Re: On rape fantasies and ‘crushes’ on yuppie professors, Dec. 7.

I was very disappointed by the poor quality of Annalise Lellelid’s opinion piece.

There are many intelligent and nuanced feminists and women’s rights activists at U of T. If the topic is sexual harassment on campus, it should be these people whose thoughts and opinions are sought out by your newspaper.

By publishing the poorly written and inflammatory work of a person who seems to suffer from a persecution complex, you are choosing controversy over content and argument over discussion. Maybe next week, you can publish a piece by an inarticulate male chauvinist, and call the whole thing a “debate.”

Chris Hendricks

  • Give me a break! First of all, although there are cases where both male and female professors misuse power, let’s not get carried away. [Ms. Lellelid is] obviously young and naive to assume that this will not be encountered in the working world. Secondly, if a male prof compliments you or criticizes your work, he is automatically considered a predator? Maybe your academic work sucks. Have you ever thought of that? And if someone pays you a compliment, they do not necessarily want to sleep with you. If your “friend” feels she received verbal abuse, there are policies in place [to address it].

A mature female student

  • This article spoke about women students wanting to kill themselves because a professor has given them a bad mark on an essay and told them they are stupid. When I receive a low grade and go to my prof or TA for an explanation, “You are stupid!” is never one of them. There is definitely something wrong when a student wants to kill herself over a grade-something wrong with the student. If a professor has to think about students committing suicide over bad grades, then they might as well not teach at all. If you can’t hand in your paper on time because you have to work to pay the rent, it is your problem, not the professor’s.

The author also asserts that a compliment from a prof is a violent action. Friends tell you that you look nice, so why can’t a professor with whom you’ve established some sort of rapport? I have never felt threatened by any professor or TA in my past four years here, and neither has anyone I know. As for having crushes, I do not see a problem with that. Women may feel attracted to a professor because of his looks and “brilliance,” and so what? If all a student does is dress up, wear makeup, and make googly eyes at the professor, it is no wonder she is getting bad marks-and it is not the professor’s fault. Lastly, as far as rape fantasies are concerned, I would like to say that “fantasies” are not standardized forms of violence, nor do they promote violent interactions. They are fantasies, as the word suggests, and people who engage in them are not physically hurt or degraded. So fantasize away! And get psychiatric help if you want to kill yourself.

Ann Danilevich

Satire not racist

Re: “Once more: not funny,” Letters, Dec. 7.

I’m at a loss as to how the BSA or ASA could misinterpret my comic, which is clearly a satire on the lameness of the white appropriation of hip-hop slang from black western culture. The idea is that white people always borrow black slang (“sup niggaz?”) without really thinking about it until they are actually around an African-American. From the criticism I’ve read I’m not sure they even read my cartoon, let alone got the satire.

Re-read the cartoon online [www.gateway.ualberta.ca/view.php?aid=3180] and tell me how it “pays homage to a negative stereotypical image of people of African descent,” rather than criticizing it.

I’m disappointed that the [Varsity’s] editor apologized for “possible misinterpretations,” especially since almost anything printed can be subject to misinterpretations, but also because I think my cartoon is quite clear. Two other campus papers ran this strip and no one had any problem understanding the satire.

Presenting issues of racism is not the same as endorsing them, and I think that before the BSA publicly calls a person a racist, they should understand that distinction. I think the BSA and the ASA owe me an apology.

Mike Winters

Stop, we’re blushing

Re: Dec. 4 Joke Issue

It’s too bad [that this issue was not put online]. It was better satire than The Onion or Jon Stewart. Nice work.

Carolyn Bercu