A new start

Wednesday, January 25, 2006

 

Power in/and Academia

I kicked 2/3 of my class out today for not coming prepared. I don't regret the decision, but I had a really hard time doing it and doing it without apology. I know that it was completely my prerogative, but I'm still not comfortable with being on the other end of the power dynamic that I've been part of for 24 years.

Wow - as I type this, I'm watching the Colbert Report and he's interviewing Norah Vincent. If you don't know who she is, she's a lesbian who dressed as a man for a significant period of time and actually developed some emotional issues from the experience and ended up receiving intensive mental health care. Anyways, she just made a comment about one of the big differences between her female self and her male alter-ego was that "Ned" didn't apologize for everything (like returning the wrong order of food at a restaurant). I'm oh so familiar with that issue - I can't stop apologizing.

Sorry, I'm too tired to write anymore :-P

Comments:
I've noticed that a LOT in the office environment. If there's an audit team asking our specialty help to help them review something, and they throw it at us with no notice and need it back in one or two days, the female auditors will say "Sorry about the short notice!" The male auditors will instead usually just say "Thanks for taking care of this so quickly." As with all trends, there are exceptions, but the general trend is there and unmistakable.


-Craig
 
Hey Rachel,

If you thought Norah Vincent's interview was interesting, I would highly recommend actually reading her book - I got it after seeing an interview on CNN. It was really fascinating - both to understand male behavior and female behavior.

Jon
 
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