Compassionate Academics

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/2010/02/02/que-rochefort-hearing.html#socialcomments

and

http://thestar.blogs.com/.a/6a00d8341bf8f353ef01287636a9a7970c-pi

Yes, there are douche-bags out there who want to celebrate a Marc Lepine Day.

Sometimes as an academic I put on a pair of rose coloured glasses. I spend most of my time with men who respect me intellectually and am surrounded by friends who support my choices, be they to pursue my career goals or have a family without judging me for either.

Outside of Academics though (and in some parts of it to be honest) I forget that there are still bigots out there who hate, who hate muslims, who hate women, who hate Black people, disabled people, the list goes on.

As an academic and a person who believes in higher power, I believe I have a responsibility in my research to disseminate ideas of compassion. I don't do academics for the pay (what pay?) or the glory, I do it with the hope that maybe an idea of mine will someday trickle down into common parlance, and people will think, and try just a little to learn about a group they don't understand before rushing to a judgement.

So today I salute gender studies scholars, who take the time to make us question everything we know about gender. Who make us aware of privledge. Who work to remind us that men and women aren't that different, and when we are different, that's OK, and it should never be seen as a basis for hate.

And to clear the record, I have met and studied some of the most passionate and intelligent gender scholars in the world, and while some of them are controversial, they all advocate compassion. So if I ever meet that man hating feminist women's studies proffessor who advocates killing off all men that the people commenting on the CBC article seem to be so afraid of, I will let you know. Because he she exists, she is a bigot, not the norm.