Male professor faces sanction for elevator joke, calls it ‘chilling example of political correctness’

Source: FOX News
Published: May 9, 2018
Author: Caleb Parke
Post Date: 2018-05-11 14:04:19 by Deckard
Views: 3302

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 King’s 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 women’s 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 group’s 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 Sharoni’s 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 doesn’t write an apology by May 15.

ISA did not immediately respond to request for comment.

Poster Comment:

Simona Sharoni, professor of women’s 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!

Post Comment   Private Reply

#1: misterwhite    To: Deckard (#0)

Simona Sharoni, professor of women’s and gender studies

Simona Sharoni, Rug Muncher.

misterwhite posted on 2018-05-11 14:16:20   Reply   Private Reply

#2: Deckard    To: misterwhite (#1)

Wait a minute here bobby - he broke the rules, just like the kid with an imaginary gun.

Lebow violated the group’s 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)

You're such a stickler for "rules" - shouldn't Lebow be "punished" for "breaking the rules"?

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)

The "rule" he broke is subjective and determined by the recipient of the "unwanted conduct".

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:

PIP seems to have become a popular tool to the new generation middle managers for the purpose of a “homogeneous team”. That is, PIP has become an acceptable and common practice to get rid of the “black horse” employee that is typically high- skilled and highly productive, thus at odds with a team of mostly mediocre members (including the manager) and hard to terminate based on pure work performance.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-06-25/how- companies- are- using-pip-humiliate-and-get-rid-workers? destination=node%2F508730  


VxH posted on 2018-05-11 15:25:34   Reply   Private Reply

#5: BorisY    To: misterwhite (#3)

Trigger The snowflakes

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)

The "rule" he broke is subjective

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)

!nice! one Boris!

VxH posted on 2018-05-11 15:31:14   Reply   Private Reply

#8: misterwhite    To: Vicomte13 (#6)

All rules are subjective.

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)

All rules are subjective.

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)

Unless it’s a THREAT of physical harm, the pussified sheep need to shut the fuck up and grow thicker skin... and that includes any douche nozzle’s that get offended at cuss words.

GrandIsland posted on 2018-05-11 19:44:55   Reply   Private Reply

#11: Deckard    To: GrandIsland (#10)

Unless it’s a THREAT of physical harm, the pussified sheep need to shut the fuck up and grow thicker skin...

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)

I’m not in favor of those types of arrests. The masses need to suck it up and stop shitting themselves in fear. In fact, I’m not bothered at all if the little asshole brat actually shot up his school. It’s called LIFE. Freedom isn’t free, people will die for it. School brats aren’t exempt.

So fuck off.

GrandIsland posted on 2018-05-11 21:00:52   Reply   Private Reply

#13: Tooconservative    To: misterwhite (#3)

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.

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)

Looking at his photo, he looks kinda gay to me.

She looks gay plus she's a professor of women’s 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)

In fact, I’m not bothered at all if the little asshole brat actually shot up his school. It’s called LIFE. Freedom isn’t free, people will die for it. School brats aren’t exempt.

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)

Some more "brats" were just massacred again today - for what? "Freedom" you say?

Shut your bleeding heart shit flaps.

You filthy libs can’t 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)

A shotgun and revolver was used, you wanna ban then too?

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