Life / Why is circumcision not practiced in Poland? [701]


ROFL!!

although i don't suppose a lot of guys would view the "cycki got too big" phenomenon much of an issue...

Life / Why is circumcision not practiced in Poland? [701]

i'm honestly puzzled why rebirth would have an issue with other men's dicks...

perhaps something freudian, some repressed feelings of inadequacy, I don't know, falling SHORT of expectations with patience for self-actualization wearing THIN...


good point

Work / The level of English of Polish teachers of English. What do you think of it? [101]


that's very true. I might have mentioned it before at some other occasion already. There are people who come here, they think they speak English because they learned it at school (not only in Poland, in other countries, too), but really they can't. They were taught by someone who learned their English decades ago from someone else whose knowledge was even more outdated, and they use funny pronunciation and outdated idioms. It's really not helpful when they try to find a job.

First, it depends on the purpose of the tutelage: if the intention is to be conversational while visiting another country as a tourist and being able to order a meal at a restaurant or navigate through a city, non-native speakers will be sufficient instructors. If the goal is to be able to function as a member of a foreign society, permanently or temporarily, native speakers are necessary. For most people the best solution is access to both.


I really have no clue what the requirements are, we had German classes in college, the teacher was definitely not German, but maybe that's why I didn't learn all that much. Thankfully, this is such a diverse country, you can find native speakers of virtually any language here.

Work / The level of English of Polish teachers of English. What do you think of it? [101]


it's possible to lose it later, but it requires A LOT of work, and you need someone to work with, one-on-one, like a speech pathologist or a phonetician. I've seen it happen but the tutor has to be really good, and the student has to be very diligent, and it costs a lot of money.

Language / Mixed English Grammar Thread [183]

a person is countable.
a lazy person is perfectly correct grammatically. most people would say, call me lazy, though.

Language / Mixed English Grammar Thread [183]

with s

Law / Weapons laws in Poland. Carrying a concealed handgun? [918]


take away their cars!

and make sure you have laws that forbid running with scissors...

want some helmets?

Law / Weapons laws in Poland. Carrying a concealed handgun? [918]

ok. get to the point. what is this supposed to show? that the people shouldn't have the right to bear arms because the government can confiscate them? maybe in a totalitarian country, but not here.


maybe I finally got the answer to why gun control is necessary in Poland - because people are irresponsible and cannot be trusted.

Law / Weapons laws in Poland. Carrying a concealed handgun? [918]


well, you brought them up. all I'm trying to find out is why people think that liberalizing gun ownership in Poland is a bad idea. apparently, people are more interested in criticizing the US, as always, and fantasizing about the most impressive response to getting mugged, absent a gun or a klonica

Law / Weapons laws in Poland. Carrying a concealed handgun? [918]


the national guard is not exactly a state military, because it is administered by the federal government and the power of a governor to issue orders is limited.


so what, Poles are not? if it works for Czechs, why wouldn't it work for Poles?

Law / Weapons laws in Poland. Carrying a concealed handgun? [918]


I don't know any US state with its own military. Not even Texas.

and, btw, France allows much more than just hunting weapons, with a permit: any revolver and pistol, centrefire or rimfire, of a non-military calibre, short rifles having a total length of less than 80cm or a barrel length of less than 45cm, semi-automatic rifles with more than three shots capacity, repeater rifles with a magazine capacity of more than ten shots, riot guns with over five-shot capacity, semi-automatic or repeating military lookalikes, and disguised arms such as pen guns.

And I still don't know, with everyone arguing who can carry what, what is so bad about liberalizing gun laws in Poland.

Law / Weapons laws in Poland. Carrying a concealed handgun? [918]


as soon as they get the congress to pass a swift amendment to the constitution...

No president, in their right mind, would orders the US military to stand against the US citizens...

from Wikipedia:
Austria
Guns are divided into four categories:
Category A - Forbidden weapons: Pump action shotguns, fully automatic weapons, semi automatic and other rifles when considered military weapons as well as disguised weapons.

