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Thread: Sexism In Naming Hurricanes.

  1. #1
    MANICHAEAN MANICHAEAN's Avatar
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    Sexism In Naming Hurricanes.

    SEXISM IN NAMING HURRICANES.

    I must confess to being somewhat ambivalent on this issue.

    On the one hand, hurricanes named after women are appropriate. They always remind me of my first wife, who invariably came in like a storm & left after an interlude of utter devastation in my life, taking with her the house and car.

    At the same time, if you get a hurricane with a sweet name like “Alice,” who might have been a childhood sweetheart? Well, you get my meaning.

    But is not the naming of these storms sexist?

    Why not have some named after men, and perhaps more pertinent still, named in accordance with the impressions they evoke.

    Thus a hurricane in Russia, (if that were at all feasible), could be called “Ivan” or “Vladimir” It’s got a nice ring to it.

    In the West Indies, “Rasta man or Leroy” comes to mind.

    In Italy “Giovanni or Francesco”.

    “George or Marmaduke” in England and so on.

    Men after all, especially men with ambition, aspire to having all sorts of things named after them, ranging from mountains and fauna to libraries & park benches, constellations & galaxies to church pews & grandkids.

    Then of course, the hurricanes involved could have potential sinister qualities for which some historic male names are superb. This would have been of great benefit to any of you, who have assumed at some period in your lives, journalistic endeavor’s of a querulous nature.

    Thus, “Hurricane Himmler lurks with evil intent off the Florida Keys coast” would create just the right amount of fear and apprehension to ensure a 100% success rate for an effective evacuation. Likewise, “Hurricane Attila sweeps into the Caucasus”.

    Anyway, those are my initial thoughts, but I’m open to any Lit Net comments, or further suggestions from those of you, who like me, lay awake each night unable to sleep because such thoughts intrude into our brains.

  2. #2
    Captain Azure Patrick_Bateman's Avatar
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    Some are named after men, they alternate between men's names and women's names just like the letter that the named of the hurricane begins with changes every year.
    Latest Blog: An Impassioned and Immediate Response to Dan Hodges, Political Writer, Daily Telegraph.
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  3. #3
    MANICHAEAN MANICHAEAN's Avatar
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    It just goes to show how much up to date I am!

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    Registered User Delta40's Avatar
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    I know they alternate between male and female names but if they only used female names as first suggested, seems it would be in harmony with the general perspective of nature being female anyway.....
    Before sunlight can shine through a window, the blinds must be raised - American Proverb

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    sound of music soundofmusic's Avatar
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    Interesting point, I wonder if we would all name the hurricanes after "personalities that really blow" like my ex-husband Bob; or name it after persons who have "a talent for blowing" like George Michaels...funny about the name George...there have been alot of great blowers: GEorge Michaels, Boy GEorge, Edward 2....okay, maybe not

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    Jethro BienvenuJDC's Avatar
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    Well, they are HER-icanes
    Les Miserables,
    Volume 1, Fifth Book, Chapter 3
    Remember this, my friends: there are no such things as bad plants or bad men. There are only bad cultivators.

  7. #7
    MANICHAEAN MANICHAEAN's Avatar
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    Sound of Music.

    Not sure if we are divided by a common language, but I'm not going there either!

    Bishop Bienvenu
    I can but take refuge in Chapt 9: "that special feminine genius which comprehends the man better than he comprehends himself!"

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  8. #8
    Livin' in Slow Motion Hurricane's Avatar
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    As someone who shares a name with one of the more infamous hurricanes of the past few years...maybe we should just stop giving storms cutesy names? Or at all?
    I dunno.
    Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better, it's not.

  9. #9
    Wolf Revolte's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Hurricane View Post
    As someone who shares a name with one of the more infamous hurricanes of the past few years...maybe we should just stop giving storms cutesy names? Or at all?
    I dunno.
    I disagree I think "Hello Kitty" would be a wicked name for a hurricane.
    "We are animals with problems that no other animal has." - Radam J. Starkiller

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