Saturday, September 23, 2006
Have I just been sexually harassed?
Often I hear of people being sued for sexual harassment just for having sexually provocative pictures of women around where others can view them.
A few days ago in class, one student was giving a presentation on the text for the day, and he passed around several books for us to look at ("seminal works in the field" and all that). This student is gay and studies Queer Theory. Every book had "bookmarks" in it that were pictures of naked men (and not the artistic type - these were soft core gay porn). It would have been impossible to flip through the books without seeing them.
If I had passed around books that contained pictures of Playboy centerfolds as the bookmarks, I bet I'd be in serious trouble.
A few days ago in class, one student was giving a presentation on the text for the day, and he passed around several books for us to look at ("seminal works in the field" and all that). This student is gay and studies Queer Theory. Every book had "bookmarks" in it that were pictures of naked men (and not the artistic type - these were soft core gay porn). It would have been impossible to flip through the books without seeing them.
If I had passed around books that contained pictures of Playboy centerfolds as the bookmarks, I bet I'd be in serious trouble.
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Creating shock troops for the revolution...
Here I am at the start of another new semester - and I just got new copies of the textbooks I'm required to use while teaching my freshman level composition class.
One is an "African-American reader" that contains rant after rant after rant on the evils of white people (and one essay on why Clarence Thomas is a sell-out, con man and liar).
This reader isn't designed to teach independent thought, give good models for writing or engage the reader in any meaningful way. Despite its appearance as an academic text, it isn't one. It isn't going to create engaged citizens or prepare students for the job market.
It's designed to create shock troops for the revolution.
One is an "African-American reader" that contains rant after rant after rant on the evils of white people (and one essay on why Clarence Thomas is a sell-out, con man and liar).
This reader isn't designed to teach independent thought, give good models for writing or engage the reader in any meaningful way. Despite its appearance as an academic text, it isn't one. It isn't going to create engaged citizens or prepare students for the job market.
It's designed to create shock troops for the revolution.
