To the editor,

We were disappointed to read the recent opinion piece in last month’s Informer called, “Cracking the female mind: Genetics explain why guys do not “get” girls.” [Archived Here]

Despite what seems promised in the title, the piece does not cite any examples of genetics or scientific studies. In fact, the piece opens by making a made-up and slanted reference to Genesis from the Bible, in which Man chooses to receive male genitalia instead of a woman’s mind. Not only would a reference to Genesis not be an appropriate example for a claim about genetics, but also this reference is completely fabricated.

The piece proceeds to make many claims about females that are unsupported including that “the female race [is] just absolutely ridiculous,” that females don’t understand the things they say themselves, that all female conversation consists of anecdotes about drunk friends, that girls are so oblivious that they are not aware when guys aren’t listening, and that the only reason that guys pretend to listen to girls is because they hope to get sex. These claims are all generalizations, not supported by any facts, references, or authorities, and they are incredibly insulting and hateful to women and the men who are portrayed as acting this way.

The author sometimes uses self-deprecating statements or apologizes in advance by saying, “some may call [guys] simple,” “I’m sorry, but,” “It’s nothing personal, but,” “Don’t get me wrong,” and “I probably sound like a cynical person who hates girls.” These little tips of the hat don’t make up for the amount of hate described in the statements as followed.

The author depicts the act of having to listen to a female speak as so terrible that they hope “a piano falls from the sky like in Looney Tunes and crushes us” and that when a guy has to pretend to listen to a girl because they are dating, this pretending to listen in exchange for sex “is hell.” The author “wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy,” and reveals that when guys pretend to care because they “don’t want to be rude,” they are secretly thinking about suicide.

Not only are these comments incredibly misogynistic, but also they are also insulting to the intelligence and emotional sophistication of men. The claims in this piece are offensive to everybody, men and women included.

Near the end of the piece, the author finally cites some source material from a university course, although this is done casually without including references to the professor’s name or texts that they read. In addition, the author interprets the tendency for females to use talking as a social mechanism as purposeless, as if community networking were worthless compared to the unnamed objectives that males look to achieve when they talk. While there are often observable differences in communication styles between genders, this article is far from a scientific analysis of those trends. It is truly the opinion of the author, who has the bad taste to represent all men as having the same negative attitudes that he does.

Lastly, the article contained multiple errors of language usage including many run-on sentences, many comma splices, missing commas for connecting independent clauses, and spelling errors. These objective errors suggest that the author did not take much care when writing this article. The lack of care surfaces in both content and style that fail to meet journalistic standards that should be necessary for publishing in The Informer.

The Informer is an important part of the media presence on the University of Hartford campus. Students, staff, and faculty read this paper to get news and to connect to the community. We, the readers, are disappointed in the choice on the part of The Informer to publish this piece. The Informer’s submission policy as stated on their website reads, “We will not publish letters that we feel are in poor taste or constitute libel.” Their value statement reads, “We are dedicated to building a culture that respects all of its members and celebrates their contributions as we work together to strengthen our community.” This article, for the reasons mentioned above, is very clearly in poor taste and in opposition to the University’s and the paper’s values. As such, we would like The Informer to issue a retraction and for the author to make an apology.

Sincerely,

Dana Eckstein, alumna ‘13

Hannah Schultz, ‘14

Julian Sarria, ‘14

Stephanie Pelletier, alumna ‘13

Daniel Wencek, alumnus ‘13

Jeremy Stanley ‘11

Aven Rose, ‘14

Claire Capozzi, ‘14

Zoe Noia, alumna ‘13

Helena Kinane, alumna ‘13

Joshua Gischner ‘15

Maria Demauro, ‘14

Mala Matacin, Co-Chair and Associate Professor, Department of Psychology

Steph Crandall, alumna ‘11

Samuel Feldman, ‘15

David Speiser ‘09

Mark Lamothe ‘16

Brittany Peck ‘15

James McKinsey ‘14

Emma Himmelhoch (transfer)

Josh Levine ‘16

Sam Bailey ‘14

Samantha Pulley ‘15

Eric M. Leiderman ‘14

Melanie Russell, alumna ‘11

Ryan Bradley alumna ‘12

Sofia Wasserman-Smith ‘15

Shana Silver ‘14

Blair Apgar, alumna ‘11

Amber Gipson, ‘16

Andrea Wojcik ‘13 –

Linnea Rose Donnelly ‘14

William DiRienzo, alumnus ‘12

Bianca Severino ‘14

Julia Love Miller, alumna ‘13

Gaylen Ferstand, ‘14

Jessica Karp ‘14

Allen Loughman, ‘13

John Weed, ‘09

Connor Hall, Informer Staff, ‘15
Kaelyn Colon, ‘14

Amanda Zwirn ‘14

Lina Schoenwiesner ‘17

Christina Amendola ‘13

Jenna Zito, alumna ‘13

Benjamin Silver ‘12

John Card, alumnus ‘13

Rachel Cisto ‘15

Christine Pearston, alumna ‘09

Danielle Duncan

Maura Rabuffo ‘15

Rachel Cabaniol

Adam Montgomery ‘15

Justin Hendricks ‘14

Alyssa Magenheim ‘16

Kristina Koller ‘16

Samuel J. Rowell (transfer)

Jones Bush ‘14

Hannah Minor ‘14

Adara Brookler ‘15

Kyle Turner ‘17

Beth Mirahver ‘15

Lauren Holahan  ‘13

Elizabeth G. Stumpel ‘15

Russell Preston  ‘13 –

Shadia Siliman  ‘13

Katie Caughlan ‘12

Erica Field

EmilyRose Alderman – Transfer

Nicole Turner ‘14 From Syracuse NY

Lexi George ‘15

Andrew Bates  ‘14

Melanie Silvernail ‘14

Jessica Powers  ‘13

Angelica Beerbaum ‘16

Alexander Harris ‘11

Brooke Napoli

Steven Fox ‘14

Oriana G. G. Hirschberg  aluma

Chloe Pocock ‘16

Rachel A. Dehnel ‘14

Elizabeth Schorr ‘15

Kaitlyn Mitchell

John Pernock ‘12

Jenna Iwaniec  ‘14

Tyler Varsell ‘11

Sandra Weyant  Alumna ’11

Jared McCaw ‘14

Robert Giuliani ‘13

Nicholas Drago ‘13

Lauren Poremski ‘12

Hayley Mierzwa ‘15

Lindsay Adkins ‘11

Julia Sisson ‘14

Kelly Fancher ‘14

Karlie Henton ‘13

Jacob Silver ‘13

Brian Famigletti ‘13

Rebecca Hanlon ‘16

Katie Dydyn ‘14