I was enrolled in a seminar about experimental literature where the Prof. encouraged the students to share their own experiences and feelings. During a class discussion on a novel described by its author as a ‘feminist’ text, the female students criticized the novel for the lack of attention the author paid to the everyday experience […]
Tom
Not Second, But Fifth Fiddle
I am a young woman in academia. I graduated just over a year ago with my Master of Arts degree, during which I was told I was too head strong for wanting to pursue my grant funded, permit awarded research. This verbose speaker was my female professor and thesis chair. Perhaps blinded by her years […]
How Are Your Children?
At the new year’s reception of the faculty, I am telling two female colleagues about repeated personal attacks in public and through the grapevine by a male colleague. All of a sudden one of them asks, out of the blue: “And how are your children?”. Upon which I say: “Fine”. What to think? Let’s not […]
The Invisibility Cloak in Meetings
I went to a meeting. A question was asked to which I knew the answer and so I answered: “yes that is the case, they will start with that soon”, waiting for people to ask me for specifics.The chairman (male) of the meeting ignored my comment and said that he supposed the answer was yes, […]
Professor Mistaken For Secretary
As a ‘young’ female professor in my late thirties I went to the central research office to personally hand in a research project application file on the day of the deadline (a walk around the corner from my office). The (female) secretary behind the counter looked at the file and said to me: “Is Prof. […]