IT’S ABOUT TIME

Bravo, bravo!

I applaud the University of Washington for its daring action in naming a male to head its Women’s Studies Department. And I congratulate Dr. David Allen for his willingness to serve the interests of female students, knowing the controversies sure to dog him in the aftermath.

We ought to be comforted by the fact that Dr. Allen is eminently qualified for the position, evident by the overwhelming sentiments in his favor by his colleagues. While there is merit in the contention of those that a qualified female could have been named just as well, it it possible that Dr. Allen happens to be the best qualified?

My daughter, who holds a PH.D. in Women’s Studies, told me one of the highlights of her doctoral studies was having a male professor teach ethnic studies in her department, a course germane to the curriculum in this wide, wide field. He is a renowned scholar and an acknowledged expert in this field and students, all female, never felt that a male alien was somehow invading their territory.

I can cite my own field, medicine, as a parallel example to Dr. Allen’s appointment. The idea of females entering the medical profession was anathema for many years. But then feminism and gender equality took roots. In the ’60s, females accounted for only 5 to 10% of medical students. Mow, 40 years later as the barriers fell down, females have reached the critical 50% of entering medical freshmen, sometimes outnumbering their male counterparts in some elite medical schools. More females are also now cracking previously exclusive preserves for males like orthopedics and neurosurgery, and yes, they are doing just as well.

Old perceptions die hard and slowly, and this too shall pass. Welcome Dr. Allen — you have plowed into new territory, and those women will all love you in the end.

R. G. LACSAMANA, M.D., at 10:55 am EDT on July 26, 2005

NBD (no big deal)

“Forgive my raising a journalistic issue ..”

Thanks for your note; it raises a good, basic point of Journalism 101. Briefly, a conservative guesstimate of something like this is no more than $10K-$15K extra. NBD, IMHO.

Bob, at 1:20 pm EDT on July 26, 2005

Raising Irrelevant Issues

In response to the above comments, I don’t see why money is an issue here. Neither is that true on one’s stand on abortion.

We all know getting appointed chairman of any department carries with it not only recognition of excellence or expertise, but a parallel increase in the salary. That should not be a big deal. I hate to think Dr. Allen decided to accept the chairmanship on that basis.

As to the statement that it would be a “shocker” if the chairman were pro-life, I would remind the commenter that chairmanships are doled out not on the basis of a professor’s stand on abortion. That is bigotry of the highest order. I would expect more logic to flow from somebody who claims to be a mathematician. Oh well, some people never learn the meaning of tolerance.

Greg Garcia, at 2:23 pm EDT on July 26, 2005

trailblazing!

I applaud Dr Allen’s appointment. I relate tremendously to the issues discussed, as I am the first male in the Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner Program at Columbia University in New York City.

I have encountered a variety of reactions, similar to what has been discussed in the above article and posted comments. I constantly have to explain myself and why I choose this specialty. A nurse for 16 years, the bulk of my clinical practice has been with women with breast cancer and those at higher risk, so the decision to go back to school to advance myself professionally in the specialty of Women’s Health was a natural progression. My colleagues who know my background, credentials, and work experience has supported my pursuit of this degree (just as Dr Allen’s colleagues have). I want to have a greater impact on the health of women, and hopefully that will be the outcome once I complete my education and move into this next phase of my career.

It is disheartening that gender is even an issue in such situations. Nobody raises an eyebrow when a male in medicine goes into gynecology, but why in nursing? And the fact that his appointment has generated such attention is interesting and could be debated ad infinitum. However, I understand such reactions- all too well, as I have had my own experiences of reverse discrimination in getting clinical placements and surprisingly to me, even in the classroom. It has been reassuring to me though that I have always been able to prove myself to my instructors and classmates, and ultimately the patients I have encountered in the clinical part of my education.

The main focus should be based on his credentials and how he will benefit the program and the students, who hopefully will contribute and advance the specialty of Women’s Studies & Women’s Health. Based on his appointment, the assumption is that he is qualified to be there. His gender should have nothing to do with it. Alas, I realize it is still an issue in our society.

Again I applaud Dr Allen’s trailblazing, and it has buoyed my own resolve as I approach the final semester in my own postgraduate education.

Randy Gross MS RN CS AOCN, Clinical Nurse Specialist, at 5:16 pm EDT on July 26, 2005

CHUCK, YOU ARE BEING A CYNIC

I think Chuck got too czrried away with his careless comments.

My daughter teaches in a Women’s Studies department, and they are not the type ofsinister programs impervious to receiving ideas other than from feminists as he believes. Is it possible he went to the wrong school to draw those scornful observations?

