Micro-inequities

FemaleScienceProfessor writes: “Every time I post an anecdote about a possible situation in which I may or may not have been treated in a way that could perhaps be described at least in part as sexist, I always receive one or more comments:

* giving alternative interpretations of the incident,
* informing me that I am too sensitive,
* wondering why I am offended by such a minor incident, and/or
* telling me that I must hate men (or asking me why I hate men so much).”

More discussion is here, with loads of interesting and useful comments.

Any good examples of micro-inequities specific to philosophy?

Transgender Pronouns

Canada’s MacLeans Magazine has published a brief, and very disrespectful, article about a trans woman’s struggles for respect as an employee of HSBC in Hong Kong. See below. This comes on the heels of the media’s terrible job at using appropriate pronouns in the case of the stabbing of two trans women in Washington, D.C. just recently. See a discussion of this case at feministing. Thanks Sex Geek for the heads up!

Dissertation Haiku

A sample:

Dude you are so weird
I cannot even see you
Infinite big props

John Drabinski

Amherst College

Dissertation title: “Difference and Sense: The Problem of Phenomenology in the Work of Emmanuel Levinas”.
Concerned the phenomenological foundations of Levinas’ ethics, with particular attention to the strangeness and infinity of “the face of the Other.”

Or:

stop! judder! a smell?
are we friends or enemies?
sting! and then we dance

Sara Tallarovic

Oregon State University

Dissertation Title: “Reproductive and Aggressive Behaviors in the Giant Hairy Desert Scorpion.”

Go on, write one. You know you want to. And let us know in comments.

Lubna Hussein

Lubna Hussein has now been convicted for wearing trousers. Hussein, a UN worker, resigned her post so that she would be tried as an ordinary Sudanese citizen, and also refused a presidential pardon. Her goal was to call attention to Sudan’s repressive law, and also to the hideous punishment of 40 lashes for the offense. Presumably in an effort to reduce worldwide attention to the case, she was sentenced only to a fine, rather than to a fine and a flogging (as is customary). But Hussein is not letting the Sudanese government divert attention in this way. She’s now refusing to pay the fine. And she’s still wearing those trousers. (Thanks, Hippocampa!)