OK, people, enough is enough. I rarely get angry with my students but now I’ve had it with them. More specifically, with my 3 pm section. Every Friday, up to 70% of the class is absent because it’s sunny outside. Or it’s raining outside. Or it’s cold outside. Or it’s warm outside.

I can’t change my syllabus and stop teaching on Fridays just because these folks are more obsessed with the weather than Miss Marple. I introduce important material in these scheduled lectures but they don’t show up and then expect me to repeat the same stuff on Monday.

So now the next quiz in this section will be based in its entirety on the material we have covered during Friday lectures. And if 70% of students get a zero on the quiz, well, oopsie daisy. And a third of the final exam will cover this material, too. Coupled with a failed participation grade, quite a few people who need this course to graduate will not be attending the graduation ceremony in December.

I see myself not only as a teacher but also as a pedagogue. If this is the only way to teach people that in the world of adults actions have consequences, then so be it.

I have to get my teaching evaluated every semester, so today I had somebody observe my class. Of course, I wanted to make a good impression and spent the entire morning concentrating deeply on my upcoming class.

When I reached my office and began the daily struggle with the lock, I saw a colleague emerge out of her office. Seeing her reminded me of something important I had forgotten to do.

Staring at the colleague with an intense gaze of an autistic deep in thought, I exclaimed, “Idiot!!” in a loud and aggressive voice.

Of course, the insult was meant for myself but I was staring into the colleague’s eyes when I uttered it. When I realized it, I began to laugh hysterically. Now this nice, peaceful colleague will think that I’m disturbed.

At the end of my class, the person who observed it congratulated me. I’m guessing this means I did well. Now I just have to find the colleague I scared in the morning and explain what happened.

Every morning I wake up to an article from a misogynist du jour, trying to explain to the women of the world what we should want and why.

Today’s anti-feminist rant comes from a guy called Donald Miller*. In it, the author makes a completely bizarre distinction between women wishing to be treated like equals or like men. I thought that arguments of this caliber had long been abandoned even by the most recalcitrant among the woman-haters, but Mr. Miller hasn’t gotten that message, it seems. It is always hilarious to see people make idiots of themselves by rolling out the following idiotic barrage of questions:

Do you want to be treated like men in every area of your life? And if not, is it confusing for you to want to be treated more kindly and tenderly in a social area, but more straight-forwardly in the sense of economic and cultural equality?

Let me be more pointed: As women, do you want for men to say you’re beautiful? Because if we treat you like men, we will never say you’re beautiful. We don’t really care. And we won’t make you feel small or special or precious, either. We won’t protect you because, quite frankly, you need to protect yourself or you’re a wimp. Do you really want us to treat you like men?

Since Mr. Miller is struggling so hard not only with the English language but also with the concept of gender equality that confuses him so much, I will give the dude a helping hand and answer his stupid questions. Feel free to provide your own answers to help the bloke out.

Do you want to be treated like men in every area of your life? – I want to be treated like a complete and valid human being whose physiology should not constrict her life. And I’m prepared to treat men and women in the same way.

And if not, is it confusing for you to want to be treated more kindly and tenderly in a social area, but more straight-forwardly in the sense of economic and cultural equality? – No, dude, it’s you who are confused. I have no idea what it means “to be treated more kindly and tenderly in a social area” but it doesn’t sound like something I might enjoy. Just like I don’t enjoy your poor writing skills.

As women, do you want for men to say you’re beautiful? – No, absolutely not. The only man whose opinion about my appearance interests me is my husband. Everybody else should feel free to admire my celestial beauty in silence. I mean, who are these men whose comments about my beauty I would welcome? The Dean? My male colleagues? My male friends, all of whom are happily married? My male students? It would be nothing short of creepy if these people started discussing my beauty with me.

And we won’t make you feel small or special or precious, either. – So you won’t belittle me? What a tragedy. And here I was, going through my life, accumulating scholarly degrees and intellectual capital in hopes that “men” would make me feel small. This guy is either on drugs or is suffering from a serious concussion. As for feeling precious, even three-year-olds know nowadays that self-esteem comes from within and not from strange compliments made by weird creatures like Don Miller.

We won’t protect you because, quite frankly, you need to protect yourself or you’re a wimp. – Protect me from what? Wild tigers? There aren’t any. Criminals? I pay taxes so that police officers of both genders protect me from them. The last thing I want is for some anonymous dude on the Internet to assign himself the role of my protector.

Do you really want us to treat you like men? – If all of the above equals treating one “like men”, then yes, I most certainly want all of that. Stop obsessing about my appearance, belittling me and trying to protect me from life, and I will be quite happy.

The most hilarious part about this crappy article is that its author firmly believes he is actually pro-women:

I have long believed that women are, socially, higher developed or designed than men in some ways. They seem to understand the true language of humanity, that somehow validating a person’s identity is paramount.

Of course, we all know that this fake “women are superior to men, so they shouldn’t sully their precious, small, weak existences with working, thinking and fighting for their rights” is the favorite trick of every woman-hater everywhere. So is Donald Miller’s belief that the purpose of every woman life is to nurture others emotionally and “validate identities.”

* The article starts out with a ridiculous and obviously spurious anecdote demonstrating that Donald Miller is also a homophobe and a transphobe. This guy has enough hatred for many different groups of people.

El is one of the three Russian speakers who read my blog on a regular basis but this is not what makes her so special. El lives in Israel but her understanding of American politics and cultural issues is more profound than that of many Americans. El is incredibly bright and curious. She is a lover of poetry and such an avid reader that even I can’t catch up with her. Her sincerity and seriousness are very heart-warming. I really wish we didn’t live so far away from each other because el is definitely a person I would like to have for a friend.

Every blog owner wants to get a reader like el because I can always count on her to ask interesting questions, suggest great topics for posts, and contribute valuable links. It’s an honor to have such a great person read my blog on a regular basis. I must be worth something as a blogger to attract such phenomenal readers.

P.S. Don’t worry, if you are a regular commenter, a post dedicated to you will come up as soon as my Kindle app gives me your nickname.