Liberal Teacher Tells Students It’s ‘Offensive’ to Identify as ‘Straight’

[KingsGambit]

He didn't require his students to follow that lead.

That is in dispute. The article says "However, the parent said that when her 15-year-old son labeled himself “straight,” Golash told him to pick a less offensive term." The teacher more or less denies having given a directive, but doesn't flat out say the parent is lying.

[CivilDiscourse]

I read the piece shortly after the o/p was posted. The guy's got a reasonable argument, but I don't think it's sufficient to overcome the inertia of the term "straight." That's only after we allow an uncalled-for generosity to those who neglected to read the article before posting. He advocated for his own choice not to use the term. He didn't require his students to follow that lead.

Now, a satirist. or just someone with half a brain who's actually read his argument in the article might respond that we should disfavor the word "gay" because of the negative inference that those who are not homosexual must be "sad," a word better reserved for those who respond to articles they haven't read.

There's irony there. The term "straight" originated in the gay community as slang for heterosexuals. So, now for the claim that the term they chose for us is offensive to them is kinda funny.

Source: https://getmaude.com/blogs/themaudern/the-etymology-of-heterosexuality

1900s: Straight
The phrase “straight” came out of gay communities in the mid-twentieth century. At a time when gay sex was still illegal, it was slang for “going straight” – as in getting “back on the straight and narrow” after having sex with men. The word “straight” has also given us the concepts of “straight culture”, and perhaps most wild of all, the concept of Straight Pride. “If queer people have drag and disco, do straight people have Maroon 5”? jokes one gay journalist.

© Copyright Original Source

[tabibito]

That is in dispute. The article says "However, the parent said that when her 15-year-old son labeled himself “straight,” Golash told him to pick a less offensive term." The teacher more or less denies having given a directive, but doesn't flat out say the parent is lying.

What the teacher claims that he said is a circumlocutory way of saying the term is offensive even if the tone was neutral, so the 15 yo's report can be deemed accurate.

[Juvenal]

That is in dispute. The article says "However, the parent said that when her 15-year-old son labeled himself “straight,” Golash told him to pick a less offensive term." The teacher more or less denies having given a directive, but doesn't flat out say the parent is lying.

You've taught. You've had students. You know they can't be relied on to listen, let alone report what they heard accurately. The parent wasn't even there.

[KingsGambit]

You've taught. You've had students. You know they can't be relied on to listen, let alone report what they heard accurately. The parent wasn't even there.

I'm inclined to believe the parent, and really, the student instead, here given that the parent provided a quotation that would at least give the gist of what was said, but the teacher gave a roundabout explanation that doesn't actually establish what was said. Had the student been outright lying, I'd have expected a "no, what I said was this..." here.

[Juvenal]

What the teacher claims that he said is a circumlocutory way of saying the term is offensive even if the tone was neutral, so the 15 yo's report can be deemed accurate.

I've got no problems asking students to think about the words they use or consider alternate ways of saying things. It's good practice. It inspires originality.

I regularly rant about established usages in my classes.
.

I mean, nobody calls two matching buildings a building complex, so why do we call them complex numbers! They're duplexes! They're duplex numbers!

Despite the fact that I'm obviously and objectively right, despite the fact most of my colleagues agree with me when I explain my reasoning, I've yet to find a publisher willing to break with tradition.

And no one has ever complained about my rants, either.

It's like non-real numbers have no rights. No one cares about them at all.

[tabibito]

I've got no problems asking students to think about the words they use or consider alternate ways of saying things. It's good practice. It inspires originality.

I regularly rant about established usages in my classes.
.

I mean, nobody calls two matching buildings a building complex, so why do we call them complex numbers! They're duplexes! They're duplex numbers!

Despite the fact that I'm obviously and objectively right, despite the fact most of my colleagues agree with me when I explain my reasoning, I've yet to find a publisher willing to break with tradition.

And no one has ever complained about my rants, either.

It's like non-real numbers have no rights. No one cares about them at all.

I feel your pain, though I gave up on math when trying to process surds - never did get the same answer twice. Did someone forget the "ab" in front of the word?

The same kinds of problem present with English grammar.
Why is that called an adverb? It doesn't affect the effect of the verb. Every other language with nouns in four cases (5 if you include vocative) calls it a genitive noun (as did English until the mid 20th century).

What do you mean, "is" + verb can't be present perfect?

[rogue06]

I'm inclined to believe the parent, and really, the student instead, here given that the parent provided a quotation that would at least give the gist of what was said, but the teacher gave a roundabout explanation that doesn't actually establish what was said. Had the student been outright lying, I'd have expected a "no, what I said was this..." here.

That was the opportunity to set the record straight if he was being misrepresented, and he didn't take it suggesting that it was essentially accurate if not a verbatim quote.

[Juvenal]

I feel your pain, though I gave up on math when trying to process surds - never did get the same answer twice. Did someone forget the "ab" there? The same kinds of problem present with English grammar.

Why is that called an adverb? It doesn't affect the effect of the verb. Every other language with nouns in four cases (5 if you include vocative) calls it a genitive noun (as did English until the mid 20th century).
What do you mean, "is" + "verb" can't be present perfect?

The lack of intuitive terms for English grammar has been a stumbling block for me forever. I don't teach grammar though. I teach math. And the fact is that some terms actually have changed, for the worst! From a discussion section last week ...
.

