When I signed up to take an economics class with a professor who occassionally guest hosts on Rush Limbaugh’s radio show and thinks gender bias and pay disparity are myths (not to mention global warming), I knew I’d eventually hear some theories with which I disagree. I did not expect I’d be besieged with casual sexism cloaked as “humor.”
The man, in his 70′s, makes economics easy to understand. But he seems to be preoccupied with male/female relations and uses interactions between the sexes in almost every real-world example he gives us. I am still thinking about something he brought up yesterday.
While teaching about price elasticity (the measure of change in the quantity demanded for a good as a result of a change in price of that good), he drew a graph on the board that said “lashes” on the Y axis and “wife’s behavior” on the X axis. He used domestic violence to illustrate price elasticity of demand. He smugly explained that, if a man (of course) wanted to change his “disobedient” wife’s behavior, he’d administer a certain number of lashes. He drew a curve representing the magnitute of the change in behavior in relation to the quantity of lashes delivered.
As he developed his little story, clearly pleased with himself, I looked around the classroom hoping to meet the eyes of other disapproving students. Some of the other women must be as disgusted as I. But everyone laughed. He laughed. Then he moved on to the next topic. What is going on here!? I thought. Who does this jerk think he is?! But the laughter of his students, at least 50 percent of them women, gave him approval and permission. My silence gave him permission. I’m sure some now consider him a hero for being so “politically incorrect.”
At least one, if not more, people in that classroom must have grown up in a house plagued by domestic violence. At least one, if not more, had experienced intimate partner violence themselves. But even if nobody in the class had first-hand experience with it, the professor was wrong to make light of a serious (and often deadly) issue that primarily affects women and girls. Intimate partner violence is happening now; it is not a relic of the past (and it wouldn’t be OK in that case, either). I am disturbed by the reactions from my fellow students. Domestic violence is a joke; a hilarious scenario used to demonstrate economic concepts.
My knee itches for this dude’s crotch.
this is really sad. the fact that he has to go so low as to make fun of domestic violence to get a point across in a class not remotely related to it is really pathetic. i would have stood up and said something or scheduled a time to speak with him/his superiors. really, really pathetic.
What is it with economics professors? I majored in econ at a small, relatively liberal college in the midwest, and I can recall at least three professors in my department whose senses of humor sound about on par with this dude’s. One of them was my advisor.
What is it with economics professors, Ratinski? They suffer from a variant strain of political science jockitis.
Stuff like that violates all sorts of university policies. I don’t care what school you go to, questions like that violate the anti-sexual harassment policies.
Sadly, I can say like many of your classmates I know there have been many times I’ve not noticed a joke like that. We’re so socialized that that sort of thing is okay to laugh about that you have to be pretty tuned into to realize it’s not.
I would send an e-mail to his supervisor or the chair of the dept. That sort of behavior just pollutes any kind of learning environment.
It is the prevailing attitudes behind shit like this that make people out to be strident assholes when they point out just how offensive that is. “Really, have a better sense of humor!” “Lighten up!” “Why so angry?” “It’s not like he meant it literally!”
Head.about.to.explode.
Lucklys, you can’t say what you’d do in that situation until it happens. You really can’t.
I am hesitant to send an email to the Dept. Chair because last semester I sent him an email complaining about a professor who was just a shit teacher who only posted Power Points from the book and made learning the material so difficult. I ended up withdrawing from the class and registering for the class I’m in now instead! I am not even enrolled in the masters program yet; I am just doing my prerequisites and I hope to attend the school once I am qualified.
P.Soul: This explains why my brief attempt to double major in polisci and econ made my head nearly explode with rage.
It’s experiences like that that make you wonder what planet you’re on… And also make you realize that people who say we live in a post-feminist society are not very aware of the world around them or their ingrained biases.
Yuck. What a scumbag. Please, please take advantage of end-of-the-semester professor reviews to ream this guy out.
Ratinski, how sad that sexism pushed you out of those fields! When people wonder “Why aren’t there more women in these fields? They must not have the interest/aptitude” it’s so infuriating. How about it’s because they are hostile environments!!
