Upon reading Professor Valverde’s “Fight
the Tower: A Call to Action for Women of Color in Academia”, my initial
reaction was that of shock, which quickly dissipated and became more of an
unsurprised realization. Discrimination is almost always seen as having only a
psychological effect on its victims, and for some reason, it is not often
brought to light that it can also be detriment to the victims’ physical health.
That’s why it was so eye-opening for me to read Professor Valverde’s account of
how her fight against systemic racism and sexism in academia to secure tenure
was so grueling that it took a toll on her physically. I can’t begin to imagine
how stressful and emotionally draining this glass ceiling environment must have
been. One thing that really ticked me off was the “self-identified feminist
scholar” mentioned in the article. Unfortunately, I know this kind of bullying
happens quite often, but to have someone claim to be a feminist and actively
participate in bullying tactics stemmed from fear and patriarchal rule goes
against the very idea and embodiment of feminism. Whether or not her bullying
was out of jealousy and internalized misogyny, I don’t know, but her using
authority as a means of demeaning and suppressing someone’s career and morale
was really reminiscent of the pepper spray video we watched at the beginning of
class. Both the police officers and the “feminist” scholar used their positions
of power to achieve their desired goal: induce fear.
Question: Are there any specific race-based or sex-based discrimination that you are still dealing with even after securing tenure?
References:
Valverde, K. C. (2013). Fight the Tower: A Call to Action for Women of Color in Academia. Seattle Journal for Social Justice, 12, 367.Liou, Doris. (2018). Retrieved from imdiversity.com.
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