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You Want that Degree? Sleep with the
Professor
I will never forget the day I first learned that no matter how much I
develop my mind, to some people I am just a woman.
The year was 1996, I was a young, obviously naïve, master’s student in
Jewish education at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Israel, and my adviser suggested that I meet with
a certain professor – call him Y – about taking a tutorial with him. Since I was
nearly done with my coursework, starting my thesis and in need of some specific
guidance as well as two course points, this seemed like a reasonable plan. But
as I sat there with Y, trying to make this arrangement, he had different ideas.
“What does your husband do?” he asked after I described my work to him.
Taken aback and unsure where he was heading, I replied simply that my spouse was
in marketing.
“But what is his degree in?” he persisted.
“Psychology,” I said. Hmm. He sat there and contemplated this.
“But doesn’t he want to go into Jewish education?” I said, no, not really,
and tried to steer the conversation back to me – after all, I was the
one working in Jewish education, I was the master’s student, and I
was the one waiting for guidance, not my husband. Turns out, this
professor guy was on the payroll of someone somewhere in the Jewish world
searching for candidates for a turbo career track in Jewish education. So we sat
there for 15 minutes as he asked me about my husband and ignored my requests for
attention. Rather than see me as my own person, a potential student and
educator, he saw me only as wife of someone with potential, even if my
husband, whom he never met, had absolutely no connection to or interest in the
subject. When Y realized that my husband was of no use to him, the conversation
was over. We never even discussed the tutorial. I left feeling completely
invisible, non-existent. When all was said and done, I was nothing more than a
woman.
This is unfortunately one of many disillusioning experience I’ve had at
Hebrew U and other institutes of higher education in Israel. The culture of
exploitation, back-stabbing, self-serving, intellectual theft, and cut-throat
competition saturates universities in Israel, frequently reaching appalling
degrees. I could probably write a book about this culture based solely on my own
accumulated experiences from 13 years as a graduate student and employee. But
for women at the university, this ruthless culture is compounded by the inherent
sexism that is entrenched in every corner of the institution, a sexism so
cemented that only women who are savvy about navigating its pitfalls ever really
get ahead.
This shocking reality is finally starting to come to light, through not
without some painful casualties. Over the past few weeks, women have started to
speak up about the most horrific forms of aggression and manipulation around,
including their “sleep with me to get your degree” situations. Last week,
Ma’ariv published interviews with ten women filing formal complaints
about Eyal Ben Ari from the sociology and
anthropology department, who was recently arrested for sexual
misconduct, and since then additional stories about other male
professors are finally coming to light.
These stories have prompted other women, those who have seemingly fought
the system and won, to speak out as well. Prof. Orit Kamir wrote a sharp essay
about the dynamics involved in manipulations by
male professors of female students, and explained the complexities of
how women get trapped. Dr. Naama Carmi offers a brilliant textual analysis of
the reply of senior administration, revealing how
the powers that be come to support abusive practices. The Ben Ari
affair may potentially become a watershed event, with the dam protecting men
finally breaking down.
But not all is good news. This weekend, Ha’aretz reported that
following the university’s ongoing ineptitude in dealing with issues of sexual
harassment and the status if women at university,
the Committee on Gender Issues is breaking up. Professor Rachel Elior, one of the senior women at
Hebrew U, resigned, because, she said, “we feel there is no way to change the
university’s discriminatory policy.” Patriarchy is so deeply embedded that the
struggle is getting nowhere. After four years, the committee has given up
hope.
Indeed, the statistics about women at universities paint a pretty gloomy
picture. According to Nina Toren, author of