Sarah, does your school have an obudsman? That’s the office at my university that deals with complaints like these. Going to an advisor might help as well, they know how to navigate the system. As someone who works in a university, I agree that going to the Chair might not be best. They’re faculty, and faculty can be obtuse about administrative stuff. It is of course up to you if you want to speak up about this, but I just wanted to suggest there may be some alternate routes to addressing it if you choose to.
oh sarah, this sounds like EVERY SINGLE FUCKING DAY of law school! These people are FUCKING BONKERS! And they act like YOU are the crazy one! Can you believe how the other students just sit there? The cult of authority is unbelievable. I dealt with it by being a total screaming banshee, calling out professors in classes of a hundred people, CRYING IN CLASS (oh yes. multiple times), passing out letter campaigns, holding consciousness raising meetings that no one came to, going to office hours to call them misogynists and racists to their face, and filling out teacher evaluation forms like this:
RACIST
SEXIST
CLASSIST
BELIEVES LAW IS NEUTRAL HAHAHAHAHA
FIRE HIM!!!!!
I’m not saying you should respond as I did, because I think the main thing I accomplished was making a lot of enemies and wasting a ton of energy. I’m not saying you should have done anything differently. I’m just raging in sympathy. Can you believe they let these fuckers teach anyone??? My problem was my rage totally got in the way of my education, so like when I thought my property professor was a capitalist pig (what was I expecting from PROPERTY CLASS?) I just eschewed learning property law altogether. I admire you for being able to see that he actually explains economics well despite being a violent sexist idiot.
You’re also at a really conservative school though, right?
Kivrin, that’s probably all I’ll do. This guy used to be Dept. Chair. He’s gotten this far in his career (pretty far, in the economics world) without being punished. I can’t imagine I’m literally the ONLY woman he’s ever disgusted with his sexism; surely someone else he’s crossed paths with at the school has complained about him. I don’t know. I would like to take a more public stand but I’m afraid it would be too risky, academically. If I were safely in the program already it’d be a different story.
Oh, JD, we need to get together for drinks or something soon.
I don’t think I’m at a conservative school; it’s George Mason. I’m only out there for a couple hours each week, so I am not even part of the campus culture. I work full-time so I just drive the 20 miles to class then leave.
I may get in touch with the ombusman (who’s a lady).
I am definitely forging ahead with the courses because I recognize that the discipline itself is not sexist; it’s just the majority of practitioners! And I’d like to change that.
@ Mireille: I think the truly backwards thing is that some people would say we live in a post-feminist society BECAUSE people can make jokes like this and everyone laughs, because we all understand he’s “just kidding.” UGH!
George Mason is totally conservative. I’m not telling you that to make you feel bad, just to give you a reality check in case you start to feel cray cray. It’s totally convenient for you and a great school academically, but its reputation is definitely to the right of center. It gets a lot of $$ from right wing orgs. Especially the econ and law depts. I think. Here are some links: http://www.mediatransparency.org/recipientprofile.php?recipientID=413
http://www.slate.com/id/2138846/
http://www.nationalreview.com/flashback/miller200603270620.asp
We can totally go for drinks. you have my email right? I am SO GLAD you are entering a male dominated field like economics, which is famous for hiding insane sexist racist and classist assumptions in its mathematical models. We DEF need more feminist economists.
Did you ever hear that joke about the economist stuck on a desert isle? He ate all the coconuts he could find, failed at catching fish, and was really hungry when he found some canned chili. He tried but failed to open it, so he just assumed the presence of a can opener!
yuk yuk yuk…hilarious, i know.
Oh, oh, the economics dept. is conservative, yes. For some reason I was thinking GMU as a whole and I wasn’t sure about that. Yeah, I just have to suck it up and do it because I’m in state and it has a good reputation.
I’ve heard the joke so many times, haha! The professors love telling it.
@JD, I was super-lucky in that I went to a law school that was airy-fairy, and in a different country to boot, where we were all much more careful about this kind of thing. I can’t even picture professors/students at my law school making these kinds of analogies or remarks without major revolt from their peers.
Not that sexism didn’t play out other ways, but I digress.
You know, there are so many stereotypes of women–we being emotional bad drivers who menstruate, which is icky–that are popular joke fodder. Why would he go with a domestic violence joke? Not that any of them would be appropriate, obviously, but when are jokes about any kind of violence ever funny?
