Right. When I was employed at the U of Ottawa, we regularly had to conduct five-year plans and 'performance reviews,' with lengthy documents to be completed and visits by external assessors. My part of the report included an assessment of enrollment. Over the five-year period under review, the gender breakdown was about 84-16 in favor of women. I noted that there was nothing essentially female about the study of literature and that we would do ourselves a service if we contemplated how we might make our programs more male-friendly and less overtly feminist. Of course, not a single person ever commented on that part of the report or took me up on the suggestion. It was simply ignored, as such things usually are; or would receive the kind of feedback you are diagnosing. It might be okay to talk about a lack of men of color, or to lament that the feminizing of the discipline ultimately hurts women. I've not yet heard that argument that fewer men at university means fewer opportunities to cure their toxicity! Hollow laugh.
Jul 17, 2022
at
4:47 PM
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