I just saw this article on KSL (I also heard it on the news this morning, then read it, and then read the article about the 'study').
I already had a pretty low opinion about the U's Anthro department. In the nature of full disclosure, let me just say, I graduated from Weber with a degree in Anthropology, and feel their department was stellar, because the professors there were more interested in teaching, and being available to the students then they were in their own aggrandizement.
But, besides the problems I have with the 'anthropology' taught at the U (Alisa took several classes in it after we were married, I was less than impressed), this so called study is some of the worst anthropological 'research' I have ever seen.
It seems clear that the woman came up with her thesis, that anthropologically hourglass figures for women are worse, and then went about 'proving' it with some very sloppy pseudo-science, conjecture, and leaps of logic. Apparently, not being curvy, or hippy, makes you better able to deal with stress, and means you are stronger, and not submissive to men. Okay......
Generalizations aside, this just puts a stain on Anthropology, which many people already think is assumptions based on unproveable theories. I love anthropology and find it bar none the most fascinating of any intellectual area, but this stuff was just crap.
6 comments:
No wonder I'm so stressed out and submissive all the time. This explains everything.
Wow, she should meet the women in my family. Her thesis proven wrong instantly.
Well we still have a better football team than both the Y and the W and that's all that counts.
I agree with RFB. And Univ. of Utah is the only university in the whole state that has a Materials Engineering Dept, lucky for me.
Well, seeing as I didn't get degree's in football, their ability to win on the field doesn't matter.
If their scholastic acheivements were as impressive as their athletic ones, I would be much happier with the U. Unfortunately, from everything that I can see, until you reach graduate level education, the U could not possibly care less about you or your success.
Wow. This totally sounds like my brother's opinion of the Math Department at Weber. He has a degree in Math from the Univ. of Utah and one in computer science from Weber. He thinks Weber's Math Department is woefully off course when it comes to actually caring about educating the students. (undergrad and specifically basic courses that is)
He e-mailed the dean of the department about it a few times. Hey! Maybe you should say something to the department after reading the article. They may be few and far between, but there are people that would care about your reaction.
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