Isn’t Echidne of the Snakes a feminist economist? She has a GREAT piece that deconstructs the critisms of the wage gap and really gets into the technicalities of how it’s calculated it while remaining readable: http://www.echidne-of-the-snakes.com/gendergap/gendergappart1.htm
This is a little OT I know, but I found this article really useful and refer back to it whenever people bust out any of the stupid excuses for the wage gap.
Oh look, and you guys link her in your blog roll. Ha, sorry, didn’t look first!
I am flabbergasted. I imagine you didn’t say something in the class because you were too shocked, or you were worried about your grades from this asshole – which is totally a good reason and I absolutely don’t blame you. But he is UNFIT to teach. You have to do something. Can’t you create a stink anonymously? Write to your local paper? The Dean of the College? CC it to everyone who may have influence – town mayor, local women’s shelters, Rachel Maddow?????!!!!!! This cannot stand.
PS, no wonder you are so confused by your colleagues. I got a schooling in that culture from day one of law school, I found it shocking and appalling and never experienced anything like it in my (admittedly, single sex) undergrad or (admittedly, communitarian)life after college. That’s why I stay far, far away from ye olde law firms.
My International Law prof was a blowhard and incredibly xenophobic, great combo. I dropped the class for other reasons but was so happy to never have to hear him again. And I went to a pretty liberal law school (though one that was part of a Catholic university).
I saw a TON of sexism from the male students in their treatment and regard for the female profs – who were 1000x more brilliant and accmomplished than they’d ever be. Thinking about it makes me ill.
Any way you could make an anonymous complaint?
Dude, my high school is NEXT DOOR to George Mason! My parents live literally two minutes away! If you ever want your head to explode I’ll send you to church with them on Sunday.
On an actually related note, I am not surprised no one said anything in class. I had some awful teachers in school and no matter how offensive they got no one ever spoke up. It was the South, doncha know, so certain racist, sexist stereotypes were not only alive but considered totally fact based. And although complaining to SOMEONE is probably the right thing to do, I doubt you get more than a polite “yes, we’re taking this very seriously and looking into the situation” and an eye roll.
Yes, I will say something to the ombudsman. But this professor is a pretty controversial figure who goes against the “PC” grain (hah!) all the time in his work, so I can’t imagine that anyone at the school would be surprised or alarmed to hear what he’s saying in class.
Depressing.
Maybe you could write an anonymous letter to the school newspaper or something? You might make more of an impact by getting fellow students riled up than going to the administration…
Look, I get that many here are more resigned about this, probably because you have more experience than I in American institutions, or simply IN America (I’m English born and bred and have only lived in NYC for 7 years). I don’t know. I did my degree 20 years ago, and I know that if any of my professors had said what this guy said, he’d probably have been suspended, if not fired. This is not just sexism; this is JOKING about DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.
@Diziet_Sma: Ugh. That last post from me reads totally wrong. What I meant was, the discussion about whether the school is conservative or not, or whether it’s an economics and law thing or not. . . I just don’t get. But that is because I don’t have any experience of these fields. So, yeah, I guess I should just stfu. I am just mad about this guy! Did not mean to offend anyone, if I did. I know everyone here is mad about it, too – your responses are just more nuanced than my “KILL HIM!” approach. Heh.
Is your web handle close enough to your real name where, if we started a complain campaign, you’d be linked to it? (GMU plus Limbaugh commentator? Easy enough to find.)
Trust me, D_S, I understand. I emailed the other Harpies about it as soon as I got to my computer after it happened and I want to kill him too. I also know that he is protected by his status and probably by tenure. But I did just email the Ombudsman so maybe I can set up an appointment to make an official complaint next time I’m on campus.
Sorry, that should be *complaint.
Uuuuuuugggggh, the “un PC” bullshit. I hate it soooo much. Like they’re being a fucking maverick because they’re willing to say the same old opressive bullshit that supports the same old powerstructures that have been in place for a hundred years. Yeah, real ground-breaking, asshole, you made a sexist joke! How ever did you think of that?
*Er, hundreds of years.
Unfortunately, my web handle is such that if one wanted to figure out who I am by going through the class list, he could easily identify me.
@SarahMC: I hear you. We all do what we can, but in the long run, it’s more helpful for you to get what you need out of this – ie the education and qualifications you want – to fight the good fight at a higher level.