Do you know what a rational number is?

It's about (mumbles trailing off)

Do you know what a fraction is?

Oh yeah!

That! That right there!

Why on earth did we replace a word everyone knows, with just two syllables, with five syllables spread across two words? That's not how math works.

We always choose shorter terms, and we always leave out anything that's not necessary, like the index 2 above the radical for square roots. There were no "rational numbers' when I was a kid. They were "fractions." There were no "natural numbers" either. We called them "counting numbers" because everyone knew what numbers we use for counting!

</rant>

I learned how to extract nth roots by hand back when dinosaurs walked the earth, but there's no need to find them manually anymore.

The easiest way to calculate a surd is to use the power key on your calculator, probably showing as a "^" symbol on the keyboard. Use the fraction or its decimal if it has one.

√2 = 2 ^ .5,
³√2 = 2 ^ (1/3) ... don't forget the parentheses, because PEMDAS.
⁴√2 = 2 ^ .25
etc.


And we now return this thread to its rightful topic.

[Juvenal]

I'm inclined to believe the parent ....

Did you miss the fact the parent wasn't there? The only thing they know is what the student told them, and we can't be sure they're reporting that correctly, either.

... and really, the student instead, here given that the parent provided a quotation that would at least give the gist of what was said, but the teacher gave a roundabout explanation that doesn't actually establish what was said. Had the student been outright lying, I'd have expected a "no, what I said was this..." here.

Because they had a better quote? Oh no, you didn't really say that.

I teach math, and even there, I never directly disagree with students. There's no point creating conflicts that can be avoided by just sticking to facts, or simply disengaging.

I once had a student demand I'd never sent her an email about an assignment she'd missed, in class, while I was projecting my desktop on the board. So I put the email I sent to her on screen. The student then accused me of calling her a liar. The fact is that students will lie straight to your face even with the evidence on display for the entire classroom. All I said in response was there's the email. When she continued to speak, I ignored her and went on with the class, leaving her with nothing to rail against.

Maybe you think he should have egged on the fight. You don't teach anymore, right?

Thankfully I'm entirely shielded from their parents by FERPA.

[KingsGambit]

Did you miss the fact the parent wasn't there? The only thing they know is what the student told them, and we can't be sure they're reporting that correctly, either.

I did mean the student. I was struggling to think of the word I wanted to use there.

Because they had a better quote? Oh no, you didn't really say that.

No, because the teacher didn't even offer a quote to begin with, but instead tried to defuse the situation with word salad.

Perhaps it is your personal policy to never directly disagree with students, but if ever there was a time to so contradict, it would be in defending oneself in a politically charged situation that is headed straight for the national news and possibly leading to disciplinary option. If the teacher really has nothing to hide here, now would be the time to set the record straight. People who were blatantly slandered should say so, not offer incoherent non-denials.



[/QUOTE]

Maybe you think he should have egged on the fight. You don't teach anymore, right?
[QUOTE=Juvenal;n1552278]

I don't. Not for me. Having said that, that's a complete non sequitur and you know that. I am speaking with how the teacher responded to being questioned after the fact, not the original alleged incident.

[Mountain Man]

A teacher somewhere in the world said a dumb and wrong thing?

The problem is there are a depressingly significant number of liberals who don't believe the teacher is dumb or wrong.

[rogue06]

The problem is there are a depressingly significant number of liberals who don't believe the teacher is dumb or wrong.

Not to mention the startling frequency that these exact same sort of "dumb or wrong" things keep occurring.

[Mountain Man]

Did you miss the fact the parent wasn't there? The only thing they know is what the student told them, and we can't be sure they're reporting that correctly, either.



Because they had a better quote? Oh no, you didn't really say that.

I teach math, and even there, I never directly disagree with students. There's no point creating conflicts that can be avoided by just sticking to facts, or simply disengaging.

I once had a student demand I'd never sent her an email about an assignment she'd missed, in class, while I was projecting my desktop on the board. So I put the email I sent to her on screen. The student then accused me of calling her a liar. The fact is that students will lie straight to your face even with the evidence on display for the entire classroom. All I said in response was there's the email. When she continued to speak, I ignored her and went on with the class, leaving her with nothing to rail against.

Maybe you think he should have egged on the fight. You don't teach anymore, right?

Thankfully I'm entirely shielded from their parents by FERPA.

You suggest we should distrust the student in this report because... you have an irrelevant anecdote about your own encounter with a belligerent student? Yeah, okay.

MaxVel put a bow on your typical nonsense in another thread:

What's next? Oh, just the usual - an attempt at showing how much better than everyone you are by an irrelevant extended anecdote about another of your wonderful life experiences. Humble-brag = Ho hum again.

[KingsGambit]

Not to mention the startling frequency that these exact same sort of "dumb or wrong" things keep occurring.

Regardless of what the story ends up being here, I don't think that there will actually be a move toward declaring heterosexuality to be wrong. I could see putting a kibosh on the word "straight". The simple fact is that the vast majority of people are heterosexual, including most liberals.

I remember a feminist blogger named "witchy wind" about 15 years ago who was posting on Tumblr or some such site that all heterosexual intercourse was rape because women cannot consent due to inherent power structures in society. We all had a laugh about it in the politics discussion site I hung out on then, and I haven't seen the idea come up since.