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17 sept. 2017

Discussion | Bullied by A Professor


Hello everyone !

Today, I'm going to talk about something not related to books/blogging and that is college. More particularly, awful professors. I don't mean awful like "oh they're so mean, they give us tons of homework". I mean the "real" kind of awful. The kind that can hurt people.
I have a very racist/discriminating professor and I need to rant.


This professor is a 65 yo woman. I've heard she made fun of a guy because he stuttered. She asked my muslim friend why she was studying japanese ("you should study arabic") and if her parents had their french IDs (needless to say that my friend didn't return to her class).

Last year she made me her personal punching bag. I'm not going into details to all of the awful things she's done and said but to give you an idea, the nicest thing she's ever said to me was during an exam when she told me to sit in the front because she didn't trust  "people like me".

I know what you're thinking "How can she hate Lys ? She's adorable !" well I asked myself the same question. What ? That's not what you were thinking ? Oh. Let's move on.

She tried to embarass me in front of the whole class multiple times but I don't care. Usually, I shrug and give her a huge smile to piss her off. I don't even feel angry, I feel sad for her and disgusted. I know what to expect with her so I'm not surprised when she's hateful, the most interesting thing is how my classmates react.

I divided my class into four types :

1. "I don't know how you put up with that !"

The title is pretty self-explanatory. They come to me after class and tell me how they respect and admire me and ask me how I manage to stay calm. I don't really care for their respect and admiration but I don't mind them. It may sounds mean but it's true. I don't need them to tell me all of this, I just want to put everything she did behind me and move on.

Last week, my lovely professor told me something inappropriate – as usual – and the next day, a girl from this category joked about it : "I'm not saying it spitefully so it's okay."
*Takes a deep breath*. It's not okay. It's far from okay. I don't care if she says it to hurt me or not, the important is that she said it, she thought about it. It's not entirely her fault. Everything began with my prof. But that's when I realized that what she said to me also affected how my classmates perceived me.
Even if I don't feel embarrassed, people will look at me and think "oh, that's girl that prof humiliated." and I don't want to be seen this way. I don't even want to be seen as "the warrior who puts up with this shit". I don't want her to define me but clearly it's out of my hands.

2. "I'm so going to report this !"

If they wanted to report her, they would have done it without telling me about it. I don't even know why I don't do it. I definitely should.

3.  "I swear, next time I'll defend you !"

There is only one person in this category. He's a nice guy but... Come on. Just like the 2nd category, if he wanted to defend me he would have done it and I don't want him to. I'm not a damsel in distress (not that there is anything wrong with that) and I don't need someone to protect me. 
If he really wanted to say something, he would have. Just like if I wanted to say something, I would have. But we don't. I'm sure he's concerned about his grades so he doesn't want to piss her off. I'm concerned about my grades too so I can relate and I don't want to show her that her hate affects me.

I'm sure this guy feels guilty so he says that to feel better about himself but... He doesn't get to do that. I want him to stop lying to himself. We both know he's not going to say anything so he should at least be honest about why. He thinks about himself and doesn't want any trouble, I understand that.


4.  "I know what she said to you but... She's still a nice person."

I've met two people in this category. They describe her as "nice" and "funny" and it's not a big deal if she treats muslims/disabled people/PoC/cute book bloggers like shit.
Of course I'm not saying they can't like her. But saying that she's nice is condoning her behavior and I can't accept that. I can't even respect the people in this category.
How can they condone something like that ? One of them told me "I like her and she likes me so... " so even if she's a horrible human being, it's okay because she not attacking them. These people frustrate me so much.

Now I have a choice between : Staying in her – very easy – class and worry that she's going to give me a bad grade or going to another much more difficult class (that I may not pass) with a professor that will grade me fairly.

What would you do if you were me ? 
Have you ever had a teacher/professor like that ?

I hope my rant didn't bore you, see you next time.

6 commentaires:

  1. That's a tough one. Nice though that you don't give her the satisfaction of getting outwardly upset. She's probably been doing this for a long time, I wonder if there's any history of her being reported by other students. Although it probably wouldn't accomplish much? Has she been there forever?

    If she's 65 she's probably set in her ways too. Not gonna change. I don't want to sound age-ist but sometimes older people get cranky or say things that aren't appropriate anymore. Maybe she didn't get the memo that it's 2017. :)

    Whichever way you go good luck and don't let her get you down. Sorry you have to put up with that.

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  2. You're right, everyone (including other professors) know she's like this so I don't think it would change anything.

    Yep she definitely belongs in the cranky category ... *sighs*

    Thanks ! ^^ it feels good to talk about it

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  3. I am so sorry you have to deal with her. I know we've talked about this before but it makes me so angry that she does these things because you are SUCH A NICE AND GOOD PERSON. Anyways, if you can report her you should. At least then if your grade suffers or something because of her they might think she's to blame and not you. It's getting it documented with whoever is in charge that can be important, and it could also help anyone in the future who has to deal with her. Anyway,,,, yeah those are my thoughts.

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    1. Thank you ^^ It's really nice to hear. You've helped me so much with all of this, you're awesome <3
      You're right, I think I'll do that.

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  4. Aww, I'm so sorry you've had to deal with this! I hate people like that who basically abuse a position of power to humiliate and discriminate against people. She must have a really empty life if the only enjoyment she can get is by being so horrible!
    Probably reporting her would be the best thing, and if there have been so many witnesses it shouldn't really be hard to prove. I'm surprised someone like that hasn't already been reported and fired if they behave that way with everyone, but sometimes these people manage to worm out of it, which is so unfair.
    I hope you manage to resolve this (or have already resolved this, seen as I'm a late commenter!)! Good luck! :)

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