Tuesday 23 January 2024
Irony Overload
Freddie Attenborough has a very interesting Critic piece on another unfair dismissal claim related to gender politics.
A Phoenix rises
Professor Jo Phoenix’s legal triumph is also a triumph for free speech
A former Professor of Criminology at the Open University (OU) has become the latest in a series of gender critical feminists (i.e., feminists who believe sex is biological, immutable and should take precedence over gender identity in policy and in law) to win employment tribunals.
Professor Jo Phoenix, who established the OU’s Gender Critical Research Network (GCRN), has won her unfair dismissal claim against the institution. In its ruling, the tribunal also found that she suffered victimisation and harassment, as well as direct discrimination.
The OU’s failure to protect Professor Phoenix from harassment from colleagues and trans activists was, the panel’s ruling found, motivated by “fear of being seen to support gender-critical beliefs” and “fear of the pro gender identity section” of the university.
The whole piece is certainly worth reading, partly because of the weirdly emotional language used by OU academics and partly because of the horrible irony of it still being called the Open University.
When Professor Phoenix subsequently gave a talk at a Woman’s Place UK event in 2019 on the topic of trans rights, sex-based rights and the curtailment of academic freedom, more departmental pearl-clutching ensued. “I can hardly bear to open it,” quavered one staff member, having been emailed a link to the “video nasty” by another colleague.
Dr Downes also fired off an email to Prof Westmarland, complaining: “I watched it yesterday and had to take a walk. I found it very upsetting. Been a while since I cried at work.” The panel were distinctly unimpressed by that claim: “We considered the transcript of the talk,” the ruling states immediately after Dr Downes’ complaint is reproduced, “and there is nothing in the talk that we find that would be upsetting.” Ouch.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
I know... let's ban all pearls and then they cannot be clutched.
Ladies used to be overcome by 'the vapours'. Now they try and get you fired or make you a non-person.
Comedy gold, and may both sides lose. I'm wondering what the purpose of the OU is, now you can enrol at the University of Heanor and get a degree for the asking.
That's wierd. I thought transgender stuff only became a thing in 2020. Maybe before that it was only in acedemia and not so mainstream.
"upsetting"; "protected beliefs"; etc etc. Bah humbug.
Of course it's great that she won the case, but it depresses me that the grounds for winning were not "They're talking bollocks and she's stating facts", but rather some techno-legal quibble, as if biology exists only by the grace of Parliament.
There's a long way to go yet.
“The whole piece is certainly worth reading, partly because of the weirdly emotional language used by OU academics and partly because of the horrible irony of it still being called the Open University.”
In one, AKH … in one.
DJ - now they try and get you fired or make you a non-person on top of being overcome by a modern version of 'the vapours'.
Sam - and the University of Heanor isn't politically correct, although you do need a few tattoos and purple hair to fit in.
Bucko - it's lurked in academia for quite a while, as far back as the sixties.
Peter - yes it's a win but only a small one. Until the obvious is allowed to become obvious again, progress may be slow.
James - thanks, some academics really do plumb the depths.
Post a Comment