bizarrolord:

truscum-truth:

snowflake-collections:

its-a-human-thing:

slumberinggirl:

rudamiester:

waluigi-hates-sjws:

cisnowflake:

So this TA dared to present “problematic” ideas to her class by showing a 3 minute Jordan Peterson clip. This is the conversation that followed with higher ups at the college, which she decided to record for obvious reasons.

And a transcript-

RAMBUKKANA: [Do you see] why that might have been seen as problematic by some of the students? Maybe even threatening?

SHEPHERD: I don’t see how someone would rationally think that was threatening. I could see how it might challenge their existing ideas, but for me, that’s the spirit of the university is challenging ideas that you already have, and I don’t know who this came from. I would be interested to see the original complaint or complaints because, like, I don’t have any context…

The thing is, can you shield people from those ideas? Am I supposed to comfort them and make sure that they’re insulated away from this? Like is that what the point of this is? Because to me, that is so against what a university is about. So against it. I was not taking sides; I was presenting both arguments.

RAMBUKKANA: So the thing about this is if you’re presenting something like this, you have to think about the kind of teaching climate that you are creating, and this is actually – these arguments are counter to the Canadian Human Rights Code. Ever since, and I know that you’ve talked about C-16, ever since this passed, it is discriminatory to be targeting someone due to their gender identity or gender expression. So bringing something like that up in class not critically, and I understand that you’re trying to like —

SHEPHERD: It was critical. I introduced it critically.

RAMBUKKANA: How so? Like as in?

SHEPHERD: Like I said, it was in the spirit of debate.

RAMBUKKANA: Okay. “In the spirit of the debate” is slightly different than being like, okay, this is, like, a problematic idea that we maybe want to unpack.

SHEPHERD: But that’s taking sides.

RAMBUKKANA: Yes.

SHEPHERD: Like, it’s taking sides for me to be like: “Oh, look at this guy. Everything that comes out of his mouth is BS, but we’re gonna watch anyway.”

RAMBUKKANA: Okay, so, I understand the position that you’re coming from, and your positionality, but the reality is that it has created a toxic climate for some of the students…

…one or multiple students who have come forward, saying that this is something that they were concerned about, and that it made them uncomfortable. You are perfectly welcome to your own opinions, but when you’re bringing it into the context of the classroom, that can become problematic, and that can become something that is – that creates an unsafe learning environment for students.

SHEPHERD: But when they leave the University, they’re gonna be exposed to these ideas. So I don’t see how I’m doing a disservice to the class by exposing them to ideas that are really out there. And I’m sorry I’m crying, I’m stressed out because this, to me, is so wrong.

JOEL: Can I mention the gendered violence, gender and sexual violence policy?

RAMBUKKANA: Yeah, please.

JOEL: So, under that, gendered violence doesn’t just include sexual violence, but it also includes targeting folks based on gender, so that includes transphobia, biphobia, homophobia. All those sorts of things are protected under the policy, and so those are things that Laurier has upheld as values as well as the Ontario Human Rights Code. And so those are things that we are responsible for, uh, not impacting our students in that way, and not spreading transphobia in that way.

SHEPHERD: Okay, so, what I have a problem with is I didn’t target anybody. Who did I target?

JOEL: Trans folks.

SHEPHERD: How? By telling them ideas that are really out there? By telling them that? By telling them? Really?

RAMBUKKANA: It’s not just telling them. In legitimizing this as a valid perspective, as “this is another valid perspective on [the] issues.” —

SHEPHERD: In a university, all perspectives are valid.

RAMBUKKANA: That’s not necessarily true, Lindsay.

SHEPHERD: Well, this is something that’s being debated in current society, and I don’t feel the need to shield people from what’s going on in society. Like, to imagine that this is happening in a university – it’s just bad.

RAMBUKKANA: Okay, just to give you a context. Also within all of this that is happening, Laurier is being blanketed with white supremacist posters currently. There is another debate in society, which is whether or not North America should be a set of white nationalist states, and that it should be ethnically cleansed of other people. That is also a current debate in society. Would you show something in your tutorial that had white supremacists and non-white supremacists debating whether or not other people should live in North America? Is that something that you would show?

SHEPHERD: If that was related to the content of the week, and we were talking about right-wing speech bubbles, maybe. It depends on the content. If there’s really ideas that are existing out there like that, then, I mean. Look, the thing is, I don’t see what’s transphobic about showing a video of Jordan Peterson. He’s a real person. He’s out there.

RAMBUKKANA: He’s a real person, but he is a real person who has engaged in targeted behavior that – targeting of trans students in a particular, like, basically doxxing them – if you know the term – like, giving out their personal information so that they will be attacked, harassed, so that death threats will find them. This is something that he has done to his own students, has done to other students. And this is also something that the students are aware of. So this is basically like playing – not to kind of do the thing where everything is kind of compared to Hitler – but this is like neutrally playing a speech by Hitler or Milo Yiannopoulos…

This is the kind of thing that departmentally, in terms of, like, critical communication studies, and in terms of the course, of what we’re trying to do, is diametrically opposed to everything that we’ve been talking about in the lectures. Was this one of the reasons that you wanted to do this? Because it was like a reaction to the lecture content?

