First of all, apologies to all of you who find the shift from meditation to rant too jarring....
As many of you know, I have gone back to school part-time. Why you ask? To learn. To be a smarter person. I am hoping that my studies don't lead me to become a complete wanker - or more of a wanker than I already am. Today I was particularly struck by how irritating academics are, and what total fucking wankers they are when they write.
For example, in postmod circles now, it is considered good form to situate oneself in the text. Why do I find this so annoying? After all, I blog. Blogging is a very postmodern activity. I situate myself in the centre of a written piece all the time. So, why should this be a problem for me? Here is an example of what I hate. Please help me understand why it annoys me so ... much!
"I identify myself as a White male university professor living and working in the relative ease and comfort of a G8 country. As an anarchist raised in a working-class family I have encountered a certain amount of disrespect and rejection by my intellectual 'superiors', but I know that my own socialization and the racist and patrarchal norms that permeate the academic world make it relatively easy for me to stay in the game. The same goes for my sexuality. Although I find that my desire exceeds the boundaries of mainstream hetersexual practices, I have a long-term female partner and two children -- so again, I mostly pass. All this to say: my struggles with oppression arise mostly from the need to challenge my own racim, heterosexism and classism, and to find more effective ways to be in solidarity with those who experience the debilitating effects of these apparatuses of division every day and night throughout their lives."
Interesting how academics LOVE to exploit the working-class family thing. And, an "anarchist raised in a working-class family" to boot.
This guy is so straight. "My desire exceeds the boundaries of mainstream hetersexual practices." Face it buddy, you're a wanker! Since you are situating yourself here, why not just say the following: "I am a really straight guy who wanks off a lot."
And, the last bit. Holy self-referential wanking! His struggles with oppression arise out of.... his own struggles?
Am I being too hard on this guy? I think I need to get back to the Buddhists.
6 comments:
Aggie, you're right, he's a total wanker and he couldn't possibly be more annoying if he tried. He's kind of creepy too, if you ask me. You should tell him what happens to people who think about themselves too much.
I think it's weird that academics have done such a 180 and are using their subject matter as an opportunitey to talk about themselves. It used to be that complete objectivity was the object, so they wouldn't contaminate the analysis with their own biases.
Thank you, Zoom. Yes, creepy works here, I think. In the guy's defense, I think some of this subjectivity stuff comes from femininism. So, the dude is just trying to do what the feminists told him to do. Sigh. We created a fucking monster!
Academia is the ultimate self-indulgent occupation, so it's little wonder that it promotes intense navel-gazing. The whole ivory tower concept only exacerbates the situation to the point where they seem to lose all grasp of reality and the things that are truly important in life and in the world. They live completely in theory and ever more bizarre forms of introspection in hopes that they, too, might one day publish some drivel that will be applauded by their peers as the definitive work in the field. (oh ya, I've spent way too much time at university, too)
I'm with you all on this...wanky, wanky, wanky.
I simply refer you to an excerpt from the definition of "academic" from dictionary.com:
"not practical, realistic, or directly useful"
Please tell me you made up that piece of writing. That would be funny. Otherwise... oh my.
Philip
Post a Comment