How the Google Memo Guy Became My Ultimate Hero
As a feminist, I will be forever grateful to him. It took me a while to understand the importance of what he did, though.
What James Damore did was heroic — he dared to openly and truthfully speak about how he feels about women and their role in society. He did that even though he must have known it would bring him nothing but trouble.
As someone who openly and truthfully shares her thoughts and feelings, I’m well aware of how much courage it takes to do that and how hard it is to deal with the backlash. That’s why I deeply admire anyone who dares to speak his or her truth, regardless of how uncomfortable it might be. So, even though I do not agree with Damore, I admire him.
In case you somehow managed to miss Damore’s epic deed and wonder what this is all about, here’s a recap: at the beginning of August, Google fired Damore for spreading his manifesto (this is the link to the full document that was published on Motherboard) through the company’s internal mailing list. Due to its controversial nature, the manifesto soon leaked and went viral.
It, among other things, argued that women are more neurotic and biologically unfit for certain jobs, such as coding and leadership positions. It also stated that, quote, “…we need to stop assuming that gender gaps imply sexism.”
This sounds like something from the Middle Ages so the Twitter meme below at least used a fitting time frame for the depiction of Damore as a hero. What he stands for, though, would not have been seen as heroic then, for such views were predominant at the time. Damore would simply fit in perfectly, while Martin Luther didn’t.
That’s why using the image of Martin Luther to depict James Damore is a perversion, for Luther made progress for women possible at the time when they were most severely repressed. He saw women as equally important as men and — unlike Damore and his supporters — didn’t try to prevent them from developing their potential.
Damore is a product of the Trump era. Thanks to him, I finally began to understand that there are major positives in what I thought was nothing but negative — Trump’s presidency. It was Trump, with his openly sexist and unapologetic statements, who made it possible for someone like James Damore to dare to speak his truth openly and unapologetically as well.
And that’s fantastic because now we can see just how common sexism really is. The can of worms has been opened and we cannot deny any longer that the state of affairs in our society is highly disturbing. We’ve all seen it, it’s been all over the news, and it’s now clear that women are not just imagining it.
To make this clear beyond the shadow of doubt, Damore has become a media star. His essay was published by the Wall Street Journal where it received overwhelmingly positive responses in the comments. Next, Julian Assange offered Damore a job at WikiLeaks, and a crowdfunding campaign on WeSearchr has already raised over $50,000 in support of Damore’s legal battle against Google.
James Damore is definitely not some lone rider — he’s the voice of many. And that’s great because now we finally have this mess out in the open. That’s the only way we can start dealing with it instead of pretending it doesn’t exist and pushing it aside.
Oh, yes, sexism exists and is still very much alive.
In the light of the Damore’s case, the abhorrently shameful statistics on gender inequality makes a whole lot of sense. We can now see exactly how and why these numbers are possible. They are possible because our society has been based on the obsolete ideas of patriarchy, religious dogma, and flawed science that should have been dead long ago, but are still very much alive and kicking.
The most disturbing part of this whole story is that Damore isn’t some illiterate jackass. He studied at Harvard, of all places, and if his CV is to be trusted more than his false claim of having completed a PhD, he also conducted research at MIT and Princeton.
Now how on earth is this then even possible? He had the best possible resources and the best possible teachers available, yet he chose to quote Wikipedia as a reliable scientific source?! He must have been seen as bright enough to get into these programs, yet he used his credentials to deny others their rights based on nothing but flawed reasoning and outdated science?
Being highly educated obviously doesn’t automatically translate into also being enlightened, fair, and open minded. What Damore’s case illustrates so well is how hard it is to give up a sense of entitlement and superiority, an undeserved male privilege and the benefits that come with it. It seems that even the best possible education doesn’t make that much easier.
If you think I’m exaggerating, here’s some more food for thought:
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Mateja started to write short stories at the age of ten and later became a freelance writer, radio personality, and explorer of the inner worlds. Her life resembles a roller coaster ride full of ups and downs and some pretty wild turns. Among other things, her car was destroyed by tanks, and she survived several brushes with death. She graduated in psychology from Arizona State University and is deep into the weird. Connect with Mateja on LinkedIn.
