Classroom faux pas

As a professor’s sexist remarks in class got the social media to sit up and take note, social commentators and people in the education sector try to find solutions to the sexism ingrained in the system

As teachers, you are expected to not only teach but also to practice what you taught. So, when a student at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) saw her professor trivialising and cracking sexist jokes on topics like domestic violence and rape, she called him out. Whatever her impact in class, her post about the same on Facebook has gone viral.

In the post, she gave an account of how the professor joked about domestic violence and said, “Because women are argumentative is why men beat them up.” He then went on to make several other sexist comments in jest, including the age-old dialogue, “The attendance at co-ed colleges is better because the boys want to watch girls.”

The class in question was the Foundation Course, which is one that all students of the Masters programme take when they first join college. While there are those who claim that a joke should be taken as a joke, most are shocked that a senior professor in an elite institution like TISS could have made such comments.

“It is shocking that something like this could have happened in TISS. One expects better from an institute which is essentially known for its open culture and focuses on social sciences,” says Dr Neena Nair, assistant professor at Valia College.

She further adds that she’s shocked to learn that it was a teacher of Social Sciences who did this. “Our system is fundamentally flawed because when someone teaches a subject, they are not required to know anything beyond that subject. So, an accounts professor would only be needed to know numbers, and not be socially aware. This is something that badly needs to change. Teachers are culpable for the things they say in class and must act as role models for students,” she says.

Columnist and writer Anil Dharker says while a joke needs to be taken as such, an immediate clarification of how serious the issue of domestic violence is a must.

“If what the professor said was in jest, then one must learn to take a joke as a joke. However, a topic like domestic violence is very delicate and is a cause for much trauma for many women. It happens because, in an argument, the man decides to use physical violence instead of using his words, as he should do. It is a problem that persists across the globe. So, it’s all right if the professor made a joke about this if an explanation immediately followed that joke as to what the issue is all about. Otherwise, it is deplorable,” he explains.

A PhD scholar at TISS also expressed her surprise that a professor in her college would make such comments. “Most of the classes I went to for my MPhil course were taken by teachers who were sensitive to such issues. So, while everyone is taking a guess at who the professor could be, they are also surprised that someone from this college would say this. TISS, in general, is not very genderbiased. For instance, there’s a lot of mobility on campus at all hours for both men and women, which is not something that one finds in many other colleges,” she says.

Dr Nair says that the only solution to this problem can be to educate students from a very early age. “While one’s college experience can turn one’s life around, it is essential to educate students about gender equality from a much earlier age. You can’t expect someone who has lived in a society that thrives on sexist views to suddenly gain an understanding about equal rights. It needs to be instilled in them from the time they are young. That is the only solution,” she concludes.

A topic like domestic violence is very delicate and is a cause for much trauma for many women ANIL DHARKER, COLUMNIST