 8, 2019
For what it’s worth, I’m with these ladies on this one:
Please stop assuming my gender hates air conditioning. #notallwomen
— Bridget Phetasy (@BridgetPhetasy) July 8, 2019
Imma go ahead and make a safe assumption this gal does not live in Texas/the South. Please DO NOT #BanAC in my office when the heat indexes are 100+ outside 😵 I’ll take bringing a sweater over sweating at work 😒 https://t.co/ODt1kZTC7B
— Amanda Atwell (@AmandaMAtwell) July 8, 2019
This is anecdotal to be sure, but I’ve found over the years when working in office environments that reaching a happy medium with your co-workers usually works – in the coldest months of the year and the hottest. In the summer, if the guys want it at 74 and the ladies prefer it at 78, propose 76.
And bring a sweater.
This really is not rocket science. It’s called “working together.” Instead of trying to find fault in every danged thing, people should try taking that route instead.
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— Based in North Carolina, Sister Toldjah is a former liberal and a 15+ year veteran of blogging with an emphasis on media bias, social issues, and the culture wars. Read her Red State archives here. Connect with her on Twitter. –
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