• fuck_you_spez@lemmy.world
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    7 hours ago

    Hero.

    I love everything about how she’s calling out the culture in her realm of academia and casting it in Stone by being the first pages of her book.

    Sucks it all happened. But proud to have it justly put on blast.

  • Of the Air (cele/celes)@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    23 hours ago

    For anybody having difficulty reading the text:

    Anti Acknowledgements

    There have unfortunately also been people who have been less than helpful in my journey here. I wanted to acknowledge those too, because I know I am not unique in this experience.

    No thank you to the physics study association that made me sing songs about how women couldn’t study physics without sleeping with the professor, the day I stepped into university life. No thank you to the 5th year physics student that decided to assign me a ‘stripper name’ within the first minute of meeting me in the physics coffee corner in my first year. No thank you to the technician that was responsible for onboarding me on the use of the cluster in my third year who raised his eyebrows and asked me if that meant I was some sort of “computer girl”. No thank you to the senior researcher that sent me utterly inappropriate texts after a conference, then proceeded to ‘apologise’ months later by telling me they had not been meant for me anyway so “no hard feelings remain hopefully”. And no thank you to him for attending every conference I’ve been to since. No thank you to the people who told me that it was “surprising” that I was doing a PhD since I was a girl. No thank you to the man who mistook me for a coffee lady at a conference, and after having to correct him two times that I did not work there, responded with “you should consider it”. No thank you to the researcher that asked me what I was wearing underneath my outfit during a conference. No thank you to the physicist who declared to a room full of other physicists that biologists “don’t know how to design an experiment”. No thank you to the people who have called me scary instead of strong and intimidating instead of intelligent. And finally, no thank you to the executive board of the TU Delft, whose knee-jerk reaction to being held up to a mirror about the social safety at the university, was to sue the party holding up the mirror instead of looking at the problems they highlighted.

    I wish I could tell you this has all made me stronger somehow but in reality it has only shattered my confidence. You have made me feel like I do not belong in science and I cannot forgive you for that.

    -Rachel

  • JacksonLamb@lemmy.world
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    8 hours ago

    What she has been through is awful.

    I wish though that more people knew the difference between an Acknowledgements page and a Thank You page.

    This should properly be titled Anti Thanks.

    Acknowledgements should only cover individuals and institutions whose contributions are a direct factor in the material body of the text.

  • Seeker of Carcosa@feddit.uk
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    1 day ago

    Bravo to the exceptional bravery on display here. I’m sure the majority of PhD graduates, including myself, wish they’d had the gumption to name and shame the suppressing factors contributing to a toxic academic environment. Reading this makes me kind of appreciative that my troubles were only administrative mismanagement and an inexperienced supervisor.

    Also what the hell is up with TU Delft? It’s only partway through March and this is the second time this year that I’ve seen a PhD candidate publicly call out the institute.

  • PerogiBoi@lemmy.ca
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    1 day ago

    This sounds like the University of Ottawa. Watching physics professors sexually harass the few women in our class was disgusting.

    • Nalivai@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      It’s sad that she decided to channel her experience into transphobia, as if punching down will somehow make up for all the punches she got.

    • AES_Enjoyer@reddthat.com
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      17 hours ago

      Love the part on the video where essentially she says “I was given my first research position thanks to a grant for women. Also, there should be no research grants for women”. Piece of shit.

      • Darkmoon_UK@lemm.ee
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        15 hours ago

        To be clear, you are criticising Sabine for saying there should be no research grants for women? If so, you perhaps misinterpret her meaning?

        If I know Sabine at all from her videos, she would have meant that in an equal world, grants aimed specifically at either sex should not be necessary.

        That’s quite different from a “raise the drawbridge” stance - but I’m a casual viewer, so please be kind while putting me right, if warranted.

        • AES_Enjoyer@reddthat.com
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          10 hours ago

          in an equal world, grants aimed specifically at either sex should not be necessary

          Not quite, I’m afraid. Her point was essentially “I had very good grades, so I would have been hired anyway, but instead of hiring me normally, they hired me through this grant for women, which is a form of discrimination”. She’s not explicitly saying “kick the ladder when I’m up top”, but it’s essentially the conclusion. She mentions it on the “what’s wrong with academia” thingy video.

