Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Manly professors bond over meat and poker

My friend just told me about the Men's Night Out that the male faculty members in her department hold monthly.  At my two previous institutions, the men in my department similarly indulged.  There was a "Meat Night" (manly dinner at a steak house) and a poker night.

My friend is tenure track at a research university.  There are quite a few untenured women in that department, but none ever objected publicly to being excluded.  This is understandable, given the power differentials and the pressure to get along.  But criminally, no tenured faculty objected--man or woman.

My friend brought in a co-author--a man--to give a talk and meet other faculty.  She could not schedule a department dinner for him because of this Men's Night Out.  So one of these guys told her to just let co-author come along to their Men's Night!  He thought it was a great idea!  My friend declined.  And she was embarrassed to have to explain to her co-author where most of the men were that night.

Men's Night has the effect of excluding women from crucial opportunities to bond and network with others the department--including the powerful men who will hold a lot of sway in terms of tenure. 
It took a new, untenured man in the department to forcefully point out how problematic Men's Night is.  Not coincidentally, his wife is also in the department.  Now many of the men finally get it.  Geeeeez. 

I'm wondering, how common is Men's Night?  Is it just my discipline (still male-dominated)?  Is it OK to have women faculty events (under the argument that women are clearly disadvantaged in terms of salary and promotion plus work-life balance issues)?   Are men whose wives work in the same department more tuned in to ways that women are disadvantaged/discriminated against?  (And is this one of the unrecognized benefits of spousal accommodations?  If so, deans take note!).

12 comments:

  1. Good Lord...what is this, 1962? Seriously, I've never heard of such a thing and can't imagine anything like that flying in my department or in many departments on my campus. When we first moved to our present location, some of the male faculty went to a nearby-city's pro basketball games a couple of times (spouse joined them once), but that was casual and no longer happens (we now have lots of young faculty with small children and also a rather diverse group of faculty gender-wise).

    ReplyDelete
  2. Exactly--straight out of Mad Men era. And there was a lot of talk about cigars as part of both poker night and meat night....
    Glad to hear it is not the norm!

    ReplyDelete
  3. "It took a new, untenured man in the department to forcefully point out how problematic Men's Night is."

    I hope he handed their asses to them on shit platters. I could tell you horror stories about depts run amok on shitmale bonding. *growls*
    jc

    ReplyDelete
  4. You make so many great points here that I read your article a couple of times. Your views are in accordance with my own for the most part. This is great content for your readers. 918kissme

    ReplyDelete
  5. Very good written article. It will be supportive to anyone who utilizes it, including me. Keep doing what you are doing – can’r wait to read more posts. 918kiss.team

    ReplyDelete
  6. I really impressed after read this because of some quality work and informative thoughts . I just wanna say thanks for the writer and wish you all the best for coming!. https://www.gclub01vip.com/

    ReplyDelete
  7. I recently found many useful information in your website especially this blog page. Among the lots of comments on your articles. Thanks for sharing. daftar situs judi slot online terpercaya

    ReplyDelete
  8. What is an outstanding post! “I’ll be back” (to read more of your content). Thanks for the nudge! poker88

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thanks for sharing the post.. parents are worlds best person in each lives of individual..they need or must succeed to sustain needs of the family. Slotxo

    ReplyDelete
  10. Positive site, where did u come up with the information on this posting? I'm pleased I discovered it though, ill be checking back soon to find out what additional posts you include. lapak 303

    ReplyDelete
  11. I exactly got what you mean, thanks for posting. And, I am too much happy to find this website on the world of Google. joker เล่นผ่านเว็บ

    ReplyDelete