Having a slow afternoon? A reader passed along this little time-waster;
Good news: Ryerson University is asking its faculty about their experiences with racism.
Better news: Anybody can answer the survey.
*Speaking, of course, as a 60 plus year old trans-gendered “two spirited” Japanese Jew.
(Heh – “Now can someone describe what kind of a freak would consider themself ‘Other’?”)
Update… it appears the faculty survey link has been *cough* closed. But not to fear, trusty minions!
Student survey
Staff survey
WTF is “Two Spirit”?
I’d answer that, but my other spirit won’t let me.
I was looking for the “I know my ass from my hand” question, but then realized this is not the Anti-Ignorance survey. Of course, that survey would have no place in our fine higher educational institutions, as they are under such budget pressure that they cannot afford the resources required for such a pointless exercise.
Oh that was fun, thanks.
Signed,
Professor Manfrengensen of the Institute of Leukophobia and Misandry
The more timid of the Ryerson University administration should rephrase the survey like so: how do we not get sued by someone with a chip on their shoulder?
The completely stupid should rephrase the survey like so: have any white male Americans you’ve never met harrassed you in ways you cannot describe as neo-homo-multi-cultured person of some descripion?
Everyone else should ask: what the hell is the point of this?!
“Two-spirit”… oh, see, this is proof that universities have plenty of wacky-headed faculty…
This obsession with differences and divisiveness, whether real or perceived out of delusion or brainwashing… how can anyone focus on learning a bloody thing when everyone out there is babbling about hostility, racism, hate, whatever… especially when much of it is imaginary?
Now I do believe in Aliens.
Another survey gone horribly wrong.
what a fun way to enjoy my afternoon coffee.
I am under 30 years old and have more than 25 years working there.
speaking as a trans/arab/other/other, i feel very put upon and nobody understands me.
i hate you all. that is why i refuse to use the shift key.
praise obama.
Wonder if the Ryerson faculty wear tinfoil hats… wonder if Catmeat is working for them now, or Richie Warrin’ Man? They sound like the friggin’ HRCs, with that silly survey…
Hey, why not add to the survey, “You have seen Nazis in a toilet stall”? Rest assured our good buddy Catmeat will answer with a 5, meaning “strongly agree”.
Meanwhile, China graduates millions of scientists and engineers annually. Well, at least our Two Spirits are not offended.
SDH, “two spirit” is like the three shells in Demolition Man. If you don’t know, you’re supposed to pretend you do anyway or the other kids will laugh at you.
What a freak show.
Thanks for sharing this, Kate. I agree with DM — that was fun!
I could not find a conservative option! Maybe they are treated like equals.
What’s wrong with colonialism?
D’ya know, If I wasn’t at the point where I’d believe anything, I’d think Kate made this up. It can’t be real. Can it?
After hetero, gay/lesbian, bi, trans and two spirit, there is an other?
“Have you experienced any of the following here at Ryerson?”
1. Chilly climate
Er, um, yes, in the winter.
Uh? I didn’t take 15 minutes … I finished in about 2.
I am glad I’m not the only two spirited tranny japanese jew out there.
On the serious side, they are actually paying someone or someones to make up this thing, post it and gather results that will have no bearing on anything (and will probably have to redo this whole ordeal). Either that or twin spirited transgendered jews of japanese heritage will have our own support group on campus. Someone is working way under their pay grade.
Indy, people like you get sacrificed at the full moon in the Dean’s office. Or you will do, once my demands have been met.
Wouldn’t it be something if trans-gendered bisexual Muslims actually make up a majority of the staff there at Ryerson? Maybe the Ayaltollah would bomb them or something.
Wow! What a racist survey. Having declared myself as a middle-aged white guy, I had no trouble answering that survey. Interestingly, it is those who are opposed to racism, the “anti-racists”, who are most obsessed about race.
The two best Qs were:
Do you feel your opportunity to succeed at Ryerson is constrained by structural barriers because of your race or because you are an Aboriginal person?
Well, yes, because I’m a white guy and not welcome at Ryason, it appears. Also, apparently, an aboriginal person does not have race. Amazing. Do the Aboriginals know they are raceless?? Have they been asked? This question could only have been written by an uneducated dolt, or Ryason professor perhaps?
I believe there are no problems about retention of Aboriginal and racialized faculty members at Ryerson.
Well, yes, I reckon it would be pretty difficult to keep a middle-age Conservative white guy there; I suspect they are actively chased out of town.
I just love filling out surveys – it is so much fun creating interesting patterns by checking off random answers. But seriously, if Ryerson is so stupid to have an open survey, they deserve whatever results they get. I encourage all to complete it.
I would have answered but my one Spirit isn’t talking to the other.
Two Spirit:
The term usually implies a masculine spirit and a feminine spirit living in the same body and was coined by contemporary gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender Native Americans to describe themselves and the traditional roles they are reclaiming.
Now can someone describe what kind of a freak would consider themself “Other”
Why is it when they ask for your race you can choose – Chinese, Japanese, Korean, South Asia, West Asia, and a whole bunch of Asians but they only give one thing for whites?
Omg, Ryerson is such a racist university. You know how much they discriminated against a transgendered, omniracial, omnireligious, gay/lesbian Hitler? It’s unreal. The guy can’t even get a break and he’s been dead over 60 years.
A law professor from Ottawa on CTV today said eliminating 2 for 1 credit for presentence time for criminals will not reduce crime.
