‘Feminists’ Defend Female NYU Professor Who Sexually Harassed Male Student
Peter D'Abrosca
|
A female professor of German and Comparative Literature at New York University who sexually harassed a male graduate student after a Title IX investigation is being defended by other NYU staff members.
“Soon after the university made its final, confidential determination this spring, a group of scholars from around the world, including prominent feminists, sent a letter to N.Y.U. in defense of Professor [Avital] Ronell,” according to The New York Times. “Judith Butler, the author of the book “Gender Trouble” and one of the most influential feminist scholars today, was first on the list.”
Ronell sexually harassed Nimrod Reitman, a male former graduate student. She referred to him in emails as her “Sweet cuddly Baby,” “cock-er spaniel,” and “my astounding and beautiful Nimrod.”
Ronell has been suspended for a year from NYU, but feminist scholars have rushed to defend her in the same manner that many so-called “evil” and “patriarchal” male “oppressors” would defend a male harasser.
“Although we have no access to the confidential dossier, we have all worked for many years in close proximity to Professor Ronell,” the professors wrote in a draft letter posted on a philosophy blog in June. “We have all seen her relationship with students, and some of us know the individual who has waged this malicious campaign against her.”
In other words, the feminists are blaming the victim.
“Mr. Reitman, who is now 34 and is a visiting fellow at Harvard, says that Professor Ronell kissed and touched him repeatedly, slept in his bed with him, required him to lie in her bed, held his hand, texted, emailed and called him constantly, and refused to work with him if he did not reciprocate,” according to The Times.
Yet the feminists still defended Ronell, saying that the allegations against her are not evidence, though evidence was found during the Title IX investigation.
“We wish to communicate first in the clearest terms our profound an enduring admiration for Professor Ronell whose mentorship of students has been no less than remarkable over many years. We deplore the damage that this legal proceeding causes her, and seek to register in clear terms our objection to any judgment against her,” the letter said. “We hold that the allegations against her do not constitute actual evidence, but rather support the view that malicious intention has animated and sustained this legal nightmare.”
Ronell denies the sexual harassment claims in their entirety.
“I woke up with a slight fever and sore throat,” she wrote in an email to Reitman. “I will try very hard not to kiss you — until the throat situation receives security clearance. This is not an easy deferral!”
“[T]ime for your midday kiss. my image during meditation: we’re on the sofa, your head on my lap, stroking you [sic] forehead, playing softly with yr hair, soothing you, headache gone. Yes?” she wrote in another.
Feminists have never cared about equality. Only power. The Reitman story is a perfect example.
Share: