Student being forced to confuse sex and gender in essay or will lose marks

[Shedbuilder]

A GC young woman, daughter of an old friend, is taking a degree at Bristol University and was required to write an essay in which issues of sex and gender came up. She pointed out to her tutor that the some of the definitions of sex and gender, and the way those words are used in the texts and notes she's been pointed to, are unscientific and inconsistent and based in ideology.

The tutor said she couldn't just omit mentioning the subject and she needs to stick to the gender=sex line or she would be marked down. The tutor didn't seem to disagree with her but she ended up feeling that she was being told to just go along with it for her own good.

She's phoned home, distressed. Does she stand up for scientific fact and risk losing marks and outing herself or does she just go along with the brainwashing? She says that if it became known in her accommodation that she's a terf her life will be made hell: one of her flatmates is a full-on ally and she's already watching her every word.

Her career plans include higher level qualifications. The better the first degree she gets, the more opportunities she's likely to have.

Can anyone advise? I can't/ won't disclose any more information for fear of outing her, except to say that I'm astonished that anyone studying the subject she's studying would be expected to cover sex and gender, which seems totally irrelevant.

What's the degree in?

It’s crap, but pragmatically, the best thing she can do is follow her tutor’s advice and try to get the best grades she can.

I don’t know what the university thinks it will gain from doing this. It’s not exactly winning hearts and minds. GC people might need to play the long game and try to get themselves into the best academic/career positions they can.

I would just play the game as they want it to get the grade. Only she will lose out if she deliberately chooses the path she's been told will result in her being marked down. Plenty of other battles she can fight in the future, why damage her grade/job prospects etc to make a point nobody will care about.

She’s been told to be clear that gender=sex?

And you say she thinks her tutor might be secretly gc?

Em, does that mean the tutor wants her to say woman=female? As in woman=adult human female?

Your first post sounds like pro gender ideology tutor, but saying she thinks tutor is gc makes the instruction gender=sex read differently.

One thing for sure though, the University of Bristol comes out of this looking pretty crap

Polymers? With lab work etc? Chemistry or some kind of science then.

You say gender stuff miles away from subject.

Sooo. Guessing.

Best bet is uses for polymers / something to do with pollution or issues with production. History of polymers?

Can't think of much else.

The think about gender seems pretty random if it is an essay about that sort of thing.

I would say

1. Advise her not to 'sweat the small stuff' as Americans say. Yes she's pissed off and wants to make s stand. In the end though. It's not going to change anything. It's one essay from one student. Her reaction is disproportionate imo.

1. How important is essay? In terms of contributing towards progression or final score.

1. It sounds like a bunged in random thing. Not the focus. Can she include something acceptable to her and call it a day.

1. Science is all about clarity. Definitions. I can't see it would be in any way objectionable to include the definitions that she will be using in her essay for sex and gender. Maximum clarity. And use them both appropriately.

Of course sex and gender do overlap. Eg if plastics factories in X country hire mainly women, no h&s, very low pay. Sex or gender? The gender (sex role) is why they are in that position... Because of their sex.

Can she write something that meets their marking system, that she can also see as reasonable herself from that perspective?

It sounds to me like the essay title has been written by someone who has used the terms sex and gender synonymously. As the vast majority of people did until very recently and as many still do. Unless she's been given an explanation and been told that she is supposed to differentiate between sex and gender for the purposes of the essay then I would assume she is simply supposed to consider biological sex.

I would ask the question of the tutor - "Hi, just for clarity can you confirm that you are asking me to consider the impact of biological sex in this situation? Or are you asking for a consideration of both biological sex and of gender identity (as in the way someone feels about their own sense of identity and the way they like to present to others?). Use of the word "gender" is confusing since it isn't used by people consistently to mean the same thing."

@WeeBisom

If she’s doing a humanities course, such as gender studies, she can’t just say “some of these definitions are wrong and rooted in ideology.” As her tutor I would be encouraging her to engage with the different theories and I would expect her to have a solid understanding of the material before going on a critique. She would also need to explain why and how the definitions are wrong for a solid grade.

I think we are all clear why the definitions are different & it would be perfectly reasonable for her to point this out!

I disagree they were routinely used synonymously until recently.

I studied women’s studies amount others in the late 90s & early 00s. The difference was very clear then,

If there’s been a period of time in between where they’ve been conflated then that’s the change. And it has huge bearing on evaluating older academic studies/texts and so on if students are pushed to conflate or obfuscate with those terms now. Are students only working from academic theory going back a couple of years? Why cut off the centuries prior? It’s very soviet Russia and a rewrite of history. Only without the acknowledgment there’s been a change in regime.