Academic Freedom, Harassment and GC academics - ask me any questions

[ProfJoPhoenix]

Hi Mumsnetters

Jo Phoenix here - as in the academic cancelled by Essex and harassed by colleagues at the OU. I decided to join mumsnet because I know that several women here are supportive of what it is that we (GC academics) are going through and dealing with. I thought I would start a thread - a sort of ask me any question thread. I'll be making an announcement on twitter (@JoPhoenix1) on Sunday morning that you might find interesting. What's happened to Kathleen Stock has left all of us reeling and I am going to do something that, I hope, will help. Watch this space.

Hi jo

Welcome here. ❤️❤️❤️

Not academic at all. But support the women and men who are getting shafted by this crap

Hello Jo. Good luck in your ongoing struggles and thank you for raising you head above the parapet. A friend of mine worked at the Uni of Essex and wasn't a fan of some of the academic staff - up themselves may have been the term she used.

Incidentally, I have surname envy.

Hi Jo! Thank you for coming on here, thank you for voicing what you are voicing.

I have been quiet for a long time and I'm just starting to poke my head above the parapet.

In all honesty I am terrified but I am more terrified of a future where critical thinking and academic rigour are non-existent.

I also have a daughter in primary who has started to come home from school using words such as gender from science lessons and I have looked on her schools policies and have found some very fudged and confusing equal opportunities and sex education guidelines.

This is infiltrating everywhere and I feel in a complete panic about it all.

So even though it is scary and even though people are getting hassled I know that we are on the right side of history and we need to rein this in and subject it all to critical debate and not just let things slide through. It all seems like such a slippery slope at the moment.

So thank you!!

You have my support too (not an academic - uni Professional Services, wondering which union to join when I leave UCU...).
Do you have any hope the Free Speech bill will make a difference?

You have my support. I am a senior University academic (gender not my field but accurate data, especially on sex, really matters to my research). I also have 2 daughters near the top of primary school the oldest of which genuinely believed that girls can change into girls.

@NellWilsonsWhiteHair

Looking on from outside academia, I'm really shocked at what GC feminist academics have been subject to. How can those of us outside of academia meaningfully support you?

That's the question I wanted to ask.

Just wanted to add my voice in support of you. Will be waiting for Sunday.

Adding my support and thanks for coming on this forum.

Personally I think the issue of validation is significant.

Just as men want to validated by women I think some academics feel the need to be validated (and "liked") by their students.

The fact that they are not there to provide intellectual "safe spaces" (in fact the reverse to enable critical thinking and development/access to a variety of views/doctrines/methods/theories) seems to be lost in the desire to seen to be inclusive and politically correct.

I'm so frustrated by the idea that it's acceptable to campaign for intellectual "safe spaces" by means of threatening the physical safety of someone who holds different views and has expressed those appropriately and respectfully.

Hello I am an academic too and am fairly open about my beliefs on this issue. I inhabit a relatively conservative corner of academia though so have got away with it without too much hassle so far. I am also fairly religious and as far as I'm concerned gender nonsense is incompatible with any decent theology and I have no problem saying so. What has been happening re the treatment of children is a scandal in the full sense. Freedom of conscience is rightly protected and many of our students come from observant backgrounds of various faiths. Despite all the hysteria I think many of them appreciate being taught by people with a range of views and backgrounds. I'm on leave this year and am living abroad -- have to say I am glad for the break from UK academia which has become increasingly depressing. My institution has a strong (albeit partially secret!) GC network though which is encouraging.

Academia is very far removed from my life experience. Are there any other issues that result in the same type of treatment if talked about?

Thank you for all you are doing and good luck!
I am not in academia - but am horrified at what is going on and chip in to support whenever/however I can.
You are the canaries in the mines. The rest of us are just next in line.

Hi, I'm an academic in biological sciences & I am quietly GC, along with several colleagues (some more open than others). I don't know anyone within my scientific domain who believes in gender.

