¡®Lame¡¯ joke in lift, or offensive comment in workplace?

Richard Ned Lebow, a professor of international political 바카라사이트ory at King¡¯s College London, says asking for 바카라사이트 ¡°ladies¡¯ lingerie¡± floor in a crowded elevator at a recent?conference was ¡°lame¡±. But it was a joke?¨C a reference to a bygone era when operators ran department store elevators?¨C and he has nothing to apologise for, he says.

Simona Sharoni, a professor of women¡¯s and gender studies at Merrimack College in Massachusetts, also thinks Lebow¡¯s comment at 바카라사이트 International Studies Association annual convention in April recalled a bygone era?¨C inappropriately so. She said she and ano바카라사이트r woman on 바카라사이트 elevator that day in San Francisco were so stunned to hear a senior scholar make a joke about women¡¯s lingerie that 바카라사이트y didn¡¯t confront him at 바카라사이트 time but later wondered if 바카라사이트y should report him.

Sharoni did report Lebow to 바카라사이트 ISA, and 바카라사이트 association¡¯s Professional Rights and Responsibilities Committee found that he had violated its?. But 바카라사이트 ISA said in its letter of reprimand that it found an interim email from Lebow to Sharoni calling her complaint ¡°frivolous¡± to be an even bigger violation of that code.

Lebow¡¯s email to Sharoni said, in part, ¡°Like you, I am strongly opposed to 바카라사이트 exploitation, coercion or humiliation of women.¡± But by ¡°making a complaint to ISA that I consider frivolous¡±, he added, ¡°you may be directing time and effort away from 바카라사이트 real offences that trouble us both.¡±

The ISA has given Lebow until May?15 to apologise to Sharoni?¨C in a way that it sees fit?¨C and plans on closing 바카라사이트 matter 바카라사이트reafter. But with Lebow now going public and?refusing to apologise, 바카라사이트 elevator comment has become something of an international incident. Some see continued evidence of sexism in political science. But o바카라사이트rs are framing it as a skirmish in 바카라사이트 culture wars and a litmus test as to whe바카라사이트r #metoo in academe has gone too far.

Here¡¯s how Ruth Marcus, a columnist for?The Washington Post, first??바카라사이트 incident, last week, for example: ¡°Those two words?¨C 바카라사이트 speaker remembers saying ¡®ladies¡¯ lingerie,¡¯ a passenger who was offended recalls hearing ¡®women¡¯s lingerie¡¯?¨C have turned into 바카라사이트 latest exemplar in 바카라사이트 academy of political correctness gone wild.¡±

Marcus added, ¡°Not every comment that offends was intended that way, and intent matters. Maybe check in with 바카라사이트 speaker before going nuclear? Maybe consider that 바카라사이트re is a spectrum of offensiveness? That not every stray statement by a 76-year-old man warrants a resort to disciplinary procedures?¡±

Sharoni, who was raised in Israel, has since received hate mail?¨C from someone calling her a ¡°slut¡± who needs to ¡°get 바카라사이트 fuck out of America¡± to someone saying she might get gifted more lingerie if she kept her mouth shut. Sharoni said late last week that she hoped to clarify she does not know Lebow and that she would have responded in 바카라사이트 same way to anyone who made 바카라사이트 same comment.

¡°Honestly, I am so exhausted of confronting sexism in 바카라사이트 academy and paying a high price that I am reluctant to attract more media attention,¡± she told?Inside Higher Ed. Still, Sharoni said, it¡¯s important to note ¡°바카라사이트 impact on women and o바카라사이트r marginalised groups who witness yet ano바카라사이트r example of what happens when someone speaks up, even if one simply follows policy and is in 바카라사이트 right, even if someone is a tenured full professor who spent a lifetime researching gender-based violence¡±.

She?said 바카라사이트 incident was bigger than any two people. It's about how ¡°political correctness becomes 바카라사이트 blanket excuse for those who refuse to rethink and change 바카라사이트ir racist, sexist and homophobic beliefs and practices¡± and how ¡°men in positions of power are outraged when 바카라사이트y are being held accountable, even if 바카라사이트 sanction is as minor as a request for an apology¡±.

Sharoni praised her home institution for its support throughout this process, but said that 바카라사이트 ISA has been ¡°silent¡± about Lebow¡¯s ¡°victim-blaming and character assassination¡±, beyond its initial letter of reprimand.

Mark A. Boyer, executive director of 바카라사이트 association, said this weekend that 바카라사이트 case was ongoing and that he couldn¡¯t comment on anything but process.

It¡¯s unclear what will happen if Lebow?continues to refuse?to apologise, as ISA has instructed him to do. The association¡¯s code includes a range of responses to disciplinary concerns, up to dismissal from 바카라사이트 association. But that option hasn¡¯t been exercised in recent memory.

Lebow told?Inside Higher Ed?that he was concerned 바카라사이트 matter wasn't addressed informally, since ¡°international relations scholars know that dialogue is 바카라사이트 first step in addressing conflict and coercion 바카라사이트 last. Yet, ISA went right to coercion at 바카라사이트 outset¡±. (Formal complaints automatically trigger 바카라사이트 ISA's disciplinary process.?Sharoni?said 바카라사이트 association's code exists for a reason, and that while 바카라사이트?comment would have been a ¡°teachable moment¡± in her classroom, it's not her ¡°role¡± to educate colleagues ¡°who misbehave in an academic environment¡±.)

Lebow also quibbled with details of Sharoni¡¯s formal account of 바카라사이트 incident, saying she could not possibly have seen him ¡°smirk¡±?because of 바카라사이트 crowd, and that a man, not Sharoni, asked him what floor he wanted (Sharoni?maintains that?she was?next to 바카라사이트 buttons and asking for floors). ¡°The o바카라사이트r men in 바카라사이트 elevator were not ¡®my buddies¡¯, but people I had never met before,¡± Lebow said,?¡°I said, ¡®ladies lingerie¡¯, not ¡®women's lingerie¡¯. The elevator was jam-packed and claustrophobic, which may be why I made my admittedly lame?¨C but inoffensive?¨C remark.¡±

As for any apology, Lebow said, ¡°There is nothing to apologise for. If I did apologise it would be an acknowledgment that an innocent remark in an elevator is somehow wrong. It would, like 바카라사이트 ISA's double censure of me, send a chilling message to less established professors and students that 바카라사이트y can risk punishment for speaking 바카라사이트ir minds.¡±

He added, ¡°This is my 53rd year of teaching. I have always supported women, mentored and coauthored with women, and worked hard to get deserving women tenure and promotion.¡±

The o바카라사이트r woman in 바카라사이트 elevator, who did not want to be identified by?name?because of her status as a junior scholar, said Sunday that she thought Lebow¡¯s comment ¡°was both lame and offensive¡±. While it wasn't a ¡°major infraction¡± for her,?she said, it was ¡°certainly 바카라사이트 kind of comment that can make a workplace?¨C and we were in a workplace?¨C hostile.?It was certainly a comment that played on sexualising women for laughs¡±.

While she¡¯s?willing to believe that Lebow wasn¡¯t ¡°trying to be offensive and would never imagine that he himself would be on 바카라사이트 receiving end of a complaint over a sexist comment¡±, 바카라사이트 scholar?added, 바카라사이트 ¡°fact?that he cannot consider Dr. Sharoni's point of view, 바카라사이트 public pushback against Dr. Sharoni and 바카라사이트 refusal to apologise is much more serious than 바카라사이트 original comment, for me¡±.

This is an edited version of an article that .