  • NotLemming@lemm.ee
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    2 days ago

    Normalise this. In the past women would have been accused of being unprofessional to have called men out like this. That’s the only reason why every woman doesn’t do it.

  • mindbleach@sh.itjust.works
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    1 day ago

    No thank you to the physicist who declared to a room full of other physicists that biologists “don’t know how to design an experiment.”

    That’s just what physics does to your brain. They’re all like that.

    • stormdelay@sh.itjust.works
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      5 hours ago

      I don’t know how it is in the USA, but here biologist graduates are mostly women, so I think the implication is that she was being called a biologist (who can’t design experiments) because she’s a woman

    • PixelPinecone@lemmy.today
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      17 hours ago

      Hey, not all of us! Physics was humbling in my experience. Had the exact opposite effect.

      I did exceptionally well at a top physics university, and still felt stupid all the time.

      It took getting my ass handed to me to wipe that veneer off my perceived awesomeness and realized I’m doing this cause I love it. Why would I think down on anyone else doing what they do cause they love it?

      And I sure as hell came to realize that there’s people better at biology than I am at physics.

      That said, lots of physics people are high on their own supply. So, not discounting the reality of physics dickheads that are in abundant supply.

    • melpomenesclevage@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      22 hours ago

      yeah. the rest of this seems like serious grievances, but physicists saying dumb arrogant shit to other scientists about not being ‘real’ fields seems like blaming water for being wet.

      • mindbleach@sh.itjust.works
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        20 hours ago

        It’s almost a punchline. ‘Fuck sexism, harassment, repression, and those god damn smug-ass physicists!’

  • Blazingtransfem98@discuss.online
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    2 days ago

    Fuck these misogynistic pigs, idiots like these need to be called out more often. It’s too bad she couldn’t give names out and completely humiliate and ruin them.

    • AidsKitty@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      Only if the accusations are true. It is just a post on the internet, there is no proof any of this is true or factual. Don’t be in such a hurry to harm others and damage their lives.

      • SybilVane@lemmy.ca
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        1 day ago

        As a woman, and having known many other women, I can promise you that none of what is mentioned is particularly far fetched. It’s sad, but we all have multiple stories like this. Almost any woman could put together a similar paragraph of incidents she has personally experienced.

        Edit to add: she didn’t even name anyone! No one is harmed, except the people who know they should be ashamed of themselves.

        • froh42@lemmy.world
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          1 day ago

          As a man I’d have never believed how common such behavior is. I’d have thought that’s really outlandish.

          Now I’ve gone through the (probably stereotypical) process of a guy having a daughter, she’s an adult now.

          What she told me - no, all this stuff isn’t unusual at all. The first time she was afraid (and called me as she already had a phone of her own) she was not even 10 years old, riding her bike from my place to the ex-wife’s place, teenage boys catcalling her.

          There’s a lot of us men around who find it hard to believe, because it doesn’t happen to US. But it does. Frequently.

          • DavesNotHere@lemm.ee
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            17 hours ago

            It’s not happening to us, but it’s happening all around us and we choose not to see it. Once my own daughter began talking to me about her experiences and pointing out men’s problematic behavior in public, I can no longer not see it.

          • Snowclone@lemmy.world
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            1 day ago

            I know it never happened around me personally, I’m tall and mean looking, but working in service for over a decade and most people don’t know how bad it is. You learn that the restraining order needs to happen BEFORE it gets worse not as it gets worse. And none of that protects workers traveling to work. You can’t let anyone walk alone to their car alone after close, and if a guy comes in and asks for an associate with those creep vibes, and they aren’t known to the associate or a part of their private life in anyway, you need to aggressively fight it. On visit two looking for her, you have to pull her behind closed doors and report to the police he’s stalking and get a restraining order. SECOND VISIT. Anything less and you’re letting to go way to far.

      • BradleyUffner@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        As the husband of a woman with a PhD, let me assure you that I have witnessed several of these first hand when I travel with her to conferences.