S.L.U.T (have I been wrong for so many years)

[partialderivative]

I am a (male) maths teacher, and have been for many many years.

I am now worried about an acronym I use to help my students remember how to draw a certain type of diagram correctly.

It should comprise:

Scale: So that you can read the numbers

Label: So you know what is being measured

Units: On both axis

Title: Every diagram need a title to be complete.

Every year this has been greeted with hilarity by all my students, and I am sure it has helped many of them feel confident that they have covered all the points that will be marked. It is not something that they forget.

Of course, I make no reference to the 'meaning' of slut in other contexts, and I would challenge any student who took that opportunity

I think I know what the responses are going to be. But it just doesn't feel that outrageous in the classroom. Everyone laughs, and the lesson carries on.

(I haven't NC, so you can check if you think I have a history of sexism or misogyny.)

[partialderivative]

Only asking this evening as I hadn't questioned it before.

[BuckskinnedAstronaut]

Can you tell us why you don't use L.U.S.T. ?

And then can you explain why the same arguments don't apply to S.L.U.T.?

[SugarAndSpice126]

If it's so casual and totally irrelevant to the word's meaning, would you feel comfortable using words such as n*gger too?

[LadyIsabellaWrotham]

I think Buckskinned has solved this one nicely OP. Case closed. Nothing to see here.

[LadyIsabellaWrotham]

By which I mean, L U S T is a perfect solution to your problem, rude enough to be memorable but not offensive.

[SingleForever]

Wow, that must make your female students feel like shit. It's a word that is only applied to females and it is derogatory.
It is outrageous, use lust instead if you really must.

Oh and the plural of axis is axes.

[partialderivative]

LUST it shall be from this day forward.

Thank you all for being so creative, just as much impact, nowhere near the baggage!

(Yes, mea culpe, Axes it should have been)

[MyFabulousBoys]

I don't usually come on here and don't know if this is a goading post but instead could you use the phrase "Name/label so you know what is being measured" and then the acronym is N.U.T.S ?

[MyFabulousBoys]

Because I think lust sounds weird coming from a male teacher. Or female.

[dreamingbohemian]

Are you for real?

SLUT is clearly inappropriate and LUST is creepy. You don't actually need to use mnemonics you know.

I find it depressing you've been doing this for years and no one has ever called you on it.

[partialderivative]

I really haven't started this as a 'goading post'. and I accept the positive criticism made.

It worries me that a person responsible for teaching teenagers can't work this out on his own.

These sorts of posts are entirely justifiable, given the brevity of my OP.

[LurcioAgain]

Assuming you are for real (which is a scary thought), I suggest you google "stereotype threat."

Totally agree with Dreaming - one is massively derogatory, and the other is creepy. What proportion of your female students go on to A levels compared with the national average?

[MrsTerrorPratchett]

I took maths later than most of my peers. At one point I was the only female student left in a stats class. As a female student in a class with mostly male students, a male teacher and your success hinged on how you performed... it's not comfortable. One of my male teachers thought it was appropriate to ask the female students what they were doing in an A level maths class as 'girls don't need advanced maths'. Wanker. I did tell him he pissed me off later but was excluded from his class as a result. It rankles to this day. He was just the type to think that using an acronym of that ilk would be HILARIOUS.

[Zazzles007]

I don't mean to insult you OP, but you should really be posting about this on the site Everyday Sexism. Its events like this which happen all the time in men's and women's lives, and many, many of us allow them to pass us by with nary a notice.

Kudos to you for questioning this particular thing and being brave enough to ask here. Only by being aware of how we behave, can we then think of ways to change our thoughts, feelings, and thus behaviour

[scallopsrgreat]

Bloody hell. Do they not do Equality & Diversity courses at your school then. Have you wondered how a girl in your class who was uncomfortable with that acronym/mnemonic might have felt with her peers laughing around her?

[Mitchy1nge]

I want to be like zazzles but am thinking 'ugh, creepy as fuck, a teacher yuck'

[MyOneandYoni]

Time for some retraining, OP?

We use this in our staffroom...

K - Know your audience.
N- Never take everyday sexism for granted.
O - Official complaint is needed.
B - Bye bye teaching career.

[DaisyFlowerChain]

I rarely complain to the school but I would have done over that. What a horrid choice of word.

[AsAMan]

If you used SLUT or LUST in my child's class, I would do everything in my power to ensure you weren't allowed anywhere near a classroom again. I'd also tell my daughter to stay the fuck away with you

[AsAMan]

Also your students don't think you are hilarious, they think you are hilarious. You're the sad teacher who thinks he's down with the kids.

[BuckskinnedAstronaut]

I will admit that when I suggested L.U.S.T. I had assumed that it was obviously inappropriate for a teacher to use with a class and then tease out why that was obviously inappropriate and yet S.L.U.T. wasn't.

The idea that L.U.S.T. would be considered fine and dandy hadn't really occurred to me.

On a practical note, you could turn MyFabulousBoys' suggestion around and have S.T.U.N.

[EBearhug]

And now let us consider the reasons why fewer girls go on to take maths at a higher levels...

Clue: It's not usually about competence.