so if women are molehills . . . and equality a molehill . . .
thank you for the response and the attention.
i love the class but find a bit of the chatter
t&a, and the a-hole hypothesis, and talk of "getting laid" (in bio), margaret thatcher being a man, etc . . . to be . . .
also if you knew what i went thru in my other classes you might see the cumulative nature of this.
in my other classes
i have heard professor rant on and on about hookers, prostitutes, bring films in with the word whore, the n-word, words i don't even know.
another prof talks about students making more money on the streets as a slut than in the legal field etc.
actually many of my friends have had a lot of trouble with profs in many depts. regarding racism, sexism, etc.
you of all people seem to be more sensitive to what women endure.
i am not into absolutist definitions of words and meanings and yes indeed did revisit the etymology.
because i was so lucky to have a very elegant and graceful father and go to nice schools before, i find the utilization of such language out of step with what i prefer, as well as out of step with the lectures i follow by correspondence online.
the lopez case as you are probably aware to me is demonstrative of the school's failure to protect its dwindling resources.
i think a high level of care should be taken to respect all students and err on the side of respect.
the fact that the school has to pay up for a prof calling a student a "bastard"
is evidence of how delicately students must be treated. i in no way support the homophobic rant of the student either.
but the fact that teachers words can be very expensive, should alert all profs to the degree of respect and care they should show the school budget, if not the actual students.
as words evolve and change meanings, i think that is where a concept of consent might play in.
a word with a very innocent meaning can change and vice-versa, for which culture.
if i tell you it makes me uncomfortable, might you not say, oh i'm so sorry, let's think of a different way to express this?
it is the force of your personality which i most admire, and which gives me courage. if it feels overwhelming, i think it is because we, as students are trained to be passive, and mild mannered.
i'm sorry i feel that the constant drip of verbal cruelty to women in culture in general is fascistic, but overall it is so culturally endemic to be quite annoying.
it doesn't really matter about the broadcasts anyway.
your class is amazing, overall and you know that. i wouldn't attempt this conversation if it were not so.
i think the presumption that we should accept all the language blindly is the last thing you'd want . . . a bunch of sheep for students?
that doesn't sound any fun.
i am sorry if any of the words i used, offended you as well.
as surely i could have rephrased them to more accurately say what i meant.
most of all all i mean to say is that i subjectively feel overall, uncomfortable, with how women are treated, linguistically, civically, etc in this world.
and reminders of the disparity i feel can reinforce the status quo. i think the class shouldn't align itself with pop-culture language and should try to find a more enlightened level of respect.
thanks for listening, and for being so thought-provoking, and for being such a great teacher, overall my second fave of all time, next to idit dobbs-weinstein who had to sue my old sexistalma mater to keep her job.
you guys are the best!
From: "Bartelt, Brian A" <bartelba@lacitycollege.edu>To: mary eng
Mary,
With all due respect, you are completely out of line. In no way can my class be described as "vulgar and antiquated." I take offense at this gross misrepresentation. Before you levy such a charge against me, I strongly suggest you think hard about what you are saying. You will see that you have no case.
I take pedagogy seriously. I take accusations like this seriously. In no way do i think this a laughing matter.
Finally, before you make a mountain out of a mole-hill, perhaps you need to revisit the entomology of the word "tit." It derives from teat, meaning nipple, and can be pronounced as tit or teet. Both men and women have them, as do the cows on the farm on which I grew up.
I also do not appreciate your calling me a fascist. These are serious charges/accusations and I will not stand by and let a student throw such accusations my way - especially when they are completely unwarranted. I always welcome questions and discussion. In fact, I go out of my way to facilitate that.
I tried to accommodate you and your desire to video my lectures. However, these base-less accusations have left me with no choice but to forbid all filming and taping of my lectures, as my academic freedom is now at stake. I will make a formal announcement in class next week.
-Dr. Bartelt
With all due respect, you are completely out of line. In no way can my class be described as "vulgar and antiquated." I take offense at this gross misrepresentation. Before you levy such a charge against me, I strongly suggest you think hard about what you are saying. You will see that you have no case.
I take pedagogy seriously. I take accusations like this seriously. In no way do i think this a laughing matter.
Finally, before you make a mountain out of a mole-hill, perhaps you need to revisit the entomology of the word "tit." It derives from teat, meaning nipple, and can be pronounced as tit or teet. Both men and women have them, as do the cows on the farm on which I grew up.
I also do not appreciate your calling me a fascist. These are serious charges/accusations and I will not stand by and let a student throw such accusations my way - especially when they are completely unwarranted. I always welcome questions and discussion. In fact, I go out of my way to facilitate that.
I tried to accommodate you and your desire to video my lectures. However, these base-less accusations have left me with no choice but to forbid all filming and taping of my lectures, as my academic freedom is now at stake. I will make a formal announcement in class next week.
-Dr. Bartelt
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