Jean Hatchet, new blog post

Academia is shockingly bitchy. The culture is vile.

Got to agree, that and the misogyny are the reasons I left.

I think the GC academics are fighting a really important battle - if the concept of free debate in universities is lost then in the long run we're all screwed. So I salute them and I'll carry on supporting them. But there are times - and I consider myself reasonably well educated - when I don't know what they're talking about. (Nominative determinism? ) They are not the only show in town, they don't always know best, and they should know better than any of us that facts and evidence matter. Always.

I have been in a situation like Posie, Venice & others were in, when suddenly you get shocked and attacked by someone you thought was a friend and done in a way to cause the most damage. It’s really deeply hurtful. I found the timing of and contents of Jeans post very disappointing. I disagreed with her take on the situation and once I saw posts and videos I was even more disappointed. That didn’t however, stop me from donating that week, because the work Jean does is still valid and worthwhile- and extremely important to those of us affected by DV. That’s how I know of Jean, through her amazing rides.

Infighting does happen and it’s not unique to feminists. It is counter-productive and a time-waster though. I’m tired of the left v right nonsense, it’s so moronic and stupid to divide people into political camps like that. I personally think it’s unintelligent. I kind of got a vibe from one of the comments here that we should be listening more to academic feminists... I don’t care if you have a degree or not, if you’re a professor or a waste collector. I’m listening to what you say, equally. Some of these academics just don’t sound too clever right now.

I see women who have really difficult and complicated stuff going on in their lives expending time and energy making each other's lives more difficult and complicated

This ^

Yes he does. It's interesting how he chooses his targets.

Iago manipulates and deceives other characters.

Indeed. And Othello himself too - battleworn, insecure that he might be punching above his weight, so just a couple of staged incidents and a little insinuating was all Iago needed to make Othello paranoid and dangerous.

Yes, but I reckon you could find it all in Shakespeare

We all have blindspots, insecurities etc including people whose prime concern is undoubtedly for women and childen.
Some people are cynically exploiting other's blindspots for their own gain.

Iago in Othello is an interesting study of such behaviour.

Well I cannot find Rosa Freedman's tweets any more so I hope this means a good friend has gone round there, taken the Twitter keys away and is now feeding her home made soup. If she comes back I'll still follow her.

"Academic politics is the most vicious and bitter form of politics, because the stakes are so low."

I have to agree!

Academia is shockingly bitchy.

Sayre's Law: "Academic politics is the most vicious and bitter form of politics, because the stakes are so low."

I think, like most women, it's uncomfortable to see disagreements and division between us. And that these are so public because they're being played out on SM.

But I do think it's important to say what you feel - whether you're Jean or Venice or Rosa or anyone else.

No way am I taking sides - feelings are bound to run high as this issue is so very destructive.

Each of us is affected by it in our own unique ways and I admire every woman that speaks up and refuses to be silenced.

Don't expect any role models just because they are called professors.

I think Sally Hines is a walking demonstration of that! She put paid to any hope anyone may have had, of academic achievement correlating to human dignity

Academia is shockingly bitchy. The culture is vile. They are nasty to each other. Don't expect any role models just because they are called professors.

I like the Shakespeare analogy. I'm now trying to work out which Shakespearian characters Posie and Rosa should play!

I wish I knew what was really behind it.

Yes, but I reckon you could find it all in Shakespeare - (with a bit of Machiavelli thrown in).

I am feeling echoes of the time when it was all about 'intersectional' feminism and denouncing 'white' feminists about 7 or 8 years ago.

There's always been infighting. It's just it's now taking place in public posts. But as a PP said, social media and Twitter actually aren't that important in RL.
The media coverage; the statues; the petitions; the debates; Jean's cycle rides; Posie and Julia's interviews; Venice's meetings - they're all much more influential than the arguing on social media. They've all pushed this into the public eye and I'm so grateful for that.
We don't need to like each other all the time. We don't need to agree with each other. In fact, the more diverse the movement is, the better imo. It's a fallacy that women need to be 'nice' and that there's only one 'right' way to campaign or promote.

I'm afraid I don't feel inclined to hug anyone at the moment. I think Rosa Freedman is extremely brave - certainly braver than I am. I also know that Posie Parker is perfectly capable of giving as good as she gets. But Freedman has made some very serious allegations about her and, for a law professor, she is demonstrating a flimsy grasp of the concept of evidence. The potential for damage also extends way beyond Posie herself.

I'm normally pretty sanguine about women disagreeing and I still think it's better, in the long term, to do it out in the open. But this is not 'civil debate' and I wish I knew what was really behind it.

I wish I could give you all a big psychic hug!

It is like a family. A big, normal dysfunctional family. People can frustrate, infuriate, appall, embarrass and flummox you but the love is still there.

Read some thoughtful twitter posts on this.

The ones by RaquelRosarioSanchez echo how I feel about this debate affecting all women not just the ones we align with politically.

Also TwoFlames (JJ) no stranger to controversy herself made the astute point that she's glad the GC movement has now grown big enough for infighting.

There is some truth to that - a couple of years ago it was the tiniest group of radfems trying to raise concerns to a world that wasn't listening. Now a lot of people of all different stripes have got involved and with that comes the good and the bad of all grassroots movements.

It's a pain having to fight against patriarchy when half of your soldiers are walking wounded, but that's the way it is

and

I see women who have really difficult and complicated stuff going on in their lives expending time and energy making each other's lives more difficult and complicated

I wish it would stop

this.

I find it hard to judge. It is pretty serious to accuse someone of knowingly hugging a holocaust denier, and saying it in your capacity as a professor of human rights law at a university.

I don't like all this 'telling their employer' malarkey. Freedman has gone beyond the pale in this though, hasn't she? Mud sticks. I would far prefer it if Freedman took a few breaths, came to her senses and apologised. God knows what she is going to come up with next if someone doesnt have a friendly word with her soon.

All this infighting is quite depressing but I'm not sure if Posie and Julia should be talking about contacting Rosa's employers. I thought that was what TRAs were supposed to do?

What this is telling me is that the stress really is starting to show on some of the most open and brave women who are putting their heads above the parapet.

I wish there was some psychic vitamin shots and r&r we could could give them all. It is so hard to hold on to yourself under so much pressure.