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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

University of Kent survey

111 replies

MillicentFaucet · 20/11/2021 19:07

I really don't want to believe that the people who signed off this research knew how it was going to be presented on MN. I grabbed enough info to have a dig about, I really hope that the psychology dept of Kent University didn't intentionally seek to paint the many thousands of MN users as bigots.
But it appears that the deleting of everything to do with it suggests the people responsible are aware of unethical it is.

OP posts:
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PastMyBestBeforeDate · 20/11/2021 21:23

Good stuff Eresh

Whatsnewpussyhat · 20/11/2021 21:36

It asked if you were cis female or trans female.
The issue is, to most of us a trans female would be a transman.

The whole thing was a bullshit exercise with the conclusion to be whatever best fit their agenda.

It had fuck all to do with women.

Ereshkigalangcleg · 20/11/2021 21:39

The issue is, to most of us a trans female would be a transman.

Exactly. It's the only way I'll accept "cis" as a label that "just means not trans".

TheCountessofFitzdotterel · 20/11/2021 21:40

Surely it’s not ethical to waste people’s time with ambiguous questions that result in rubbish data?

GCmiddle · 21/11/2021 00:06

I work at this university, but missed this thread yesterday. Does anyone know if this survey was being run by a staff member or student ?

CheeseMmmm · 21/11/2021 01:36

I have googled a bit changing search terms but found nothing except this thread.

Is the survey still live?

Any suggested Google terms or is that a bad idea re thread deletion?

Or a person to look at on Twitter with a link?

Was it def Kent uni / one of their students on relevant course?

Brusca · 21/11/2021 01:41

@GCmiddle

I work at this university, but missed this thread yesterday. Does anyone know if this survey was being run by a staff member or student ?
Staff, post docs IIRC.
DPotter · 21/11/2021 03:54

*PastMyBestBeforeDate

DPotter even at undergrad dissertation level they should have learnt how to construct the questions appropriately.*

I totally agree, however I would expect post grads to demonstrate a better level of question construction which was not in evidence in this questionnaire.

FindTheTruth · 21/11/2021 04:13

this was not research but propaganda generation. Trying to figure out what the questions are - can someone post the questions in here without linking to the survey?

From the clues,

Q: How threatened do you feel by trans women?
Q: whether we should be following god’s laws and on the evils of sex before marriage
Q: 'Cis' Grin (seriously?)

Good response to the 'researcher' here:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/4406280-Stonewall-backtrack-on-removing-mother-from-policies?&msgid=112659763#112659763

CheeseMmmm · 21/11/2021 04:25

Wtf you can't be serious?

God????!!!! Was this a cnp from USA survey?

And if it was approved by Kent uni.

It's massively massively dodgy in terms of inclusion sensitivity I mean just the most basic level.

What about other religions? Allah? Buddha? Who wasn't a god but obv fundamental in mainstream religion. Those with many god's, Hindu? Not great at religions but even I know that referencing god in the UK is... Christian assumption.

And that question is bizarre in UK. Totally. How many in UK consider sex before marriage to be?!! Um. How many even relate to/ believe in evil in a religious way? Yet the question assumes respondents will say oh yeah yes or no..

???!!!!!

This is not a genuine Kent uni student thing surely. No way. If so. Eh?

flygirl1983 · 21/11/2021 04:26

@GCmiddle

I work at this university, but missed this thread yesterday. Does anyone know if this survey was being run by a staff member or student ?
Can you chase this down? I suspect it was a hoax but can you find out? I don't think anyone here cares except for how extraordinarily inept it was and how it brings your school into disrepute. I don't think that's fair to your school.
FindTheTruth · 21/11/2021 04:30

Yes please chase this down, if you feel safe to do so GCmiddle

CheeseMmmm · 21/11/2021 04:34

If it's not genuine (and surely it can't be!) I'd imagine that Kent uni would want to be informed.

flygirl1983 · 21/11/2021 04:40

@CheeseMmmm

If it's not genuine (and surely it can't be!) I'd imagine that Kent uni would want to be informed.
I agree. I think they'd want to put out a statement.

But if it was genuinely from someone affiliated with them, I'd hate to be the person having to explain it.