Category B - Weapons requiring permission: Semi automatic long weapons for sporting and hunting, repeating (non-pump action) and semi automatic shotguns and weapons shorter than 60 cm in overall length (i.e. pistols and revolvers). Semi automatic long weapon models are required to be verified as civilian-legal before this category applies to them, otherwise they are considered category A. A permission can either be a hunting license, gun ownership license ("Waffenbesitzkarte", for sporting, collecting and self-defense at home or work) or a carry permit ("Waffenpass", for carrying a loaded weapon outside of the owner's home or workplace), with the ownership license being the most common way to category B gun ownership.

Category C - Weapons requiring registration: Break action guns and all repeating rifles (i.e. bolt-, lever- or pump action). All Austrian and European Economic Area citizens aged 18 or over can freely buy and own this type of weapon, but ownership has to be registered at a licensed dealer or gunsmith within 6 weeks of purchase.

Category D - Weapons free from registration: Non-repeating shotguns. Again, every Austrian or EEA citizen at the age of 18+ can buy and own this type of weapon without further registration or permission.

And, if you didn't know, you do need a permit to carry a weapon in the US. Just because you can own something, doesn't mean you can carry it into stores and other public places.

back to weapons laws in Poland - what is the downside of less gun control?

Love / How do Polish men feel about gender equality? [780]


lol
at this point, I'd be surprised if anyone would go out with him if he didn't pay them cash to do so

I think the absolute worst


have to do with


think of all the money Zimmy could save if he didn't have to pay to see certain female parts

Love / How do Polish men feel about gender equality? [780]

the Siberian exile was supposed to be selective...

anyway, I thought that gender inequality was fake? if it's fake, how can it deteriorate?
have you read that part at all?
"Some scholars claim that the communist experiment was nothing more than an instance of “forced emancipation” and that women’s incorporation into public life was “insincere” because it was motivated by economical interests, rather than by gender equality concerns (Ashwin 2006). In spite of the heavily propagandised gender equality in the sphere of paid employment, the reality of the labour market was far from gender-neutral. For example, the state socialist system did not manage to challenge gendered job segregation and wage gaps. Although different laws contained an explicit provision prohibiting discrimination on the basis of gender, at the same time there were legislative provisions that aimed to protect motherhood (e.g. shorter working hours, longer maternity leaves, restriction on work at nights and performing jobs involving hard manual labour). While such legislation was intended as a privilege and reward for bearing children, it ensured women’s rights only through the virtue of motherhood and ended up being discriminatory. In addition, under communism, the gender-neutral stipulations in different laws (e.g. family laws) were completely absent. Fathers, for example, were not encouraged to share responsibilities for raising children and there was no official notion of the paternity leave (Paci 2002). The lack of gender-neutral legislation contributed to the strong legacy of traditionalism in attitudes towards the family and gender roles. Furthermore, some gender equality and women’s rights questions, such as sexual harassment and domestic violence, were not regulated by law and were absent from public discussions (Spehar 2007). Thus, in communist countries, women were empowered and disempowered at the same time by gender policies and cultural praxis."


oh, you mean separate but equal? yeah, we tried that before...

anyway, I'm done with this thread, it's like trying to explain the difference between green and red to someone who's colorblind

Love / How do Polish men feel about gender equality? [780]

"Gender equality policy development in post-communist Central- and Eastern Europe. Good or bad for women?"

"End of communism hasn't helped Polish women - but there is no nostalgia"

guardian.co.uk/world/2011/apr/08/polish-women-communism-bet ter-equality

and, from my own neck of the woods:
"Women, Minorities Largely Absent from Fortune 500 Corporate Boards"

shrm.org/hrdisciplines/Diversity/Articles/Pages/WomenMinori tiesLargelyAbsent.aspx

(I hope you can access it, some of the content on this site is for members only)

Love / How do Polish men feel about gender equality? [780]

go ahead and tell yourself goodnight stories, Zimmy, but the truth is, you're light years behind remotely grasping ANYTHING about the modern world, so the only thing you do understand must be as uncomplicated as what I said. You're so dumb any place where're you're NOT is better off for that, so if you're so worried about the invasion I proposed, how about you do all the women a favor, move to Siberia on your own (and take with you all the douchebags who think like you), and go f*ck yourself in your death gap. unless you're into guys, which with your attitude is really the only valid option. good luck with your sorry life, dude.

