
Simona Sharoni, left, filed a complaint against Richard Ned Lebow, right, for a joke he made in a crowded elevator at an academic conference.
(Merrimack College/King's College London)
A male professor who made a joke in a crowded elevator at an academic conference is now facing disciplinary charges after a female professor who was there filed a formal complaint.
Richard Ned Lebow, professor of international political theory at Kings College in London, was in a jammed elevator when someone asked him what floor he needed to get off on, according to a Washington Post opinion piece.
Ladies lingerie, he joked.
He was attending the International Studies Association conference in San Francisco at the time. Simona Sharoni, professor of womens and gender studies at Merrimack College in Massachusetts, also present in the elevator, took offense and several hours after the incident, she filed a complaint with the association, which found that Lebow violated the groups code of conduct.
After Lebow was made aware of the complaint, he sent Sharoni an email telling her I certainly had no desire to insult women or to make you feel uncomfortable. He also suggested she may have interpreted my remark out of context.
Like you, I am strongly opposed to the exploitation, coercion or humiliation of women, Lebow wrote, according to the Post. As such evils continue, it seems to me to make sense to direct our attention to real offenses, not those that are imagined or marginal. By making a complaint to ISA that I consider frivolous and I expect, will be judged this way by the ethics committee you may be directing time and effort away from the real offenses that trouble us both.
The ISA committee found fault with Lebow characterizing Sharonis complaint as frivolous. It instructed him to issue an unequivocal apology, which he refused to do.
Lebow told colleagues this is a horrifying and chilling example of political correctness that encourages others to censor their remarks for fear of retribution.
"For decades, women and other marginalized groups in the academy had to put up with white men who decided what counts as a violation and what is frivolous," Sharoni told The Chronicle. "As someone who has dedicated her life to confronting sexism (and other forms of discrimination and oppression) in academic spaces, I cannot and will not remain silent when misogyny is at play."
Lebow faces appropriate sanctions from ISA if he doesnt write an apology by May 15.
ISA did not immediately respond to request for comment.
Poster Comment:
Simona Sharoni, professor of womens and gender studies
Why am I not surprised?
Insanity!
Anyone remember this line from M*A*S*H*:
Hawkeye: "Here we are. First floor. Lingerie, sportswear, elephant accessories and recuperating patients."
It was a frikkin joke lady - GTF over yourself!
#1: misterwhite To: Deckard (#0)
Simona Sharoni, Rug Muncher.
misterwhite posted on 2018-05-11 14:16:20 Reply Private Reply
#2: Deckard To: misterwhite (#1)
Lebow violated the groups code of conduct.
You're such a stickler for "rules" - shouldn't Lebow be "punished" for "breaking the rules"?
It appears that your hypocrisy is showing again.
Deckard posted on 2018-05-11 14:23:27 Reply Private Reply
#3: misterwhite To: Deckard (#2)
The "rule" he broke is subjective and determined by the recipient of the "unwanted conduct". How was he supposed to know she'd be offended by such an innocuous statement? No one else on that crowded elevator was.
misterwhite posted on 2018-05-11 14:57:48 Reply Private Reply
#4: VxH To: misterwhite (#3)
It's all drama. 20 years ago the rainbow mafia had to operate more quietly.
Now they've got the number in place to operate more openly in the HR frameworks they've created to expedite the ostracization process... for example:
VxH posted on 2018-05-11 15:25:34 Reply Private Reply
#5: BorisY To: misterwhite (#3)
You geT hailsTones
Avalanches
Glaciers
Ice age of civilizaTion
Cave dykes
Love
boris
BorisY posted on 2018-05-11 15:25:36 Reply Private Reply
#6: Vicomte13 To: misterwhite (#3)
All rules are subjective.
"He was resisting" - subjective. "I was in fear for my life" - subjective. Intent is subjective.
All rules are subjective.
Vicomte13 posted on 2018-05-11 15:26:31 Reply Private Reply
#7: VxH To: BorisY (#5)
VxH posted on 2018-05-11 15:31:14 Reply Private Reply
#8: misterwhite To: Vicomte13 (#6)
Well, no, they're not. In this case, the rule he broke is based on the subjective opinion of anyone who feels he broke the rule.
The rule was not "Speed Limit 60". The rule was "Do Not Speed", and one person thought he was speeding.
misterwhite posted on 2018-05-11 15:42:17 Reply Private Reply
#9: tpaine To: Vicomte13 (#6)
The rule was "do not joke about women's underware", and one woman thought he was offensive..
In actuality, given the venue (SF) I'm surprised some gay man didn't slap his face..
tpaine posted on 2018-05-11 19:40:09 Reply Private Reply
#10: GrandIsland To: tpaine (#9)
GrandIsland posted on 2018-05-11 19:44:55 Reply Private Reply
#11: Deckard To: GrandIsland (#10)
Oh - you mean like the "threat" made by a 12-yesar-old with an "imaginary gun"?
Deckard posted on 2018-05-11 19:50:25 Reply Private Reply
#12: GrandIsland To: Deckard (#11)
So fuck off.
GrandIsland posted on 2018-05-11 21:00:52 Reply Private Reply
#13: Tooconservative To: misterwhite (#3)
Looking at his photo, he looks kinda gay to me. Or close enough.
I think he might have been making his own little gay(ish) joke about wanting to stop at the floor for ladies lingerie. Kind of a drag joke.
Of course, the whole thing is totally overblown and his fear of the PC Police is probably enough to silence him other than his committee-dictated apology for his crime against humankind.
About him Wiki sez: "Born in Paris, France, sometime in 1941, Lebow lost his family in World War II. He was adopted by an American family, and grew up in New York City. He graduated from Lynbrook Senior High School in 1959 in Long Island, New York."
And no mention of former/current wives or children.
Looking at the photo, is he more or less likely to be a homo? Not to pass judgment one way or the other but he kinda looks like a homo to me.
Otherwise, I don't see much here other than a decent -- if not inspired -- career as a conscientious professor specializing in international relations and diplomacy.
Tooconservative posted on 2018-05-12 09:45:31 Reply Private Reply
#14: misterwhite To: Tooconservative (#13)
She looks gay plus she's a professor of womens and gender studies so she must be gay.
Not that there's anything wrong with that.
misterwhite posted on 2018-05-12 14:27:06 Reply Private Reply
#15: Deckard To: GrandIsland (#12)
Some more "brats" were just massacred again today - for what? "Freedom" you say?
Your gloating over the deaths of kids only reinforces the fact that you are a sociopath.
Man, what a frikking psycho you are!
Deckard posted on 2018-05-18 18:27:14 Reply Private Reply
#16: GrandIsland To: Deckard (#15)
Shut your bleeding heart shit flaps.
You filthy libs cant process the bad due to your pussification.
A shotgun and revolver was used, you wanna ban then too? STFU
GrandIsland posted on 2018-05-19 00:28:39 Reply Private Reply
#17: Deckard To: GrandIsland (#16)
No I don't queerbait, you sure like to make shit up, don't you? That wasn't the point I was making.
Your equating "brats" getting killed in school shootings with some delusional idea of "freedom" displays your rampant insanity.
Watch Trump sign some more gun control bullshit now.
Deckard posted on 2018-05-19 05:03:19 Reply Private Reply