Her views of Dr. Sally Satel and Chritina H. Sommers also do not match realities. Dr. Satel wrote a best-selling book, P.C. Medicine, which castigated political correctness in various aspects of medical care, and quite well received in the medical community, I might add. Her second book (with Sommers), One Nation Under Therapy,which deals with various questionable aspects of psychiatric and psychologic practices, has been well received as well. Both books are in the conservative mold, and if Chuck is the prototypical liberal basher, I think we can understand his rantings.

Too bad he is aiming at the wrong targets.

R.G. LACSAMANA, M.D., at 7:03 pm EDT on July 26, 2005

Ghetto Syndrome

The appointment fills me with ambivalent feelings. Too often the creation of Women’s Studies departments strikes me as a sop to political correctness, allowing a university to boast of its liberal credentials. On the one hand, I am all in favour of such departments, as they provide a community of scholars, a support network for the exchange of ideas (thereby overcoming the obstacle inherent in isolation identified by Gerda lerner in The Creation of Feminist Consciousness) and indeed no university should be without one, no matter how tainted (in terms of actually taking the department seriously) the motive. In that sense, political correctness can offer hope of genuine change following in its wake. On the other hand, however, Women’s Studies departments are often the most underfunded and are forced onto the defensive, continually justifying their existence (a constant lament on the part of members of the Women’s Committee in the European Parliament, the assumption by legislators that its role has been rendered superfluous because the statute books prohibit gender-based discrimination the ultimate proof of how necessary its continued existence remains) in a climate where bean-counting and post-feminism hold inordinate sway. Too often female academics are prevented from rising through the ranks in other departments for a variety of fatuous reasons because citing gender would (quite rightly) lead to instant legal action. Women’s Studies are degraded to ghetto status ("cordoned off” in their own universe, thereby marginalised and excluded from the mainstream), the one haven where a career might just about prove possible. Therefore I both applaud and endorse Dr. Allen’s comments concerning the appalling record of academic institutions, although I see few signs of improvement, at least on this side of the Pond.

Personally, although by inclination I would like nothing better than an academic post, I am deterred by the lack of genuine career prospects as well as the miserable salaries (if I were to switch careers I would immediately lose over two-thirds of my current income). Perhaps this is a problem more in Europe, yet I do not believe for a moment that I am the only woman deterred on these grounds.

Fiona Dow, Dr. at European Parliament, at 4:39 am EDT on July 27, 2005

Interesting that so many comments seem to make assumptions about information that is, in actuality, not known to us. For example, at least one comment assumed a professional lack of bias on the part of the President making the appointment, even though we have no information about this. Others made assumptions about money (in reality, the compensation varies widely from institution to institution). Perhaps the only thing we can justifiably assume is that appointments like this are usually political issues, and that the politics of this particular appointment are not entirely known to us. If feminism is largely about looking at how power is obtained and sustained, then I think we need to know more about how the decision was made to place a white male in this particular position of power and economic advantage. We know the kinds of biases that influence these decisions regularly outside of a Women’s Studies Department. How is this situation different? These are just questions I have before I feel I can weigh in with an opinion.

Juliet Davis, Assistant Professor of Communication at The University of Tampa, at 1:05 pm EDT on July 27, 2005

I would like to apologize to Greg Garcia and others for insinuating that politics might play a role in faculty and administrative appointments in Women’s Studies programs. By the way, does anyone know of a member of a Woman Studies Department who is avowedly pro-life?

Peter Wolfe, Professor of Mathematics at University of Maryland, at 5:26 pm EDT on July 27, 2005

I am very excited to be living in a time when there are people, books and movements that embrace men and the masculinely inclined in feminism and feminist scholarship. At the University I attend there are no male professors in the Women’s Studies Department, but there are men and transgendered professors who have taught feminist oriented classes in other departments. We are lucky enough to have active male members in our Feminist and Women’s Studies geared clubs and organizations and entire fraturnities that volunteer at our annual Take Back the Night Rally.

As involved as male faculty and students are in feminism here, I am struggling with the idea that those with privilege should be yet again privileged. Those of us with privilege, myself included should be allys and support movments but shouldn’t take them over and lead, because that would onc again be exuding privilege and enabling oppression. But I don’t know if being chair is taking over a movement.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot. Spivak talks about ethical singularity, standing in direct opposition to the essentialism and universalism that has enabled sexism, racism and western imperialism. Perhaps we need to take that which we learned from a woman (Gayatri Spivak)and see what we can learn from a man.

RL, Proud of Progress at Cal State Northridge, at 7:27 am EDT on August 20, 2005