Ann's point is a good one, and it reminds me of a talk on racism given at
NITOP this year by... (um, someone help me out to give credit where it's
due?) ... anyway, the idea was that the "subtle" forms of racism (and the
same applies to this issue I think) protect the individual being
discriminatory. But it's not just for the fear of reprisal, but from their
OWN self-image, i.e., "No, I'd NEVER give a female prof a hard time. She
just misunderstood/is hypersensitive."
My unasked-for 2 cents,
David W.
At 02:48 PM 2/16/00 -0500, ANN MUIR THOMAS wrote:
>On Wed, 16 Feb 2000, Jeff Ricker wrote:
>
>> should be other ways to measure it. For example, are there more assaults on
>> female instructors overall? This does not get at the question of more
>> subtle kinds of disrespect, but it seems relevant to the general question.
>
>But it's the subtle stuff that *matters*. The vast majority of male
>students aren't going to assault their professors, male or female. The
>subtle stuff I have experienced is more of an "I dare you to confront me"
>type... the kind of thing where it's very easy for the student to say,
>"oh, you misunderstood... I didn't really say that, I wasn't being
>threatening" etc. and get away with it. They *rarely* get in my face,
>because then I *can* retaliate. Cowardly of them, isn't it. But aren't
>most bullies really cowards underneath?
>
>This all kinda reminds me of two black friends I had in graduate school in
>Missouri. They were both from Louisiana, one from New Orleans and the
>other from New Iberia. They said they liked Louisiana more, because there
>you *knew* who was racist. There were restaurants in Columbia [MO] that
>would claim they didn't have a table for my friends, unless there was a
>white person in the party. But the restaurants could get away with it
>because they could always say , "oh, you misunderstood... see, we have all
>these reservations and you didn't understand that all we meant is that
>you'd have to reserve a table in advance..." Easy to get off the hook,
>that way.
>
>------------------
>Ann Muir Thomas, Ph.D. http://erebus.bentley.edu/empl/t/athomas
>"The Accidental Jewess"
>Bentley College, Waltham, MA
>
>"You aren't belittled by being little. Only by acting small." --- Red
>
>
>
>
David Wasieleski, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Valdosta State University
Valdosta, GA 31698
912-333-5620
http://chiron.valdosta.edu/dtwasieleski
"You can see a million miles tonight
But you can't get very far..."
--Counting Crows
"Mrs. Potter's Lullaby"
