That made no sense at all

[redbird]

Gary Tesser [1] just called me. It's been long enough since we spoke that he asked for me by full name when I answered the phone (instead of recognizing my voice). When I admitted to being myself--figuring this was probably a response to some business- or job-related thing I'd sent out--he asked if I had a minute. Okay, this is either serious news or a request for something.

No. He told me he hoped this didn't sound like pandering" but that I am "an intelligent human being of the female persuasion" [2]. Oh-kay. Warning bells are going off.

It turned out that he was calling to tell me about a program on the History Channel tomorrow, about women inventors, and that I might be interested. I said "I might be, if I had a television set." Yes, I know somebody who owns one (he asked). No, I am not going to plan my Friday evening around a television program.

After a bit of randomness, he asked "Is that it?" to which I pointed out "You called me, you know whether that's it." What he said next made no sense--as in, it wasn't in any language I recognized--but was followed by a pro forma apology for swearing, and a repetition of the question. I said "Goodbye" and hung up the phone.

[1] A New York area sf fan, not someone I've ever known well.

[2] I'm not sure persuasion has much to do with it. It's what I got in the genetic randomness, and not something I feel a desire to change, but "of the female persuasion" is one of those half-jokes that seems odder and odder as time goes on.

Comments

[mneme]

Ok, that's simply wierd. One wonders if he was on medical pharmicuticals or something.

I know I get annoyed enough when my -mom- calls me up to tell me something she think's I'd be interested in is on TV (and I do have a TV; I just watch it for
less than an hour a week, on average).

"of the female persuasion" is, in fact, a bizarre phrasing, yeah.

er

[maryread.livejournal.com]

He was hitting on you? I mean as in, asking for like a date? to watch the history channel on women inventors. Yeah. Very confused, but that's the message I get from that account.

[treadpath.livejournal.com]

Was he trying to ask you out?

[catamorphism.livejournal.com]

I can't really explain why "of the female persuasion" sounds weird in general, but when paired with "intelligent human being", well, it sounds an awful lot like "well-spoken black man," doesn't it?

[roadnotes.livejournal.com]

That is surreal, even for Tesser. And intrusive -- which is like him.

too weird!

[(Anonymous)]

This fellow sounds quite odd.

He sounds peculiar

[ksp24.livejournal.com]

and rather disconnected from reality. Very odd.

"Of the female persuasion" yecchh.

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

Gary Tesser made no sense 25 years ago, when I was living in NY.

B

[jerrykaufman.livejournal.com]

I'll agree with Roadnotes and Minnehaha. My experience of Tesser was that he was a very surreal human. Asperger's Symdrome, perhaps? It wasn't a concept we had when I lived in New York and saw him with some frequency.

[adrian-turtle.livejournal.com]

What a peculiar experience! I've never met the man, so I can't tell if this behavior is typical for him. For some people, it would indicate "psychotic break." For others, "starting to go manic and forgetting appropriate social boundaries." For others, "drunk." A handful of people behave that badly when nothing's wrong.

I join the chorus agreeing that "of the female persuasion" is somewhere between odd and creepy. I wonder if he thinks being female is a religious or cultural choice? This probably doesn't connect to the modern tendency to refer to a girl or a woman as "a female" (noun, not adjective. I think it came from newspapers, which may have taken it from police reports.) When my grandparents were young, it was considered impolite, not quite *rude*, but somewhat vulgar, to refer to someone as "a Jew." Polite constructions were "of the Hebrew persuasion" or "of the Jewish faith."

[lcohen]

"of the female persuasion" nags at my memory like a joke or some sort of reference--i don't think it's an original construction.

and yeah, that sounds like it was really weird.

[pantryslut.livejournal.com]

I definitely think it's a reference to something. We use "of the (x) persuasion" quite frequently; the dissonance in our case is intentional.

[brisingamen.livejournal.com]

of the female persuasion is the kind of circumlocution I associate, in the UK at least, with men who are somewhat socially inept around women, and sufficiently aware of the fact to make elaborate but unfunny jokes in an effort to conceal this awareness, or are generally a little heavyhanded with the language. I dislike it.

But I've never met Gary Tesser; in fact, I don't even recognise the name.

[greenfizzpops.livejournal.com]

*nod* I've heard the term hundreds of times. It in itself doesn't strike me as creepy, but the rest of the incident is.

Re: That made no sense at all

[pir-anha.livejournal.com]

yeah, it doesn't. except that i am not joining the chorus that feels "of the female persuasion" is creepy in itself. it's not a phrasing i've ever used myself, but i've heard/read it occasionally, usually by people who're trying to be politely funny, and who're either oldfashioned and/or socially not possessed by the greatest ept :). google finds 7,930 hits on the phrase, and a quick perusal of just the overview seems to concur with my impression.

as to what this guy meant with his call, i have no clue; i wouldn't even guess that he was hitting on you. off his meds, maybe? if he is on meds, that is. drunk? having a crisis? your guess is probably better than mine. i don't necessarily get creep vibes off it at this distance, just strong weirdness vibes, and i might worry a little if i cared about this person at all, and might try to get in touch to find out what that was all about. but it's hard to tell without having had the direct impression of the voice, and not knowing the guy.

[ailbhe]

Hmm. "of the female persuasion" doesn't bother me, but "you're an intelligent women, you might be interested in a show about intelligent women," strikes me as hopelessly inept. Perhaps he'd forgotten his medication?

[intelligentrix.livejournal.com]

I've only met Tesser a couple of times, but yes, the Asberger's Syndrome comment makes a lot of sense, as do the concepts that he is socially inept, and trying to be amusing. I put him in the category of "mostly harmless" the few encounters I had with him. I suspect some sort of semi-random thought processes led him to call you: "Hmmm. Show about intelligent women... I know some intelligent women. I bet they'd like to see this. I should call them." Not, of course, thinking about how odd such a call coming out of the blue would be.

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

The term seems more like an affectation than anything else, but I can see how someone might find it offensive.

B

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

Oy ya.

I'm sure he means well, but....ok, actually, I'm not sure at all.

A.
rolling her eyes

"of the X-persuasion"

[lisajulie.livejournal.com]

I have a vague recollection that this originated with a comedian in reference to someone of African-American descent, i.e. "of the dark-skinned persuasion".

Admittedly I use it when trying to emphasize that a person's genetic complement is involuntary (the female/male persuasion). The disparity of "persuasion" (which implies choice) and genetic complement (can't even complain to the progenitors) I find fairly amusing. Yeah, I was born with two X-Chromosomes, but that doesn't mean I can't choose to wear pants. Etc.

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

What a totally strange incident.

On first reading I thought he wanted to interview you for the History Channel. :)

[yonmei.livejournal.com]

How very strange.

I know fans who would ring up other fans to tell them about TV programmes they think they'd be interested in (well, duh, of course I do - but not just slash fans...) but there's usually some kind of social link which would make it semi-appropriate.

"Of the female persuasion" reminds me of the time the student who was sharing our one licenced copy of the software with which I was doing my final-year project sat down beside me and said "So, Yonmei, I hear you're a member of the homosexual society."

(At which I wondered for a beat, did he mean was I a member of Napier's gaysoc? Which I wasn't. And then got what he meant, and said: "I'm a lesbian, yes.")