美国国家公共电台 NPR Laura Kipnis Tackles Campus Sexual Politics In 'Unwanted Advances'

 

LOURDES GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:

A few years ago, Laura Kipnis, a tenured professor at Northwestern, published an essay in The Chronicle of Higher Education. In it, she argued that the rules governing sexual relationships between students and professors had become draconian². It made a lot of people angry and uncomfortable, and two graduate students brought it up on a Title IX violation³ for having written the article. She was ultimately cleared in the investigation⁴, but Professor Kipnis has more to say about that experience. Her new book is called "Unwanted Advances: Sexual Paranoia⁵ Comes To Campus." She joins us today from our studios in New York. Welcome.

LAURA KIPNIS: Hi.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Let's talk a little bit about Title IX. The law is conceived as a way to protect and support women. It's a federal law. Universities can have their funding taken away if they don't do enough to address complaints. You are a self-described feminist⁶. Where do you think the law is wrong in your case and more broadly?

KIPNIS: Well, what happened was that Title IX, which started out, you know, as something about equity⁷ for things like women's sports, was expanded in 2011 to include sexual harassment⁸ or creating, like, a hostile environment on campus. You know, very vague sorts of things can now be charged under Title IX. So since then, because they didn't really specify⁹ how campuses should do this, there's just an incredible amount of overreach because all the campuses are afraid of losing their federal funding and also being seen on soft - as soft on sexual assault. And, you know, there certainly is a sexual assault problem, but whether that should be handled...

GARCIA-NAVARRO: I was about to say, I mean, that's clearly an issue on campuses.

KIPNIS: It is an issue, but it's a question about whether it's more of an issue now or whether what's being defined as sexual assault is actually being expanded. And so there are a lot of cases where you have unwanted sex or ambiguous sex being labeled after the fact as sexual assault or even consent being withdrawn¹⁰ after the fact, sometimes even years after the fact. And I wrote about a case like that in the book.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: So you've written this book now after everything that you've gone through. What do you feel that you needed to say more about this issue?

KIPNIS: Well, I was in, like, an advantageous¹¹ situation because I have tenure¹ at a research university. But what happened was after I wrote about my Title IX, it was - the piece was called "My Title IX Inquisition," I was just deluged¹² with letters and emails from people all over the country that had been through similar procedures, not for an essay but for all manner of other things, including things like making eye contact that somebody else didn't like or telling a joke at an off-campus bar that somebody thought was overly sexual. So, you know, I had just all of this information that's just not public. And people have been charged or afraid of coming forward because they can be charged with more crimes if they go public, and the same thing in my case. I could have been charged with more retaliation¹³ complaints by going public. So I did feel there needs to be more transparency around this process and more of a public discussion about how Title IX is being used.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: I'd like to sort of get at the heart of the book, which is about power dynamics¹⁴ and sexual dynamics. And you tell an anecdote¹⁵ in your book about a female grad student who at a public gathering¹⁶ found both of her knees being groped under the table, one by a fellow student, the other by a male professor. And you are critical of her. You write, quote, "how can it be after 50 or so years of second-wave feminism, a grad student, a feminist can't bring herself to say to a man get your hand off my knee." Is that an oversimplification of a problem that's existed long before second-wave feminism?

KIPNIS: Well, I think you're slightly oversimplifying me because I'm not so much critical of the student as critical of the forms of education or the failures of education that we're providing for women students. And I think what's happening is that this notion of power and male power are being regarded as so untouchable, unapproachable, that, I mean, if a woman student thinks she can't say get your hand off my knee in a bar, we are failing to educate these students.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Is it education, though? Isn't it about power? I mean, I can imagine a young man in that situation and a professor who has the power to - over that person's academic future and grades feeling equally paralyzed and unable to vocalize their rejection¹⁷ of that, no?

KIPNIS: The thing is power is a reality in the world, and there are hierarchies¹⁸ and there are differentials of power. And we do have to train people, especially women, in how to confront those in real time as opposed to after the fact. And, you know, as a professor, I can tell you there are actually limits to the amount of power you have over students. It's not some vast, unchecked, you know, power to do what you want with someone's life and career. I mean, there are all sorts of checks on that sort of thing in universities, particularly now. And it's professors who whose careers can be ruined by complaints against them.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: So I'm curious, what would be your prescription¹⁹ for this? How do you do that? How do you train, as you say, young people to deal with this?

KIPNIS: Well, one of the things I say - and I'm not so much of a policy wonk, but I think women should be taught self-defense, physical self-defense. I think it changes your sense of yourself, your sense of agency, your ability to feel capable of dealing²⁰ with situations where you are possibly threatened. So I'd start there, and I think we need to have honest discussions about such things as drinking and the amount of binge drinking that's going on. And, you know, that's not slut shaming, and it's not blaming the victim, but it is saying, women, we have to take responsibility for our bodies, not just leave it up to administrators²¹ and regulators and not just leave it up to men to change because what if they don't?

