I made the mistake of not stepping away from the homework assignments. And here is what I found:

“In the Southern states of the US, people are nicer and more polite than everywhere else in the country. They are known for their great values and good manners. They are racist and anti-women rights.”

It is especially curious that this black female student is not seeing any contradictions in her own statement.

Another student writes:

“I find it hard to describe the people of the West Coast because I don’t know how to say “surfer dude” in Spanish and my dictionary offers no translation.”

From a student’s homework assignment:

“This area is called the Bible Belt because many Protestants and Christians live here.”

I need to stop grading and step away from the desk. I’ve been grading so much that I feel like any student response can tip the delicate balance of my psyche.

From a student’s essay:

“Gender roles are completely reversed in the film. Ana becomes very masculine because she has a job and pays the bills. Amador, in the meantime, becomes feminized. He turns into a weak woman as he spends his days getting drunk in a bar.”

Two more students produced the same “analysis” with slight variations.

I deserve those course releases, people, because there is nothing harder than teaching students how to write academic essays. For weeks, I’ve been begging students to be careful with terminology and they still refer to a film as a novel and a novel as a short story.

So do you, folks, want to guess how many days a week your favorite blogger will have to teach in the spring semester?

The answer is ONE. I will only have to teach from 5 to 7:50 pm on Tuesdays.

This happens because I have course releases earned through working like a dog this semester but who cares? The important thing is that I will have a sabbatical of sorts from December 2012 to September of 2013. I do good research while teaching 3 courses per semester, so imagine what I will accomplish on this unofficial sabbatical.

Oh, I love my job, and I love my university that doesn’t exploit junior faculty members. Oh joy, oh happiness!

The most important things should be done during work hours. The less important things should be done in your free time. And everything else should be done whenever you can but as soon as possible.

Did you see this stupid video where a climacteric guy is badgering a young woman and venting his resentment that things have grown worse for entitled middle-aged white guys now that uppity womenfolks dare to speak in public and, even worse, attend college?

Enjoy:

Yeah, Spain has freedom. Freedom from having a job. What a stupid video about a totally stupid, rabid jerk.

Also note his insistence on “we acted like men” and “men we revered.” Andropause is a scary thing. Especially when it’s combined with the loss of total gender  supremacy.

This crap reminded me why I don’t watch television any longer.

Thank you, reader Titfortat, who brought this piece of proof that television sucks to the blog.

Words fail me to describe how offensive I find the following article:

While the campaigns eagerly pursue female voters, there’s something that may raise the chances for both presidential candidates that’s totally out of their control: women’s ovulation cycles.

You read that right. New research suggests that hormones may influence female voting choices differently, depending on whether a woman is single or in a committed relationship.

Please continue reading with caution. Although the study will be published in the peer-reviewed journal Psychological Science, several political scientists who read the study have expressed skepticism about its conclusions.

I know that, as usual, there will be people who will explain to me condescendingly that this is supposed to be funny and I’m a humorless stupid autistic to be offended. But you know what? If you are not offended by this, you are an idiot. Yes, I said it. An idiot who allows a brainless excuse for a journalist to sell you her sexism in lieu of news. Keep finding excuses for this crap while she laughs all the way to the bank.

 

Musteryou came up with the brilliant idea to list the stereotypes we were taught as children. Here is my list:

1. Men are useless and have no willpower. Women have to manipulate them. If you don’t manipulate a man, some other woman will, and that isn’t of any use to you.
2. Everything is decided by women who then make men adopt their ideas as their own.
3. Women are strong and resilient while men are weak and sensitive.
4. Girls don’t cry (unless to manipulate men.) If you are in pain, you have to suffer in silence because what kind of woman are you, if you don’t?
5. Men can be forgiven anything because they are like children or like mentally disabled people. They can’t be expected to exercise any self-control or be guided by reason. So they need a woman to guide them.
6. Men have no tolerance for physical pain. If a man has a hangnail, he will create more drama around it than a woman would if she had a gaping wound in her chest.
7. Your body can be invaded at any time by other women.
8. It’s really horrible to be a woman.