tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18155604.post409955050961881828..comments2023-10-17T10:21:11.698-06:00Comments on The Clutter Museum: On being a pissed-off woman in academia (and losing my office)Leslie M-Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434392840359276805noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18155604.post-24353576873558345812008-11-23T11:31:00.000-07:002008-11-23T11:31:00.000-07:00Bummer. I would recommend escalating from "pissed ...Bummer. I would recommend escalating from "pissed of" to angry. Angry women are much more frightening, and more likely to inspire action.<BR/><BR/>I doubt it's any consolation, but when I went to college and grad school in the 70's and 80's, there were quotas for womens' admission to professional schools (very low quotas--ISU's veterinary school accepted two women for every 98 men, out of a 50-50 pool of applicants), and my major professor required that his female PhD students have sex with him to get access to research materials. His colleagues knew about this and didn't see anything wrong with it. They told me to "toughen up" and get a "thicker skin."<BR/><BR/>Things have improved in society, but sexism is not gone, it's just more subtle, like racism.<BR/><BR/>People call academe "liberal elite," but in important ways, it's one of the most conservative, hidebound institutions around, with traditions that date back to the Dark Ages. (Remember what PhD stands for!) Once I graduated, I found the federal government and the private research sector much more sensitive to sexual harassment and discrimination issues than academe ever was.Rebecca Claytonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06494730619850791609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18155604.post-67035765688864763572008-11-23T06:55:00.000-07:002008-11-23T06:55:00.000-07:00Grrr! Nope, doesn't sound diva-ish to me at all.I...Grrr! Nope, doesn't sound diva-ish to me at all.<BR/><BR/>It's so hard to fight the systemic sexism, isn't it? And at my school, the consolodation thing would be a deanling consolodating his power, and doing it by messing with a ton of less powerful people. Ugh.Bardiachttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11846065504793800266noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18155604.post-63704705806037522442008-11-23T06:10:00.000-07:002008-11-23T06:10:00.000-07:00You are not being a "diva." As I pointed out in s...You are not being a "diva." As I pointed out in some of the comments on my post and in Dr. Crazy's thread, this is about being able to establish boundaries and having them respected. Whether it's History Enthusiast's desk being perceived as public property, or random strangers lecturing me as to what I can and can't instruct them on when they consult me for advice, or your office being taken away, it all boils down to women not being permitted to set boundaries around our bodies, minds, and time.<BR/><BR/>I wonder if some of your workmates might feel the same? Regardless, you could point out that the new office plan really should include proper offices with doors for those of you who don't have other offices. That seems to be a reasonable compromise. I'm someone who needs complete silence (no talk, no music, no TV or radio) in order to read and write, so a cubicle would drive me nuts. Either they provide you with an office, or permit you to telecommute, if you think that might be an option. (If your home is a quiet space during business hours, anyway--if you still have young children at home, this may not work!)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18155604.post-40356296607880973092008-11-23T00:05:00.000-07:002008-11-23T00:05:00.000-07:00Yeesh. I am sorry to hear about all the new arran...Yeesh. I am sorry to hear about all the new arrangements happening in your division. I've worked in cubicles too, and the lack of privacy becomes shockingly clear when the person in the cube to your right starts a conversation with the person in the cube to your left, and they don't even have to get up from their desks. They just talk right over you like you aren't there. Thankfully I never needed to make confidential calls. Maybe you could take turns staking out one of the closed-door conference rooms, and put a sign-in sheet on the door? That sounds totally lame as I write this, but it's 1 am here and so I'm out of helpful ideas. Best of luck with it. <BR/><BR/>P.S. Thanks for the link up.The History Enthusiasthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01920472487193649652noreply@blogger.com