[INDOLOGY] Sexism and Bias on INDOLOGY governing committee

Mon Apr 8 21:35:12 UTC 2019

Dear Paolo,

You might find this useful:

Karissa Sanbonmatsu | TEDWomen 2018

The biology of gender, from DNA to the brain 

http://bit.ly/2P0swAH

https://www.ted.com/talks/karissa_sanbonmatsu_the_biology_of_gender_fro
m_dna_to_the_brain

Best, Richard

-- 
Richard Mahoney | Indica et Buddhica

Littledene  Bay Road  Oxford  NZ 
T: +6433121699  M: +64210640216 
r.mahoney at indica-et-buddhica.org 

http://indica-et-buddhica.org/ 

-----Original Message-----
From: Dominik Wujastyk via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info>
Reply-to: Dominik Wujastyk <wujastyk at gmail.com>
To: Paolo Eugenio Rosati <paoloe.rosati at gmail.com>
Cc: Audrey Truschke <audrey.truschke at gmail.com>, Indology <indology at lis
t.indology.info>
Subject: Re: [INDOLOGY] Sexism and Bias on INDOLOGY governing committee
Date: Mon, 8 Apr 2019 15:15:42 -0600

Paolo,

Everyone on the INDOLOGY committee cares deeply about gender issues! 
 And we act on our convictions.  

That we have been accused of not doing so does not make it true.