So, good luck with it all, but especially with your education! (And apologies for my outrage, which doesn’t really help anyone.)
@exelizabeth Yeah, anyone who starts a sentence “I know it’s not PC, but…” is an asshole.
@ Sarah: Thank goodness you are putting in a complaint. I understand the pressures to get into grad school (been there!) but that is one of the traps in Universities and keeping students from rocking the boat. So much money is invested in Universities and so much can depend on a few classes. Although your resignation is common as tenure is a tricky reality, the University will be hiring more profs. Profs that influence thousands of malleable minds who are there to critically examine life, knowledge and learn. Students who will be entering the work force and our society and who will take these sexist lectures with them.
Making domestic violence a joke is NOT professional, nor does it bode well for the University’s image (which does matter, even if it’s a conservative one- they actively search for funding, especially from the Government).
Regardless if your complaint or actions have an immediate affect on the prof at hand, taking and stand against this type of insidious, subtle sexism can make a difference.
I really like the idea of writing a letter to a local paper(s). Even better- if sexist comments are common- record his lecture (you bring a laptop to class?), even a small digital recorder will do. Request a meeting with the ombudswoman and play the recording. ‘leak’ it to a local news broadcast.
Bad publicity is not welcomed by Universities. This can all be done anonymously (although with a risk of being discovered of course).
Feel great about your first step in taking a stand and having the courage to say: Enough! You’re in a University, there are many more who feel the same, you just have to find them.
Considering that it’s a public university, the State of Virginia should know that one of their employees is making light of wifebeating and getting paid for it. I second Lisa’s idea of recording a lecture and leaking it to the local press.
Thanks for the support, everyone. How does one go about leaking a story to the local press?
I’d ask Megan for a tip Sarah. I bet she has fingers in some media pies.
As someone that works as a therapist at a battered women’s shelter and play a part in helping battered women repair their lives, their psyche, and their self-esteem that have all been destroyed by abusive relationships, this story makes me sick. it perpetuates the idea that violence is okay and joking about it is okay. But it’s not. And it never has been, and it’s assholes like this guy that give people permission to be silent or to joke about DV.
Also, reading that reminded me of something Mr. Dennis Prager would do.
You could TOTALLY go to the local media. There was an uproar in my area when a professor at a community college made a math quiz with this question: “Condoleezza holds a watermelon just over the edge of the roof of the 300-foot Federal Building, and tosses it up with a velocity of 20 feet per second.”
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002927599_bcc13e.html
@SarahMC: If I was going to leak a story, I’d start recording his lectures and build up a stock of evidence first. It’s usual for students to record lectures, isn’t it? (Maybe it would even be possible to find out if one of your fellow students recorded this lecture? If you could borrow it without arousing suspicion – say, you lost your notes, for eg – you could get a copy.)
Start scanning the local paper(s)/university paper and suss out a reporter who you think will be sympathetic. When you’ve got enough damning evidence together, write them an anonymous letter enclosing a copy of your recorded ‘evidence’. CC the whole package (including copies of the recordings) to everyone important/relevant in the town/community. Just sign it from one of his students. And if you’re really going to do this, I’d start laughing along from now on, so people won’t suspect!
Also, you may want to delete this entire blog posting and comments!
YES YES! Diziet_Sma has the right idea- “borrow” notes. I know that it is common practice to bring laptops to lectures (to take notes of course!) and lots of laptops have recording devices built in (well MAC’s do for sure).
sarah i have a recording device if you want to borrow.
I know everyone’s really excited about this media story idea but I’m afraid it may be harder than you think. The “local paper” around there is the Washington Post and getting a them to run a story is more difficult than just writing a letter to the editor. They’d probably refuse to run any accusation without proof and the chances that a fellow student recorded that lecture aren’t very high. On top of that, if this guy makes a habit of being “controversial” and is a frequent guest of everyone’s favorite ridiculous-offensive-statement-making radio host, I’m afraid a domestic violence joke is probably not even the worst thing this guy has ever said. And the other statements might be on tape. I even doubt GMU would be upset, considering how eager they are for publicity.
Yeah, I’m a total Debbie Downer. I still think reporting the “joke” is the right thing to do, but the ombudsman may be your best hope.
I’d like to analyze the number of scrotum twists it takes to get that guy to do the dishes.