Too Nice to Land a Job? (Inside Higher Ed) An intelligent comment was made on this article, via e-mail, which we will copy here: On a meta-linguistic level what disturbs me is that the writer concluded that words associated with stereotypical
feminine qualities should be avoided in recommendation letters. An alternative conclusion could have been,
"Men and women, let's get organized and promote these so-called feminine qualities (which men, obviously, are also
capable of possessing) as being advantageous. Let's change the paradigm." It seems that the conclusion was to conform
to the hidden presumptions embedded in the status quo so that women could get jobs.
Department of Earth & Environmental Studies 