I had not heard this until yesterday, air conditioning is sexist. After reading a bit, much of it seems to be driven by a young woman named Taylor Lorenz who is a writer for The Atlantic. Taylor maintains "Air-conditioning is unhealthy, bad, miserable, and sexist". Based on one post on her Twitter feed is seems Taylor wants the temperature to be set at a level that supports her wardrobe choice:
Me: I want to be able to wear a dress w/ a sweater to work in the summer and not freeze my face off
It also seems Taylor makes this type of statement to gain attention in social media and possibly professionally:
Haha I tweet the same stuff abt AC every summer I think it’s so funny how so many morons on here lose it lol
I used to have “anti air conditioning activist” in my bio but had to take it out when I was covering politics because Infowars literally referred to me as an “admitted activist” once and my editor got upset and made me remove Lolol
Personally, I think Taylor should start following the old addage of "it's better to remain silent and be thought an idiot than to open your mouth and remove all doubt".
Critics of air conditioning say that people in lesser developed countries don't have air conditioning and are able to live in a broader range of temperatures. This is true, you do become acclimated to different temperature ranges with exposure. These critics should also look at the average lifespan of those people in lesser developed countries. It's not uncommon to hear of a heat wave killing hundreds of people, mostly older people, because they don't have access to air conditioning.
Critics also point to studies showing women perform better in warmer temperatures and this is also true. What is not talked about is the demographics of these studies. These studies are conducted on younger people, typically students in their late teens and early 20's. The results are then broadcast lumping all women into the same category regardless of their age. My wife is currently in menopause and sometimes I end up with a blanket over me to stay warm at home. To make generalities about men and women based on these studies makes no sense because, as most of us know, our metabolism changes as we get older.
There is a case however for reevaluating the temperature of office environments. The current formula for calculating heat loads of office workers, used to size the air conditioner, was developed in the 1960's using the standard office employee as being a 70 kg (154 pound), 40 year old, white male wearing a suit and tie. Obviously, progress has been made since then including more gender and racial diversity. The Bureau of Labor and Statistics indicates the median age of the workforce is now 42.2 years old but there are more dramatic changes. Many companies have less restrictive dress codes not forcing men to always comply with the suit and tie requirement. I would also think a 40 year old white male that only weighs 154 pounds is more the exception than the average. So potentially it could be helpful to recalculate the heat load generated by employees in an office atmosphere to more fit the actual makeup of the office demographics.
Air conditioning is not sexist. This is just another example of leftist liberals not wanting to take any personal responsibility. The sad part is, much of it is being pushed by a self-centered, self-serving young lady who seems to have no consideration for other people. Maybe, she should become a member of the House of Representatives! Move over AOC!