Love / How do Polish men feel about gender equality? [780]

Here is what I read from your post, Zimmy:
drama, drama, drama, death gap...

I replied to all of your "arguments" which is a really generous way of describing the bs that you come up with. How do I even begin explaining anything to people who say that


. I would normally say that guys think with their d*cks but now I'm wondering what to say, because I doubt he has one...

Do you want to get my honest opinion of you village idiots? You're ignorant, close-minded little f*cktards whose only hope of having a relationship with a woman is convincing her somehow that she doesn't have options other than your sorry, ugly ass. I feel bad for all the girls who have to live and work in Poland, and marry you, and have your children, probably ugly as homemade soap, you intolerant, insecure, lame bugf*ckers, all dumber than a bag of rocks. With you there, one's only hope is to leave that excuse for a country as soon as possible or pray that you get invaded again, and all you guys get shipped off to Siberia.

Love / How do Polish men feel about gender equality? [780]


well, it's debatable. what is pretty clear, though, is that there isn't much of a fix for it, as much as we'd all like to extend the life expectancy of half of the population.

Nobody needs to convince me about how painful it is to pay taxes but there is the notion that even people who don't have kids benefit from other people's kids being educated, and those who don't drive benefit from the infrastructure of paved roads and highways. And you can choose where to live, and whether you want to join the military or not, and you can, in a democracy, influence the government that decides how much taxes you pay. The topic of what you give up to live in a society versus what you gain has been pretty active since pre-humans started getting together to hunt, and the ideas on how to organize a group of humans living together have been evolving, through trial and error, towards more and more perfect systems (ok, we're very far from perfection, but much closer than we were just a few hundred years ago). So I find it hard to accept that treating women equally wouldn't be considered an improvement worth undertaking.


Exactly. Because governments (at least our government) has a much higher standard of avoiding any kind of discrimination than private corporations or many other countries. Apparently it's possible to accomplish and the world doesn't end (even though affirmative action is not the best way to execute it, imo). I'm not advocating that all organizations be run like the government, and I hope someone rethinks the AA, but, in some respects, there are positives about the government as a workplace.

Ok, I see it's a physically demanding job, and I'm glad someone's doing it. I can understand why most women would decide not to do that. But it doesn't mean that men should decide women can't do it, this or any other job, whether officially or by tacit consent based on a stereotype.

Love / How do Polish men feel about gender equality? [780]

Well, nothing is theoretically stopping men from saving all the extra money they make and retiring sooner, right?

You're right, nature is not fair, it's doing well from the perspective of whole populations, but not so much when it comes down to the individual level. Thankfully, we're not in a society where an individual can readily be sacrificed for the good of the community (unless they choose to, and if they do, we call them heroes and hold them in admiration...)

Not knowing the details, I can't comment why there aren't many women at your place but, at the very least, if a woman does apply, I would expect she would be allowed to do so, her candidacy would be evaluated using the same criteria, she would be paid the same as her male counterparts (unless she underperforms), and she would have the same chances for promotion (again, unless she underperforms). Does it sound that crazy? What is so seditious about it that some people would cry to high heaven and start looking for their pitchforks?


I'm glad you figured it out.

Love / How do Polish men feel about gender equality? [780]


I think he meant it as a joke... From an economic perspective, however, the institution of a grandma is quite beneficial... I wonder if studies have been done on how much grand-mothering translates into in terms of GDP :)! Maybe the fact that women live longer should be calculated into the life-time output, because if kids are left with grandma, the mother can go back to work...


perhaps you need to get out more? read more? acknowledge information that doesn't conform to your viewpoint?


I thought people could recognize what they wrote. Silly me.

Love / How do Polish men feel about gender equality? [780]


didn't you just agree with Zimmy that the pay gap is somehow "fictitious" because women, as heads of households, get to spend the money that men bring home and that men pay for their dates? (which is just such an asinine thing to say)


Sure, I'd pay that much to keep my husband around for 5 more years when we get old since, according to our statistical life expectancy, I'm doomed to outlive him...

What I'm having trouble with is, you're surely not arguing that men should be paid more because their life expectancy is shorter?


LOL!!! find me the guy who'd rather collect garbage than be in management...

