I've been reading, rather obsessively, the many stories on "What is it like to be a woman in philosophy" and there is a pretty obvious theme that I'd like to illustrate with a story from my own life, one that taught me a lesson I've tried to live up to since.
I grew up in Columbus Ohio and graduated High School in 1977. At the time, like most Americans, I did not know that I'd ever met a sexual minority. Kids got taunted with charges of "fag" often enough - me as much as any - but even then I realized that this was more a charge of being insufficiently male, rather than a claim about sexuality. In Fall 1977 I went to music school at OSU to study trumpet, and quickly met loads of out gay guys and equally quickly decided that this was not a moral issue. I did not, in that first semester, realize that my closest friend - a trombone player - was gay. (Brass culture, at the time, fancied itself more macho than other musical subcultures, and it was less easy to be out.) One day a bunch of brass players are sitting around telling homophobic jokes. I'm uncomfortable and don't join in. Suddenly, my friend stands up, says "Don't you assholes know I'm gay?" and storms out.
Shortly, I go to find him and to offer sympathies about the other assholes. He is distant and cold. After a bit I finally get put off and say "What the hell? Why are you mad at me? I wasn't joining in." And he replied: "Next time, don't just fucking sit there."
Indeed. And that's the overwhelming lesson of the WILTBAWIP blog, it seems to me. Academics are just fucking sitting there, blowing things off, not wanting to make a scene, valuing shallow collegiality over creating a safe and equitable environment for female students and colleagues. I wonder what percentage of philosophers have witnessed something like what is reported there. And I wonder what percentage spoke up - not later in private to offer support, but publicly and immediately to declare the action inappropriate. My guess, almost all of us, and pretty close to none of us. Every APA I see widely known serial harassers treated with respect and friendship by other academics. I've seen all manner of sexist, racist, and homophobic comments made by academics and more than once been treated as a trouble-maker for speaking up. (One scene, nearly verbatim from a meeting of chairs and program directors: Prof x: "My problem with interdisciplinary programs is that so many of them keep bringing these damned dirty Arabs to campus." Me: "What did you just say? You do realize that is an incredibly offensive and racist comment, right?" Chair: "Mark, can we stay on topic here?")
So that's my thought. Could we all refrain from just fucking sitting there the next time?
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