SHEPHERD: No, we were talking about gendered language, and I was asking them to structure sentences using “they” or using “his” or “her.” And then we talked about the societal context of that. So I don’t get why I’m being seen as transphobic by virtue, by proxy of me just saying, just stating, just exposing people to an idea. I don’t get how that label is now attached to me. I really don’t.

RAMBUKKANA: It’s more about the effect rather than the intention. Obviously that wasn’t your intention, but nevertheless, it disturbed and upset students enough.

SHEPHERD: So everything’s about those students who are disturbed? Everything is catered to them?

PIMLOTT: Can I just offer a different perspective? Was this tutorial based on looking at grammar? And it was focused on the use of pronouns and the use of grammar? Is grammar not something that’s not really subject to debate?

SHEPHERD: The “they,” and the “his or her?” It’s a huge debate right now. Can we use “they” in the singular?

PIMLOTT: But you do know that “they” has actually been used in the singular. It’s grammatically —

SHEPHERD: Yeah, that was in the video I showed the class, and that’s a point I made. The thing is that what’s kind of funny is I disagree with Jordan Peterson. I disagree, but you guys seem to think that I’m, like, pro Jordan Peterson or something.

RAMBUKKANA: Do you understand how what happened was contrary to…gendered and sexual violence policy? Do you understand how —

SHEPHERD: Sorry, what did I violate in that policy?

JOEL: So, gender-based violence, transphobia in that policy. Causing harm to trans students by bringing their identity as invalid, or their pronouns as invalid – potentially invalid.

SHEPHERD: So I caused harm and violence?

JOEL: Which is under the Ontario Human Rights Code a protected thing, and also something that Laurier holds as a value.

SHEPHERD: Okay, so, by proxy, me showing a YouTube video, I’m transphobic and I caused harm and violence? So be it. I can’t do anything to control that.

RAMBUKKANA: Okay, so that’s not something that you have an issue with? The fact that that happened? Like, are you sorry that it happened?

SHEPHERD: I mean, I know in my heart and I know I expressed to the class that I’m not transphobic, and if any of them – I don’t know, again, what they said, but…I don’t think I gave away any political position of mine. I remained very neutral.

RAMBUKKANA: That’s kind of the problem…

It’s very VERY clear that you’re only allowed to present one preapproved position in these universities. Diverging in any way from the approved narrative, even in a critical way, is entirely unacceptable. These places no longer represent the spirit of free speech or an open marketplace of ideas. 

How are this morons in positions of power at universities? Like what the fuck?

SHEPHERD: …I don’t think I gave away any political position of mine. I remained very neutral.

RAMBUKKANA: That’s kind of the problem…

 

What. The. Actual. Fuck.

Are. You. Fucking. Serious?

This is college. This is what college is about. It’s about having your ideas challenged, even though it may make you uncomfortable.

I had a professor once say, in the context of the class that day, religion is an idiotic ideology. And I, a Christian, was a bit offended by that. I was offended that he would insinuate that just because I believe in God, I’m an idiot.

But I didn’t say anything. I knew that it was not my professor’s intention to offend anyone. He wasn’t trying to belittle me, or single me out. He was just stating what he thought. And I’m okay with that. Just because I don’t agree with him doesn’t mean he’s evil and I’m suddenly a victim.

I’m not gonna lie, it did bother me; it bothered me a lot. But I understand that this is part of the college experience. You sometimes do get uncomfortable over lecture topics, or skirt away from the idea of having your views challenged, but in my mind this is something to be embraced.

Don’t victimize yourself over something so minuscule.

“Hitler or Milo Yiannopoulos”

I don’t like Milo either, but what?

How have educational systems sunken this far? How??

When you value feelings over rights you end up losing freedom of speech

And this is why this type of trans activism ultimately gets nowhere. People have to realize they’re in a position where it’s pretty much mandatory they grow a thicker skin because people will say dumb things or ignorant things and just do it out of curiosity and not malice. (And that a lot of the time they sound entitled and manipulative to people who have no understanding or knowledge of these issues- and a few who do.)

And education is not supposed to be biased. You’re supposed to challenge ideas, not set up a new norm to follow blindly. You never really get anywhere with productive thought by substituting one orthodoxy for another and then telling people it’s mandatory to think the same way everyone else does because you said so.

So watching a video on YouTube is literally violence now? Alright.

If the point is to start a debate, and you’re opposed to a certain view, then fricking debate it and support why yours is better. What the hell is wrong with people?

Plus, if you aren’t willing to listen to the other side’s arguments, it’s kinda hard to counter them.

University TA ‘Censured’ After Playing A Clip From A Debate About Transgender Pronouns