Love / How do Polish men feel about gender equality? [780]

oh, I get it, Zimmy, you work in construction and you have a female boss... well, live with it. some women will make more money than you.

pay gap exists even when measured in similar positions. I'm going to try to get it across it to you one last time: women get paid less for the same work. Female financial professionals, on average, make less than male finance professionals. Female insurance agents earn less than male insurance agents. Even female nurses and teachers earn less than male nurses and teachers. How does your death gap explain that?

So we are different (although only the uninquisitive mind like Zimmy's wouldn't wonder WHY we're different) - but the point is, so what that girls play with dolls and boys play with trucks? How is it a good argument to present to someone who's getting paid less money for their work only because they are female?


Marynka just explained it above...

I get it - you come from a different society, what you consider your own, individual beliefs, Magdalena, are really social conventions that you grew up in. Open-minded people constantly seek to verify their assumptions against new information. Perhaps if you get more insight into how other societies work, you'd see the Polish way is not the only way of seeing things. And the "I'm not going to make myself look like a victim" argument is pretty funny - sure, let's not stand up for what's right, because what will others think?!

I'm not arguing for quota (and neither is the EEOC, if you cared to check), or free money, or any kind of wealth redistribution - I'm arguing for equal chances and for being paid the same for the same work.

Pretty clever argument with the retirement, and I appreciate the work that went into presenting the point (and I'm glad there are intelligent guys here who can present their point of view logically). But you know what the catch is? After your hypothetical woman has been underpaid for 40 years (which, according to your numbers, amounts to $287,640 over the span of her career), she gets the "huge" windfall in extra retirement money of $122,500. Now, which would you rather have? $287K or $122K?

Love / How do Polish men feel about gender equality? [780]


yes! see, guys? women are way ahead of you in understanding things!

good point about the toys, didn't think about it.


the government programs in the US were never intended to provide retirement income, only to supplement it, and I don't think it's the government's job to support retired people, either. The American idea of government responsibilities is much different than what you have in Europe.

Love / How do Polish men feel about gender equality? [780]


Can you explain why they shouldn't accept women?


you know which country has the lowest divorce rate in the world? Libya! Followed by Georgia, Mongolia, and Armenia...

Love / How do Polish men feel about gender equality? [780]


Me neither. We are on equal footing here. If only societies paid more attention to reason rather than "tradition..."

I don't think we're going to solve the nature vs nurture dilemma here, and I can live with the fact that it's most likely both, to a varying degree, depending on the issue. I read the article, and it is pretty interesting.

In case of children playing with toys, there isn't much difference in the value attributed to playing with dolls versus playing with buses or logs. However, later on children are channeled into following behavior patterns that are linked with future value or usefulness: when people see a loud kid telling other children what to do and organizing a group play, if it's a girl, people call her bossy-pants and consider it undesirable; if it's a boy, he's a "born leader." The trouble is that later on those social preferences may weigh on how self-confident, or how successful some people are, compared to others.

Going back to the pay gap question, however, I'm very much concerned that inequality like that is explained away by some people by the "natural order of thing," that this is just how it has to be, given the essential differences between sexes, and that the status quo can be traced back to biology or science, etc., the way that slavery and holocaust were attempted to be argumented based on the "scientific" proof of the innate inequality of races (although I'm far from saying that the pay gap is like slavery or the holocaust...) or, worse yet, by any religious teachings (and there is plenty of countries where religion "forbids" men to treat women equally). This is why, in a civilized society, we have laws that are meant to equalize its members' chances of success regardless of biology, physical strength, or similar factors.

The bottom line is, if I had a daughter, I would like for her to have equal chances of pursuing a career in any field she might choose, to those of her male peers.

I'm not really sure how mandatory gender differences in retirement would solve anything. It only works if the body which mandates the retirement (whether the government or the corporation) provides the means for the retireree to live on. Some countries do, some countries don't. I'd love to retire at 45... I might not be able to. But if I don't have the money to retire at 70, for whatever unfortunate reason, I don't want the government telling me I can't work any more. Besides, if men and women were paid equitably before and after retirement, what difference would it make who retires earlier?

