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Saturday: empress of the nile
Jul. 27th, 2024 11:43 amI’m reading Empress of the Nile, about Christiane Desroches for book group on Monday, and in describing a public high school for girls that Desroches attended, there is this passage:
“Six years after Desroches and David graduated from the lycee, another woman scholar … was hired there as a philosophy teacher. But Simone de Beauvoir lasted only three years. While the school considered itself broad-minded, its tolerance did not extend to a teacher’s having an affair with a student — in in this case, students. Beauvoir was fired for seducing at least three of them.”
I call the Philosophy Department the Rape Department, because they all have such a problem. Didn’t really expect to run across Yet Another Example of It (because the problem is prototypically male professors and women students, altho by no means exclusively), but here we are.
Philosophy may be about the love of wisdom, but honestly, more people should inspect the tin closely and ask detailed questions about the meaning of “love”. And possibly, the meaning of “wisdom”.
As long as we’re here, this is immediately followed by a description of Desroches’ family and Christiane going to college. “It was a given that Christiane would go to college; the only question was what shee would study.” But not Egyptology, because “”At the time … it was considered a fad, a madness, not a profession.”” (Double quote because it is a quote from Desroches herself.) “her father encouraged her to think about studying art history, perhaps focusing on sixteenth-century French drawings.” I love how studying Egypt is a fad or madness, but focusing on sixteenth century French drawings is a worthy academic career. Dads give terrible career advice. I am starting to think this is universal.
“Six years after Desroches and David graduated from the lycee, another woman scholar … was hired there as a philosophy teacher. But Simone de Beauvoir lasted only three years. While the school considered itself broad-minded, its tolerance did not extend to a teacher’s having an affair with a student — in in this case, students. Beauvoir was fired for seducing at least three of them.”
I call the Philosophy Department the Rape Department, because they all have such a problem. Didn’t really expect to run across Yet Another Example of It (because the problem is prototypically male professors and women students, altho by no means exclusively), but here we are.
Philosophy may be about the love of wisdom, but honestly, more people should inspect the tin closely and ask detailed questions about the meaning of “love”. And possibly, the meaning of “wisdom”.
As long as we’re here, this is immediately followed by a description of Desroches’ family and Christiane going to college. “It was a given that Christiane would go to college; the only question was what shee would study.” But not Egyptology, because “”At the time … it was considered a fad, a madness, not a profession.”” (Double quote because it is a quote from Desroches herself.) “her father encouraged her to think about studying art history, perhaps focusing on sixteenth-century French drawings.” I love how studying Egypt is a fad or madness, but focusing on sixteenth century French drawings is a worthy academic career. Dads give terrible career advice. I am starting to think this is universal.