Like this Ryerson professor, this kind of talk discredits the higher halls of learning. As far as CTV’s choices for news presentation goes, their credibility is suffering too.
As a white female untenured faculty member my life is a living Hell and there is no point in complaining.
What a fun game, I had to force my self to stop playing or supper would never get made.
I have seen plenty of Indians with two spirits..every Friday night down at the old Holiday Tavern in Toronto.Beer in one hand, whiskey shot in the other.
And, best of all, our old friend Prof. John (“Google”) Miller and Judy Rebick are on the Committee!
My, that was the most fun I’ve had all day. I could have gone for the more outrageous answers, but I think that more fun is had in slipping in slightly believable ones so that are harder to pick out.
Occasionally, I made geometric designs out of the answer boxes.
Funny thing about that study, if everything turned out great they’d use it as proof that they were as truly wonderful and diverse as they thought they were, and if it turned out bad it’d be used as proof that the university was as truly horrible and racist as they thought it was. Go figure.
Of course, I always take Calvin’s view on university:
http://quinncreative.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/calvin-writing1.png?w=296&h=369
Another survey gone wrong, as an old white guy I could even fathom working in that environment, lots of lefties and no where to run….yikes.
Kate, I also am a “two spirit”. We should do coffee, and see where it goes from there.
Perhaps we can respectfully dialogue on which of us will be the non-gendered man-person?
Wait, that thing was an E-Harmony profile I just filled-out, wasn’t it?
I love how they have a question, and then ask you if you agree or disagree with it. Umm, you need to assert something if you want people to agree or disagree with. A question is not an assertion.
Also noted that Aboriginal people are not a race! Quite progressive, I must say. Well said, Ryerson.
I wish logic and reasoning were races; then Ryerson would be racist for not having them.
I will only complete the survey if I am given a $100 visa card.
Ryerson – that fine institution of imbecile learning that employs such intellectual luminaries as Wendy Cukier, she of the hoplophobic and misandric persuasion whose utter idiocy has convinced an already idiotic liberal government back in the Allan “IQ of a dead mouse” Rock to make our gun laws so dysfunctional as to be ridiculous and utterly oriented towards penalizing men.
As a white male, I feel that Ryerson faculty members have discriminated against me on the basis of gender and race. Now where is the nearest HRC insta-complaint booth?
omg.. I had to look up “two spirit” and am sorry I did.. what a bunch of BS.
From wikipedia:
“Two-spirit originated in Winnipeg, Canada in 1990 during the third annual intertribal Native American/First Nations gay and lesbian conference… It was chosen to distance Native/First Nations people from non-natives as well as from the words berdache and gay”
A friend of mine, an East Indian, worked at Ryerson as a faculty member. He seems to have found Ryerson not so much racist as anti-competence.
My final comments from the survey.
Hire more white staff who aren’t suffering from “white Guilt”. Stop playing identity politics and get back to the basics of teaching. If unable to do this, close the place and save the taxpayers some money.
Tommyboy
Comments on the last question for the “staff” survey.
Stop dwelling on it and do something!!!
Replacement of current administration seems like a good start.
Tommyboy
Here’s to being a non descript white. It gives you a warm fuzzy feeling allllll over.
I actually go to Ryerson. Here’s what I wrote:
Because I am of white, Anglo-Saxon descent, I am marginalized at Ryerson University. I am told that because of the “sins” of my forefathers, I habour racism and bigotries simply because of my skin colour. My demographic has become the proverbial whipping boy for every possible grievance in western civilization. Should I be upset that my grandparents had to fight two World Wars or suffer through the Great Depression? Should I expect special treatment because my Ukrainian great-grandparents came to Canada when there was REAL discrimination towards people of their ethnic heritage? They didn’t complain and neither should we rather, we should be thankful we have inhereted unprecedented peace and prosperity on account of their sacrifice. We live in a country, and especially a city, where discrimination in any real capacity does not exist and by promoting this “anti-racism” philosophy we only end up marginalizing people who have never expressed any real bigotries in favour of people who never experienced any real oppression. I find it disgraceful that a school as TRULY multicultural as Ryerson (indeed most of my friends are non-white) continues to entertain these notions of hate-speech and discrimination. Universities ought to be about freedom and liberty of the mind, but these policies lead to the kind of thought policing one would expect from Soviet Russia.
Stop this nonsense. Stop glamourizing victimization. Stop acting as if freeborn, Canadian citizens are opressive hatemongers looking for every possible opportunity to exploit one another. And please, stop embarassing your student body with these ridiculous accusations.
On the Student Survey you can specify your “Sexual Identity”; I’m going with “Three Spirit”, but there’s really no need to stop there. Who needs a hobby?
As a transgendered two-spirited Sikh of other
racial minority, I was too afraid to report an incident of discrimination (not that it would
have done any good) — the time Judy Rebick kicked me in the nuts and told me to go back to
whatever backward Third World hell-hole I came from.
Somehow, I feel disempowered.
back in the day (mid-70’s) the Rye-High mech profs were a mix of;
-homegrowns
-brits
-euros
-indians
-aussie
the biggest campus concern was pub capacity and hours of operation.
East Clintwood said it best, “We are wasting too much time and effort on being PC”.
Now it is obvious how Wendy Cukier keeps an academic job…..no where else could she even get a job cleaning toilets.