UK, Ireland / Cheap calls to Poland from the UK [134]

Vonage (vonage.com)

calls from the US to the UK and to Poland and a number of other countries are free. I think we pay about $35/month, which covers all of our landline calls, local, long-distance, and int'l

Love / How do Polish men feel about gender equality? [780]


also not very tolerant of women living alone, or women raising children by themselves, women choosing not to marry, women choosing to marry but not to have children, women making more money than men, or women speaking their mind in general... I mean, all of this, that's just crazy talk...

the perfect woman, in GK's mind:
#1 - she is breathing AND actually willing to go out with him,
#2 - whenever not required to be the nurturer his stupid God made her to be, she should just spend time in quiet admiration of his egg-size balls...

Although, since nobody is ever likely to satisfy #1, no need to worry about #2.

Love / How do Polish men feel about gender equality? [780]

I don't mind people smoking but the point I was making about the 50s is what people considered to be the "natural" psychology of women was, in fact, just a social construct. And yes, we grow up to acquire taste in different things, but it's only because we encourage members of the society to behave in a certain way. There are societies where men wear more makeup/face paint or where women are tasked with "construction." Heels were initially invented for guys, too... Left without social guidance, boys and girls wouldn't probably differ much (in addition to being closer to animals than humans and unable to learn a language, which is probably why nobody tried an experimental way to prove it...)

Perhaps the reason why there are not many women on your woodworking forum is BECAUSE there are not many women there? There isn't much social reward for a girl do do woodworking (unlike, e.g., cooking, although both sexes are likely equally good at both activities).

Being a homosexual cannot be "unlearned," I agree - at some level, you are who you are - but the mannerisms that the more flamboyant gay men exhibit are purely social both in form and in significance, except they usually are associated with the opposite sex.


No, but in a distorted view, like the one that criminals have, your status is pegged on a hierarchy, and you have to prove yourself to be "tough" to belong to the "inner circle." The first step is to confront your peers to establish that pecking order, and the confrontation is likely to be purely physical rather than intellectual. When it comes to pure physical strength, girls tend to lose, and aggression is still more acceptable among boys than among girls, even on the fringes. So, again, there is a social conditioning part to it.

Love / How do Polish men feel about gender equality? [780]

First of all, I don't think anyone, including governments, should mandate a retirement age for anyone. Two, in many countries (Poland, if I'm not mistaken) women are forced/encouraged to retire sooner than men.

Psychology has a lot to do with social conditioning - if you teach a part of the society that it's not ok to be assertive or ask directly for what you want, you're going to have that part of the society behaving in a less direct, aggressive way. Women can be as vicious as men, as soon as they realize it's ok. The combat example is not very strong, either, because there are armies where women are at the front lines just like men, and underwear has nothing to do with it (and there are pills that eliminate the underwear issue). Criminal activity might have something to do with physical strength, but I still think it's because girls are brought up in a manner that de-emphasizes standing up for yourself, even by families at the margins of the society (at the same time, the "standing-up" would usually involve physical fights, too).

It's all social conditioning. Did you know that before WWII male babies were dressed in pink, and female in blue, because blue was considered the "dainty" choice between the two colors? And why would someone need the "dainty" color to be assigned to girls, when male and female babies are virtually indistinguishable when it comes to appearance, behavior or social interaction?

Women in the 50s were told they're BETTER OFF staying at home and taking care of the kids, because they're not cut out for the tough world out there, and that their largest accomplishment was going to be how "well" they marry. Well, apparently, time has shown a lot of us are not the withering violet type, after all.

Love / How do Polish men feel about gender equality? [780]


all three of them discriminatory... how can you not see that?

please, no more "death gap" stuff, as I said before, a small sliver of the whole spectrum of what people do (i.e. jobs in hazardous conditions) does not explain the whole phenomenon. I'm not advocating for 50/50 quota. I'm saying women should be allowed to pick their profession and not be faced with stereotypes. You know, some thought they were doing women a favor by not letting them enter those fields at all, as if women weren't capable of making that choice for themselves...

In case you missed my point - women don't earn more money not because they're less capable or don't need or don't want money or because they can't work as hard, but because they're not given an equal chance to do so.


My level?! Sucks-on-d*ck advocates outright violence against women, but when I say that he should be moved to off-topic, it's objectionable?