@Elephantsparade I find there is often a lazy assumption about a political monoculture in uk academia -- eg that's it's fine to make in jokes even in formal / public contexts which assume that everyone has the same political and cultural views. I have complained about this several times as I think it is sloppy and alienating. We shouldn't make any assumptions about our students' or colleagues' political beliefs any more than we do about their religious beliefs or cultural background. There is a mania with being "right on" and "inclusive" about eg race and sexuality but a blanket intolerance of difference in other respects.

Hello Jo and FWR women. I was unable to go to university due to troubled teens & rebellion issues, so your world is not familiar to me, however whatever you/we can do together is so important. Onwards!

Welcome! It’s brutal out there on campus these days!

@kalidasa is 100% right.

I often find colleagues using terms like "right wing" and "Tory" as terms of abuse and have started challenging that.

@ProfJoPhoenix I want to ask how you think we can best support our students to develop beyond this toxic #nodebate culture. I work in a humanities area and find quite a few of my students are quietly GC when gently challenged.

But I also see the monoculture being given lip service to (bad things are terfs, Brexit, Tories and good things are Labour, BeKind and safe spaces). I want to support my students to think beyond these lazy generalisations.

For one thing, it's bad EDI - in that it doesn't improve life for disadvantaged groups, including, I would suggest, young trans people.

Welcome Prof Jo,
Please stay and let us know what you are going through, this forum can make you laugh and cry with the fierce facts and amazing detective work of members.
I wonder whether you have begun to notice any trends in more critical thinking and open debate amongst students, now that the topic is actually being reported in newspapers and in the news? I feel like a year and half ago even, I'd go ages without noticing a related mainstream article, tv report or podcast and now there are multiple every day..!

Hello Jo and welcome. I'm looking forward to your FiLiA talk.
And you have my full support, as does Kathleen Stock. I resigned from UCU some time ago, glad I did. And glad I'm now retired and out of it all

Hello Jo

I am another would like to show some support and respect and let you how inspiring your actions are, just reading through this thread I feel a real sense of strength and solidarity, what you are doing is important to many,many people.

Another long time lurker sending support and solidarity.

Thank you so much for posting. It’s been a hugely frustrating week for many reasons and I must admit I was losing the will to live after reading about the Cambridge SU women’s officer’s ‘terf spotting’ guide this morning and just wondering desperately when this Emperor’s new shit show will actually end.

I wanted to ask about students who are GC - are they okay? Can they speak up? Are they scared to? Is anyone looking after them? I hate to think about them feeling stressed/frightened/pressured.

Hi Jo, another one here to say thank you and wish you well.

I am a graduate of Sussex Uni and well remember the periodic protests over the years, on one thing or another. I’ve been thinking a lot this week about the employment prospects of people who think there are more than 2 sexes, who make their point with threats or believe that undefinable infinite identities deserve protection over facts and material reality, and I fear either that these students won’t get jobs, or will make their colleagues’ work lives uncomfortable.

I don’t have a question as such, but it can be a tricky change to move from student life into work and if people cannot disagree civilly or expect special treatment at work, or express extremist views, they are going to struggle. This facet to the issue is likely low on the list of priorities, but I hope the careers departments are thinking about it.

How can academics join the OUGCRN please?

I'd be interested in your thoughts on what this is really about beyond trans issues - what's going on with authoritarianism in universities generally?

@nestoftables

Are there more people who are now daring to do academic research on various issues related to the current trans movement?

Yes and no. I think there are people who are now willing to look from all angles, so one of my colleagues in the Open University Gender Critical Research Network is looking at detransitioners. I interviewed her and it is here

There are also interviews with Prof Alice Sullivan about the census, Prof Rosa Freedman about human rights law and me.

There is also a lot of research that is trying to chart some of the challenges and problems that trans and gender non-binary people have because so much of what is said by politicians, campaigners and in the media is, frankly, just wrong. Stuff about suicide rates for instance or that trans people 'are the most marginalised' (that is an impossible to research assertion - for any marginalised group - you cannot measure oppression so easily much less then compare the levels).