There are certain expressions that consistently evade my comprehension, and the most elusive of these seems to be "a zero-sum game" -- a term whose definition I am always forced to look up whenever I encounter it.
The Free Dictionary defines zero-sum as: "Of or relating to a situation in which a gain is offset by an equal loss."
I am not saying that the term is necessarily pretentious and misleading (although I suspect that it probably is) but merely that I just cannot retain its somewhat frivolous-sounding connotation.
What brought on that micro-rantlet? It was a short essay I just finished reading a few minutes ago at the website, Science Fiction & Fantasy Novelists, a piece titled:Emasculation Not Required by Marie Brennan, published February 16, 2010.
I was going to express my opinion of her thoughts and elaborate a bit, adding my own feelings about the relative quality of the published writings of women as opposed to those of men.
But I really don't feel like writing anything this morning.
Don't feel like thinking this morning.
Don't feel very well.
Sorry.
Maybe tomorrow . . .
Men write better than women. Now, as death approaches, I can state the truth as I know it.
ReplyDeleteAVT
So why this conviction that men and women can’t be buddies? I don’t mean “friends without any romantic complication,” though I’d certainly like to see more of that, too. I mean buddies."
ReplyDeleteBecause men and women are not equals. Men own penises, while women own vaginas. Men must ask, while women own the privilege of acceptance or refusal, you pretentious, innocuous bitch.