rush transcript: bitch and tit in the classroom

the following is my attempt to type the interesting moments from social sciences chair eckford's "mandatory" meeting 5-25-10 in which i was threatened with suspension from anthropology for blogging and writing emails.  
the fact that he told lawyer& UCLA and southwestern professor of sexual harassment law and first-amendment rights keith fink, to go "jump in a pool" adds a funny spin to this little shindig.  eckford said he would "hang up on your dumb ass."
fink seemed to think that this meeting was a coercive two-on-one gang-up.  i was aware they would try to railroad me, but went in the spirit of satyagraha, to fight for women of the future to be free from the hurling of classroom epithets.
fink noted that while eckford uses the first amendment to justify spewing this sexist rant on me, they contradictorily deny any first amendment right i might have to blog it.


the meeting itself was a bit off, in the sense, that it was not at an advanced or progressive level.
i was fully aware that it was my right not to go on such short notice without representation.  i went however to humor the people and to let them unfurl their flag.  


and i was genuinely touched that my blogging was reaching them and sparking a dialogue.


i was somehow honored that my blogging gained me an hour's venue with these interesting progressives.


i felt it my opportunity to evangelize to them and make the case for an even more radical notion of respect, solidarity, and equality.


when the lecture began, eckford asked if he might make a tape.  i said sure.  then he launched into an accusational: you did this rant.  i immediately asked if i might record.  and then the tone became more calm.
the opening lecture was eckford to me.  bartelt was allowed to speak some, but was sometimes silenced. then when i spoke, i was often interrupted.  bartelt spoke, asking many rhetorical questions which when i tried to answer, he kept talking.


the most interesting parts of this were eckford's assertion that "bitch and tit" are an okay words for the classroom.


the repeated assertion that the teacher is on "solid ground" and i am "inappropriate" i found to be a very visual metaphor and dichotomy.


i tried very hard to be patient and listen to what eckford had to say to me.  as for the interpretation that my advocacy involves "threats," i believe there is a misinterpretation of my intent.


my intent is to alert the professors to the actionability and legal vulnerability created by permitting unjustified careless and wanton slurs in the classroom.


i am not myself, threatening to sue, but saying why create a legal vulnerability that might imperil the school budget?
or why expose oneself the the chance of reprimand or embarrassment.


if indeed the words "tit" "bitching" and "asshole" are so embarrassing, why utter them?  why corner me and tell me i have to accept them?  why say them in a closed meeting between two men and one woman who has already stated that she feels uncomfortable around them?


silencing my journalism, and my journalistic attempt to grapple with the psychological effects, is not getting to the root of the problem.


but eckford really went to bat for those words, saying that while tit might have been unacceptable once, due to the changing nature of language, it is now okay.


neither of them seem to grasp the subtlety of the concept "slur" or "epithet" or "hostile atmosphere," in a legal sense.
as the defense ran: well it wasn't directed at you, they fail to realize that the hostility of the tone can be a generalized atmosphere of inequality.  as men's anatomies are not similarly discussed . . .  or inasmuch as any man or woman might object to these words, as does my brother, the hostility of tone could affect anyone. the following is predominantly eckford's choice of language.  i apologize for not having time to clean it up typo-wise and give a complete transcript.  maybe later.  this will give you a gist of what happened at our mutually recorded private meeting.  






eckford:
"so the things we find offensive here, may not be offensive anywhere else . . . we just kind of expect that we are all adults . . . it is absolutely necessary for professor bartelt to teach his courses . . .
like for example using the word bitch may not nec be an offensive word in certain areas of the world .


you bring that kind of language to the classroom


you have to train yourself to be able to accept other modes of thinking and other languages and cultural practices of the world


from my perspective, hearing both sides, i don't see them to be all that offensive or all that disagreeable.  so that's an issue number one.  we have to figure out what we can do about that.


you've then taken your understanding of being offended by this language and you've taken this outside of the classroom, like posting things on websites, sending emails to other faculty members at other campuses and basically what you end up doing is committing libel and slander.  it is not acceptable for you to demean professor bartelt's professional practices and his professional teaching in any way.  that's just absolutely fundamentally unacceptable."