CheeseMmmm · 21/11/2021 04:45

It reminds me of things calling for people here who are xyz background.. And including indigenous people!

When it comes to this the brain is totally disengaged.

LonginesPrime · 21/11/2021 08:08

Some of the statements they asked whether you agreed with were:

  • women deserve special treatment
  • not many people seem to fully understand the importance of women
  • if I found out my friend was having a sex change, I would freak out (sic)

It was utterly bizarre, and so insulting to post on the feminist boards in active feminist conversations. Awful.

bordermidgebite · 21/11/2021 08:54

Both the people exist at the universities as they state

Sparklfairy · 21/11/2021 09:00

I live near this uni. This city is so fucking woke it doesn't surprise me at all. Apparently I missed it all here on the threads but if someone would PM me with details I have a few contacts to do some digging.

Doubletoilandtrouble · 21/11/2021 09:03

I just don’t get the stupidity of this. These questions are just like a bad joke.

FindTheTruth · 21/11/2021 09:04

@LonginesPrime

Some of the statements they asked whether you agreed with were:
  • women deserve special treatment
  • not many people seem to fully understand the importance of women
  • if I found out my friend was having a sex change, I would freak out (sic)

It was utterly bizarre, and so insulting to post on the feminist boards in active feminist conversations. Awful.

After seeing these Q's along with the previous Q's I don't believe this was a researcher at any University. but then again worse things have happened in Universities recently
EndoplasmicReticulum · 21/11/2021 09:13

The first page had the names of the researchers who are both findable on Twitter complete with pronouns.

FindTheTruth · 21/11/2021 09:20

Kent Uni Twitter posts this morning say Kent Uni is good at research; "get advice on preparing a research proposal" and " ranked 1st for research intensity"
twitter.com/UniKent

MidsomerMurmurs · 21/11/2021 09:28

@EndoplasmicReticulum

The first page had the names of the researchers who are both findable on Twitter complete with pronouns.
Right. Well, you’re all being very kind and not posting them publicly here. Good.

But I hope that someone who does have this information will be writing to or emailing the department involved. I work in a university and when I think of all the ethics procedures we go through this is really mind-boggling. I have not seen the original, only the summarised questions here, but this really does need to be taken further. Perhaps there is more to it than it seems from this thread, but the institution(s?) involved need to be aware and to explain.

LonginesPrime · 21/11/2021 10:48

Perhaps there is more to it than it seems from this thread, but the institution(s?) involved need to be aware and to explain.

One of the researchers specialises in collective narcissism, conspiracy beliefs, collective identity and group behaviour.

They said they weren't researching this and their research field is now broader, but they wouldn't reveal the actual point of the study (as they basically admitted it wasn't actually about "women's experiences" as they had initially claimed once people realised the questions were so odd) and they said you had to PM them to find out the truth (the survey terms being that you had to agree upfront that you understood the purpose of the survey despite having been expressly told we weren't allowed to know the purpose unless we PM them).

If you read the statements as having the built-in assumption that women who believe that sex matters believe trans people are conspiring against them and that it is important to feel part of a feminist community and that feminists feel that women are more important than other people, I can see how it would make sense to someone who isn't a woman and/or hasn't a clue what feminism actually is (and who obviously doesn't believe that women are marginalised by their biology in any way).

I think the reason I found it so insulting was because it was such a crude and insulting caricature of feminism, and to plop it into active discussions about actual women's rights issues was appalling.

I do believe they're the real academics, otherwise it's massive fraud, but these postgrad researchers used the word "uncomfortability" at one point in their posts on their survey thread, which was rather strange.

Ereshkigalangcleg · 21/11/2021 11:35

If you read the statements as having the built-in assumption that women who believe that sex matters believe trans people are conspiring against them and that it is important to feel part of a feminist community and that feminists feel that women are more important than other people, I can see how it would make sense to someone who isn't a woman and/or hasn't a clue what feminism actually is (and who obviously doesn't believe that women are marginalised by their biology in any way).

I think the reason I found it so insulting was because it was such a crude and insulting caricature of feminism, and to plop it into active discussions about actual women's rights issues was appalling.

Yes, exactly. At the end of the survey there is a "debrief" and a link to lots of trans organisations to learn about "transphobia". So the bias was pretty clear.