The Internet is Now Debating Whether Air Conditioning is Sexist Because Seriously What’s Wrong With You People
The New York Times published an article entitled “Do Americans Need Air-Conditioning?” and, Twitter did what Twitter does: twisted the debate into whether or not air conditioning was… sexist.
The article griped that office climate is gendered: “There is an oft-cited study published in Nature.com that notes how building temperatures, once set to the comfort preferences of 1960s-era men in suits, disregard the “thermal comfort” of female staffers.”
It said that this debate seems to arise every summer. “Come summer, Twitter invariably lights up with charges that air-conditioning is sexist, an engine of the patriarchy, in threads that in turn fire up conservative commentators eager to prove the daftness of the opposition.”
The Twitter storm seemed to begin when Atlantic writer Taylor Lorenz, half-trolling half-not tweeted the article with the hot take calling to ban AC:
Air-conditioning is unhealthy, bad, miserable, and sexist. I can’t explain how many times I’ve gotten sick over the summer b/c of overzealous AC in offices. #BanAC https://t.co/QPME4lMTVS
— Taylor Lorenz (@TaylorLorenz) July 7, 2019
Naturally, those who like to be comfortably cool defended air conditioning by trying to out-woke Lorenz:
white women tout the abolishment of AC as a gender issue but always always fail to acknowledge how lack of AC for poor, often black communities is oppressive and life threatening especially as the planet warms. There are ways to address both concerns, but that rarely happens https://t.co/ePsMF0VW07
— David Dennis Jr. (@DavidDTSS) July 8, 2019
Alternatively, air conditioning has bettered the lives of hundreds of millions of people and saved tens of thousands of lives, and you’re just arguing over the thermostat. https://t.co/xFrzPHbWZ7
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) July 8, 2019
It’s boring because it’s inconsistently applied; we never read Luddite arguments against heating. It’s boring because, as a guy who has spent a lot of time in Europe and who has seen thousands die for want of air conditioning, it’s built atop a fantasy.
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) July 8, 2019
And it’s boring because it’s always couched in up-to-the-moment woke language when, in fact, the argument is insufferably insular and privileged. Know who suffers the most from a lack of air conditioning? Elderly people. Poor people. Minorities in the South.
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) July 8, 2019
Some just saw the ridiculousness of it all:
You are so right. A/C is also racist. I know they make it that cold so I’m not tempted to wear African heritage clothing.
It has absolutely nothing to do with setting a comfortable temperature everyone I know also keeps their house at.
— Dominique Clare (@DomClare) July 8, 2019
As a fat woman I think the woman who says AC is sexist is actually being fatphobic. Checkmate bitch
— Kath Barbadoro (@kathbarbadoro) July 8, 2019
air conditioning is just a backdoor way of keeping female reporters from showing their shoulders in the House gallery
— Alex Griswold (@HashtagGriswold) July 8, 2019
Nothing screams first world privilege like bitching about air conditioning.
— Willis Carrier Stan Account (@BridgetPhetasy) July 8, 2019
Please stop assuming my gender hates air conditioning. #notallwomen
— Willis Carrier Stan Account (@BridgetPhetasy) July 8, 2019
This is the definitive take on air-conditioning: if you are cold, you can add more clothes. If you are hot, there’s only so much you can take off.
— Carol Roth (@caroljsroth) July 8, 2019
We’ve gotta be doing pretty well if we’re debating the morality of air conditioning.
— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) July 8, 2019
This is a bad take. Whoever invented air conditioning should have a federal holiday named after them. https://t.co/92ZGeCiYVf
— Jay CaRINO (@JayCaruso) July 8, 2019
Even feminist writer Roxane Gay couldn’t side with the “AC is sexist” take:
Y’all are not going to do this air conditioning is bad nonsense. Always wanting to create unnecessary struggle. You wouldn’t last a summer week in Florida without it. Get a grip.
— roxane gay (@rgay) July 8, 2019
But, there were some who didn’t defend AC:
YES!
-The majority of air conditioners should be dehumidifiers that circulate air.
-Businesses that keep their doors open and the AC on should be fined
-The best part of summer is when it cools off at night and you can have the windows open
-Extremely ready to die on this hill.— Brendan Jay Sullivan (@MrBrendanJay) July 7, 2019
Cancel me I’m an AC centrist
— Nesnáším fašistické kolaboranty (@EmilyGorcenski) July 8, 2019
Lorenz stood by her original take despite the tweet getting ratio’ed:
Dying at all the men in my mentions having a literal *meltdown* because I suggested raising office temps a few degrees in the summer. No amt of AC on the planet will help men online chill
— Taylor Lorenz (@TaylorLorenz) July 8, 2019
Like buy a fan. Ur not gonna die lol. I should be able to wear dresses in the summer and not get hypothermia. Weird that making women slightly more comfortable and productive at work causes so many men to have a mental breakdown ? https://t.co/bsWKRjZ6jv
— Taylor Lorenz (@TaylorLorenz) July 8, 2019
Over Air Conditioning The Workplace Is Preventing Millions Of Women From Having A Hot Girl Summer
— Taylor Lorenz (@TaylorLorenz) July 8, 2019
[Photo by Woohae Cho/Getty Images]
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