"and illegal"-bb.


"it is very much illegal and why that is, is because when you send out emails . . .
you are actually causing him professional harm.  brian would have every right to sue you and we don't want that to happen. . . . if you did that to me i would sue you and i would make you pay, or i would try to force you to pay, any kind of damage that i think you may have caused to my professional reputation. because that's what at stake here.  the only thing that professors have . . .  is our reputations as faculty members.  so  . . .
what you give to the world you can never take back . . .
you're besmirching his professional integrity.
so number one
the . . . has got got stop


you can send emails to anyone you want about anything you want


that's just absolutely unacceptable


how are we going to address this problem.


bb:  i am ready to pursue a case unless you cease and desist.


i say: am deprived of this culture that says tits and shitty and asshole, and i don't think i should be blamed for my cultural sensitivity

eckford: the problem with it is is the english language is an ever evolving
us word tit may not be the lingua france
faculty members are not immune to the changes in language

if every person

you wouldn't be able to use the word breast

you as the student have to come to understanding that there is a larger world
you can always say i heard what you said but i found this unacceptable.

tell me why you used this word
but thats something
you needed to do offline.--- eck

"you chose to make it public mary"---bb

bb: "i want to to cut straight to the chase here.
if the the words asshole tit and bitchin are the three words that bother you most, why did you go on assert broad things about me . . .   french people anorexics bulimics and

i never said i have no sympt for bulimics
i said i have no sympathy for those that corn syrup . . ."

me, mary: no you said "i have absolutely no sympathy for bulimia and anorexia and other diseases of affluence"

bb: "anyhow whatever"
"the asshole theory, that's a publishable theory

if that so offended you

you went way too far.

i said the word bitchin, i said stop your bitching.  none of these comments were directed at you."

eck: now mary do you acknowledge that you may have gone to far

i said: i am interested in it as legal theory. humanitarian oriented.  it is geared towards protecting the students of the future from .. . .


what is your definition of a slur or a hostile atmosphere?

bb: did i ever address you with these words. no.

in a classroom answering the is diff

the fac member can use just about anything that is socially prudent to teach his course.  using words like t bitch and tit as long as it is not directed

its published

prof is on solid ground
as long as he is not singaling out

unpack this theory of anthropology
whatever language i think is necessary


none of the slur

let her speak brian.

we as progressives should be building an alliance

so long as women are going into the classroom hearing slurs which i allege are harassing . . .

here's the problem.
he's the professor.

(voice gets high-pitched)

the state of california deems him . . .
i'm not an anthropologist.  i have no way in heck any business telling him how to run his class. he knows more about anthropology than i do.
consequently you know far less about anthropology than i do-eckford
its not your job to tell him how to run his class

he has complete authority to do that.

what you're saying is you want to come to class and tell him how to teach his course.

we're here faced now with you finding the language unacceptable, and i agree with prof bartelt, that number one you're not in a position to do that and number two: you have got to stop the activity online.

"do you think there is some subconscious desire to bring down women?"

that's obscene.

i never experienced this befeore in my edu since LACC, i never
if you are at UCSD you'd be fired

the asshole theory was presented at USC
that's why i went to ask them is this in the realm of the possible . . .

i wrote just the ones who were gender . . . mostly women . . .

can you see that on the one hand you are alleging bartelt is creating a hostile atmosphere.  you are creating the same


that is why it is paramount  . . .
as fara s throwing occasional chalk everyone thinks that's funny

you hit the head over the kid with his paper . . .

elizabeth and i looked at each other quizzically

here is what i want you to get from this, the same kind of hostile atmosphere you are creating

if you think you are going to transfer and you are not going to find teachers who are exceptiona


the world is an exceptionally hostile world
i've had


you running around screaming that the campus is a hostile

teh world is not a fair place
its not the way the world is constructed
as an african american
it was going to be a lot tougher for me