[lbo-talk] RE: Wolf vs Bloom

joanna bujes jbujes at covad.net
Mon Feb 23 12:53:09 PST 2004


The sexual harrassment practices of professors needs to be prosecuted and there need to be consequences. Otherwise it will just keep going on. Currently, having sexually available students is simply considered one of the perks of the job.

But the issue is much bigger than this. Because academia is a closed, inbred world, the professors have absolute power over the students. I know that as a graduate student I was branded a troublemaker; this mostly for being fairly open about my socialist politics and for questioning/arguing with profs. I didn't actually give a rat's ass. It was very clear to me from the beginning that the chances of my having an academic career were slight. But there are those who do want to work in academia and for them the situation is really bad because one's entire career-- approval of dissertation, TAships, recommendations for jobs ALL hinge on the "goodwill" of their current crop of profs. Earning that goodwill has more to do with unquestioning obedience than anything else.

Joanna



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