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Laura Kipnis's book is called "Unwanted Advances: Sexual Paranoia Comes To Campus." Thanks so much for joining us.

KIPNIS: Thank you, Lulu.

1 tenure   

n.终身职位；任期；(土地)保有权，保有期

参考例句：

• He remained popular throughout his tenure of the office of mayor.他在担任市长的整个任期内都深得民心。
• Land tenure is a leading political issue in many parts of the world.土地的保有权在世界很多地区是主要的政治问题。

2 draconian   

adj.严苛的；苛刻的；严酷的；龙一样的

参考例句：

• You can't expect the people to obey such draconian regulations.你不能指望人民服从如此严苛的规定。
• The city needs a draconian way of dealing with robbers.这个城市需要一个严苛的办法来对付强盗。

3 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

4 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

5 paranoia   

n.妄想狂，偏执狂；多疑症

参考例句：

• Her passion for cleanliness borders on paranoia.她的洁癖近乎偏执。
• The push for reform is also motivated by political paranoia.竞选的改革运动也受到政治偏执狂症的推动。

6 feminist   

adj.主张男女平等的，女权主义的

参考例句：

• She followed the feminist movement.她支持女权运动。
• From then on,feminist studies on literature boomed.从那时起，男女平等受教育的现象开始迅速兴起。

7 equity   

n.公正，公平，（无固定利息的）股票

参考例句：

• They shared the work of the house with equity.他们公平地分担家务。
• To capture his equity,Murphy must either sell or refinance.要获得资产净值，墨菲必须出售或者重新融资。

8 harassment   

n.骚扰，扰乱，烦恼，烦乱

参考例句：

• She often got telephone harassment at night these days.这些天她经常在夜晚受到电话骚扰。
• The company prohibits any form of harassment.公司禁止任何形式的骚扰行为。

9 specify   

vt.指定，详细说明

参考例句：

• We should specify a time and a place for the meeting.我们应指定会议的时间和地点。
• Please specify what you will do.请你详述一下你将做什么。

10 withdrawn   

vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出

参考例句：

• Our force has been withdrawn from the danger area.我们的军队已从危险地区撤出。
• All foreign troops should be withdrawn to their own countries.一切外国军队都应撤回本国去。

11 advantageous   

adj.有利的；有帮助的

参考例句：

• Injections of vitamin C are obviously advantageous.注射维生素C显然是有利的。
• You're in a very advantageous position.你处于非常有利的地位。

12 deluged   

v.使淹没( deluge的过去式和过去分词 )；淹没；被洪水般涌来的事物所淹没；穷于应付

参考例句：

• The minister was deluged with questions. 部长穷于应付像洪水般涌来的问题。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They deluged me with questions. 他们向我连珠发问。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 retaliation   

n.报复，反击

参考例句：

• retaliation against UN workers 对联合国工作人员的报复
• He never said a single word in retaliation. 他从未说过一句反击的话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 dynamics   

n.力学，动力学，动力，原动力；动态

参考例句：

• In order to succeed,you must master complicated knowledge of dynamics.要取得胜利，你必须掌握很复杂的动力学知识。
• Dynamics is a discipline that cannot be mastered without extensive practice.动力学是一门不做大量习题就不能掌握的学科。

15 anecdote   

n.轶事，趣闻，短故事

参考例句：

• He departed from the text to tell an anecdote.他偏离课文讲起了一则轶事。
• It had never been more than a family anecdote.那不过是个家庭趣谈罢了。

16 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

17 rejection   

n.拒绝，被拒，抛弃，被弃

参考例句：

• He decided not to approach her for fear of rejection.他因怕遭拒绝决定不再去找她。
• The rejection plunged her into the dark depths of despair.遭到拒绝使她陷入了绝望的深渊。

18 hierarchies   

等级制度( hierarchy的名词复数 )； 统治集团； 领导层； 层次体系

参考例句：

• That's a trip of two hierarchies. 那是两个领导层之间的互访。
• Hierarchies of authority, spans of control, long-range plans, and budgets. 等级森严的权力机构，控制范围，长期计划，预算。 来自英汉文学 - 廊桥遗梦

19 prescription   

n.处方，开药；指示，规定

参考例句：

• The physician made a prescription against sea- sickness for him.医生给他开了个治晕船的药方。
• The drug is available on prescription only.这种药只能凭处方购买。

20 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

21 administrators   

n.管理者( administrator的名词复数 )；有管理（或行政）才能的人；（由遗嘱检验法庭指定的）遗产管理人；奉派暂管主教教区的牧师

参考例句：

• He had administrators under him but took the crucial decisions himself. 他手下有管理人员，但重要的决策仍由他自己来做。 来自辞典例句
• Administrators have their own methods of social intercourse. 办行政的人有他们的社交方式。 来自汉英文学 - 围城