Shit Men in Philosophy Say

I am finishing my MA in Philosophy at Stonybrook University and am extremely grateful for the friendships I have in this department. Not only have I seen myself and classmates grow as thinkers, writers, and philosophers, I am also happy for their successful entry into PhD programs all over the country (of those who applied this year, 100% got into at least one of their top 5 choices). And in these past years I have enjoyed the hours spent after class at Desmond’s continuing academic conversations, and talking about jobs, relationships, insanity, art, and Foucault
(somewhere and always in the background).

So I want to start out this blog by stating that the male female relationships here at Stonybrook have been exceptional, compared to the experiences some women have to go through in philosophy ( for further highlights, go here: http://beingawomaninphilosophy.wordpress.com/page/2/)
My male classmates ask me what I think, they usually back me up when I speak up, and they identify with me as philosophers, in both formal and informal settings. It’s pretty awesome.

But, there is also the reality of being a woman in Philosophy, and the comments I sometimes have to hear from males in the field. Kelsey and I talked about this over some sake last week, and I came up with a list of some of the shit guys in philosophy say, specifically referring to my experience sitting in classes at Stonybrook or later, at the bar. It is in my biggest hope to think that they were either drunk or stoned when they said this, although some of these comments are by professors…So it goes.


1) “I know I am being intentionally confliatory with this but…”


2) “Sounds like a straw man argument”


3) “Oh, don’t get me started on assimilation....”


4) “Don’t get me started on feminism...”


5) "Don't get me started on Race..."


6) “I think your argument would prove more fruitful if you changed it, and focused on this Heideggerian concept instead, just saying.”


7) “Transgendered people are only 2% of the population, why can’t we just focus on the fact that we are all human beings, I’m a humanist man.”


8) “I know a guy friend who got raped too. So men can also get raped.”


9) “So, when you realize you are oppressed as a woman, does it feel like you are “coming out” as a feminist, like when you tell people you are gay?


10) “You don’t talk enough in class. You should just talk more.”


11) “S is dating D! And you are seeing K? and M is gay too? I knew you were all lesbians.”



12) “I know I’m just a TA, but I don’t think the professor is leading her class right. She doesn’t lecture enough!”


13) “What Carolina just said supports my argument well.”

14) "Wait. You didn't say that? Well, what Carolina meant to say supports my argument well."

15) From a male professor to a female student who walks into class late: “Hello K. Did you get a haircut?”


16) From a male professor to a female student who walks into class late: “D! Did you lose weight over the summer?”


17) From a male professor explaining Marx in class: “ Objectivization is specific in Marx, for example, I may objectify my girlfriend because she is hot, so she is alienated from her self, but reification is a different form of objectivization.”