Dominik

Sent from Android phone

On Mon, 8 Apr 2019, 14:03 Paolo Eugenio Rosati via INDOLOGY, <indology@
list.indology.info> wrote:
> Dear Iran,
> 
> For me as white, blue eyes man is quite incredible that we are going
> to question the woman's quota and the need of gender symmetry in the
> academia (and in the politics too).
> 
> I would like to know how many transgender people (M-to-F, F-to-M,
> transvestites, transgenders, etc.) applied for any academic position
> in the last 10 years, and how many of these application were
> accepted. Don't we need of quotas for non-binary genders?
> 
> There is no gender equality in our capitalist and patriarchal world,
> that's why I strongly sustain the necessity of gender and
> "minorities" quotas. I do not want only white caucasian males dicide
> for my (and our) future. Giving gender quotas does not mean that
> female is the weaker gender. It means that female as well as non-
> binary genders are discriminated and we want to fight this
> discrimination.
> 
> In a utopic society all the human being will be objectively
> considered. However, this society is extremely chauvinist and is
> excluding gender, linguistic, religious and ethnic minorities almost
> everywhere. 
> 
> In conclusion, I really feel uncomfortable that who always cares for
> gender issues is going to resign from the Indology committee. 
> 
> Best,
> Paolo
> 
> 
> ---
> Paolo E. Rosati
> PhD in Asian and African Studies
> (South Asia Section)
> Italian Institute of Oriental Studies 
> 'Sapienza' University of Rome
> 
> https://uniroma1.academia.edu/PaoloRosati/
> 
> paoloe.rosati at uniroma1.it
> paoloe.rosati at gmail.com
> Skype: paoloe.rosati
> Mobile: (+39) 338 73 83 472
> 
> Il lun 8 apr 2019, 14:32 farkhondeh iran via INDOLOGY <indology at list.
> indology.info> ha scritto:
> > Dear colleagues,
> > 
> > I would like to thank Isabelle Ratié and Dominik Wujastyk for their
> > last emails which had, inter alia, the merit of enabling us to
> > grasp some of the facts (it is a bit difficult to think in the
> > void). I think we all agree that gender equality is far from
> > achieved. It seems that we disagree on the best way to achieve it.
> > I fully agree with Isabelle when she writes: « Adding a female
> > member to the committee would have the pleasant advantage of
> > satisfying everybody's sense of symmetry, and it is probably the
> > best way to quickly end this controversy; I remain in doubt,
> > however, as to whether this would constitute in any way a
> > significant progress in the struggle against gender bias and
> > sexism. Let us keep our eyes on the frontlines. » 
> > 
> > As far as I’m concerned, I find that the quota policy is
> > problematic. As a woman, I would not want to be interviewed for a
> > job, shortlisted, hired or integrated into a committee for the mere
> > reason that a woman was needed for the sake of symmetry: I would
> > like to be selected as a scholar for my abilities and because
> > people value my work. I think the best way to achieve equal rights
> > is to see each other as colleagues and individuals without falling
> > in the trap of essentializing the other. Fortunately human beings
> > disagree and that’s healthy that they do. I would not want a male
> > colleague to prevent himself from giving his opinion on my work
> > because I’m a woman. Gender bias exists for sure but, if we don’t
> > see ourselves simply as members of the « weaker sex », then we
> > should be glad to be criticized and to be able to answer and defend
> > our position when it is defensible. 
> >  
> > Kind regards,
> > Iran 
> > 
> > Iris Iran Farkhondeh
> > Docteur en Études Indiennes
> > Université Sorbonne Nouvelle - Paris 3
> > Mondes iranien et indien
> > 00 33 6.30.18.20.31
> > iran_farkhondeh at yahoo.fr
> > 
> > 
> > > Le 7 avr. 2019 à 19:07, Dominik Wujastyk via INDOLOGY <indology at l
> > > ist.indology.info> a écrit :
> > > 
> > > I am writing this email in my own voice, not as an INDOLOGY
> > > committee statement. The committee has been reluctant to get into
> > > "you said, I said" arguments, for good reasons including the fact
> > > that some points of disagreement are hard to talk about without
> > > revealing confidential information.
> > > 
> > > Yesterday, Prof. Truschke posted a message ("I disagree that
> > > dealing ...", appended below) that referenced a committee post
> > > that I sent last week and made remarks about my opinon on bias
> > > training.  So that INDOLOGY members may see the context, here is
> > > the full text of the post that I sent to the committee last
> > > week.  I have redacted the names of the scholars we were
> > > discussing (XXXX and YYYY are both women with appointments at
> > > Indian universities).
> > > 
> > > Subject: Re: suggestions for new committee members
> > > From: Dominik Wujastyk <wujastyk at gmail.com>
> > > Cc: indology-owner <indology-owner at list.indology.info>
> > > Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
> > > boundary="000000000000f365830585b8fc88"
> > > 
> > > --000000000000f365830585b8fc88
> > > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
> > > Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
> > > 
> > > Dear committee colleagues,
> > > 
> > > I'm very busy and short of time (crazy last week of semester and
> > > academic
> > > year, sick child at home, etc. etc. etc.), but I've been told
> > > that Audrey
> > > has re-raised this issue about expanding the committee and
> > > inviting
> > > specifically women participants to even out the gender
> > > balance.  I agree,
> > > as I've said before.  So, since nobody else has done anything
> > > yet, I
> > > propose that as do as we usually do when we're making committee
> > > decisions,
> > > we have a vote.
> > > 
> > > I propose that, following Stefan's suggestion from October last
> > > year, the
> > > most recent I can quickly find, we invite the following two
> > > scholars to
> > > join the INDOLOGY management committee:
> > > 
> > >    - Prof. XXXX (at academia.edu)
> > >    - Prof. YYYY (ditto)
> > > 
> > > Shall we say that votes should be in within a week?  11 April.
> > > 
> > > Criteria: this committee has never formalized criteria, or even
> > > really
> > > discussed them.  Should we?  I would include that candidates
> > > should have a
> > > record of being somewhat dynamic, i.e., answering email
> > > reasonably quickly,
> > > and being willing and able to do the weekly-rota duties and
> > > having
> > > professional experience in such things as student admission
> > > committees,
> > > journal refereeing or other situations that would help with
> > > skills and
> > > sensitivities needed to evaluate incoming short CVs.
> > > 
> > > I would also draw attention to Stefan's important observation
> > > about
> > > considering candidates from East Asia.  Suggestions welcome.
> > > 
> > > I think Audrey's idea of bias training is a good one; I don't
> > > think we can
> > > formally require this of people, but when we invite new members
> > > we can
> > > mention that we recommend this, and we should point to some
> > > online
> > > resources, for example Harvard's ITA test (which is publicly
> > > available).
> > > (My university uses the Harvard test as part of it's internal
> > > bias training
> > > package; it's a bit clunky, but generally good.)  Perhaps we can
> > > have a
> > > committee vote on this issue separately if we want to.
> > > 
> > > Best,
> > > Dominik
> > > INDOLOGY committee member
> > > 
> > > 
> > > On Sat, 6 Apr 2019 at 15:39, Audrey Truschke via INDOLOGY <indolo
> > > gy at list.indology.info> wrote:
> > > > Dear Colleagues and Friends,
> > > > 
> > > > I disagree that dealing with multiple cases of sexist treatment
> > > > during the last year - and being required to keep mute by those
> > > > who, in my view, treated me with bias - is not a serious matter
> > > > (for those who have asked, please see my earlier notes giving a
> > > > list of situations and behaviors, beyond a single case). I
> > > > disagree even more that attention to such matters distracts
> > > > from the larger fight for gender equality. Demanding equal
> > > > treatment is not a zero-sum game.
> > > > 
> > > > In the meantime, behind the scenes, it has become clear that
> > > > the INDOLOGY governing committee is not a safe place for me. I
> > > > have been told in the past week that we cannot require bias
> > > > training (that's bollocks - of course we can). There remains no
> > > > grievance procedure or talk of instituting one. The committee
> > > > is discussing adding another woman, but probably only one
> > > > because a male committee member has expressed discomfort at the
> > > > thought that women might outnumber men on the committee. To
> > > > quote this man: "Gender parity applies both ways, however. With
> > > > the current active lineup, we only need to add *one* female
> > > > member to give us parity...nothing further needs to be done."
> > > > 
> > > > For me, I choose to no longer contribute to a power structure
> > > > here on INDOLOGY that I think is too ugly to overlook, and so I
> > > > am leaving the committee and the list. In the end, this
> > > > conversation has become about far more than me, and I hope that
> > > > others continue that larger discussion.
> > > > 
> > > > All the Best,
> > > > 
> > > > Audrey
> > > > 
> > > > Audrey Truschke
> > > > Assistant Professor
> > > > Department of History
> > > > Rutgers University-Newark
> > > > 
> > > > 
> > > 
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