A run-in with faulty faculty

(And yeah...whatta dope. Sadly, that's a pervasive attitude -- rather than saying, "Yeah! Go women, go everyone and excel!" one gets, "Yeah, go women, and go men because you've got to work harder now to monopoloize everything!"

Ay carumba.)

Have you considered writing a letter about that to the college heads or the teacher and explain how it made you feel, to the degree that you just didn't even feel able to excel in that class? Might make him think, at least: it's entriely possible he earnestly just can't think outside his oen lens and might even think what he was saying was empowering: that women's impetus to excel is about "taking over," -- as is often a male approach -- rather than succeeding by our own merits.

Like Heather said, now that you're out of the class, you might want to write a letter to the teacher's boss informing them of the issue. I'm so glad you were able to get out!

It crossed my mind that it could be an eye-opener for a guy like him, if I even just spoke up in class about it while it was happening. I was close to just blatantly asking him what point he was trying to make that was relevant to *all* of us?

But it also crossed my mind that I'd probably just get the "Well women like you are just too sensitive - and your sensitivity isn't my problem" card.

Ugh. I hate these stupid sterotypes. I own more cds then my brother and my brother owns more shoes than me. If I had taken that class, it would have been like the english class I look when I was a junior; arguments between me and professor all semester. Its cool that you got into the women's history course, but shouldn't all history include women's history? Its sad that when I took classes at community college, the professors were not nearly as intelligent or open minded as the teachers I had in high school. I admire that some of my high school teachers have stuck with it and stayed teaching teenagers...but I wish some of them would teach community college. So many of my high school teachers have doctorates in their fields, some are better educated then the professors I ended up with in community college.

This professor kind of feels like that post Brooke made off the NYT article.

"Boys, these women have been influenced by those evil feminists into thinking that they should be treated equally........ so you gotta step it up a little so you can use them as doormats and secretaries again. We gotta change the school system so girls can't succeed anymore....."

Gag.

I've thought about this situation a lot since you posted it. Writing a letter to the Dept Chair (your prof's superior) would be one way of addressing the issue, it is true, but I think I would urge you to confront the professor personally first. As you say, it is entirely possible that this prof had good intentions, but was expressing himself horribly. Letters as Heather and Ellen suggest go on profs' permanent files, and can be used to deny them tenure (fire them)! Letters can be serious business. So talk w/him first, please- and if he really is a total prick (gosh knows they're out there), then by all means, send that letter. But I'd hate to see a hardworking, well-meaning, (misguided) prof potentially canned for a situation he might have preferred to learn from.

Contre tout le monde, je me defendrai...je suis le dernier homme, je le resterai jusqu'au bout! Je ne capitule pas!
- Ionesco, Le Rhinoceros