Chili peppers: The ultimate icons of disrespect and devaluation

Today, one of Slate.com's bloggers, The XX Factor's Amanda Marcotte, published this piece about women being caught in "an infuriating bind" that we can't seem to win: Women: Please don't be stylish. Also, please don't be frumpy.

Having been out of the corporate world for awhile, I found myself thinking about a similar bind in academe: the chili pepper.

For those unaware of this little icon's nefarious undercutting of all things important and professional in the university system, the "chili pepper" is a "hotness" icon on ratemyprofessors.com. If you open the site and select a professor, any professor, you will be given five ratings items for this highly trained, educated, and skilled individual: Overall Quality, Helpfulness, Clarity, Easiness, and Hotness, this last as exemplified by the red chili pepper icon. Holding your cursor over this icon, the following text appears, "Is your professor hot? Hot professors get a red chili pepper."

Let's start by acknowledging that this icon can be assigned to women or men, but I maintain that it is infinitely more damaging to women professors because academe remains a male-dominated space in which we continually must prove ourselves equal and worthy.

By including "hotness" as a quality deemed important or appealing to students, this web site (and, presumably, anyone who assigns such chili peppers to professors) dismisses the individual professor's education, experience, skills, abilities, intelligence, and care for students. Instead, the chili pepper places undue emphasis on physical attributes and appearance in a location that SHOULD be focused on the education of the MIND, hopefully in service of preparing said minds for future career success after graduation. How does "hotness" affect this outcome? It doesn't, and its inclusion as a ratings option on ratemyprofessors suggests that the way your professor LOOKS is more important than HOW and WHAT she teaches. The chili pepper, with one click of the mouse, devalues a female professor's worth as a professor.

Some men might be bothered by receiving a chili pepper, but women who receive them are considered objects of desire not to be taken seriously, instead of credible vessels of knowledge and gatekeepers to the next academic level. This type of misplaced emphasis on physical appearance contributes to an already potentially harsh environment for women professors. According to Bernice Sandler, a Senior Scholar in Residence at the Women's Research and Education Institute,

"Some studies (but not all) show that students rate their female professors more harshly than their male professors. In one study, where women students gave their female professors somewhat higher ratings than the men, the women still viewed the male professors as more dynamic and as better teachers.25 How well women fit the stereotypes of “femininity” can also affect their evaluations by students. One study found that ratings of women faculty were strongly affected by whether they smiled and were sociable, but these factors were less important to the ratings of men.26 Another study noted that women who presented themselves in traditional feminine ways were rated less competent than women who did not."

She who receives the ultimate icon of disrespect has been devalued as a professor and deemed "less than" - less than easy, less than fun, less than serious...with an emphasis on "less than easy to look at." According to this scale, the "hot" professors are the ones students should want to take because physical appearance dominates the goals of a college classroom, right?

Imagine being the female professor who has received a chili pepper by a former student. Imagine the discomfort that causes, knowing that at least one of her former students looked at her as an object to be fantasized about instead of a professional who had valuable information to teach. Imagine going into the next semester knowing that her future students will see that chili pepper and what they will think of her as a result. Imagine having to get past that high wall of assumptions in order to get the semester's work done.

Women and work may still be a difficult concept for many Americans to grasp, and the chili pepper contributes to the next generation's misunderstanding of the role of women in professional environments.

What DID the camel say when that straw broke its back?

I walk into my 3pm Advanced Composition class today, which is the same regular classroom as my 1:30 College Comp class, and see this:

I won't tell you what my Advanced Comp students said, but it was salty. A little backstory might be appropriate...

Every semester, one class has the "Bad Seed" dynamic. Ask any professor and she will nod, roll her eyes, groan, and exclaim, "Yes!" We get them every semester. Just one class in which the dynamic is rotten to the core, much like the Grinch's original heart before the Whos get to him. The dynamic varies, but always centers on some variation of "too smart for the room," "resent having to take this class," and "I don't care, you are wasting my time." Some semesters are milder than others, but just my luck, this semester, this particular class has a roiling, obvious, distaste for me, the subject, the work, you name it. I've actually ignored all smart-ass comments and all eye-rolling and all disgusted side comments. Until today.

Today, when I walked into the classroom and saw this (the second of such notes - the first was "Dr M for President (and) We LOVE College Comp! (heart symbol)" - and that was while I was sitting at the front desk meeting with students one on one. So, this class has no shame and isn't hiding the fact that they can't stand me or this class. So today, the proverbial straw broke the proverbial camel's back.

And what exactly did the camel say when this happened? Well, see for yourself:



Good evening, class. 

To the 13 students who read the not one, but TWO, emails I sent yesterday regarding our locations and class plans for the final four days of class - and who also likely read the syllabus (where this information may also be found), thank you for coming to the library and diligently working on your Project Three research today. I am sure that your hard work will pay off in excellent and well-researched essays.

And now, allow me to direct your attention to D2L and the last item in the Readings folder labeled "Visual Rhetoric created by 1:30 College Composition class." Please note that the construction of "We we're" is incorrect. The misuse of apostrophes is really quite rampant on our campus and I encourage each of you to seek out assistance to alleviate this problematic grammatical construction issue - the Writing Center's tutors are well-qualified to assist in such matters. Furthermore, there is a 15 minute rule on our campus, not 10, so you should be aware of your audience when making claims with evidence, particularly when your evidence is false - hurts your credibility. In addition, the use of the ever-popular and clearly heartfelt heart symbol should really be colored in for extra emphasis and appeal to the viewer's emotions.

Finally, I would like to ask that you disregard those two emails that I sent yesterday...and disregard the schedule listed on the syllabus. I know that our schedule has been set and in print since the semester started, but I find myself inspired and persuaded by this display of visual rhetoric acumen to change the final three classes into conference days.

Therefore, if you attended class today in the right place (due to having read both of my emails and having consulted the syllabus), or have a legitimate and verifiable excuse for your absence (read that, doctor's note, court appearance document, funeral program), then I encourage you to visit me in my office during our regular class time for the next three classes in order to receive more specific, personal, and one on one help with the development of Project Three. You may choose to bring me an outline, your first few pages, a resource that you would like help with analyzing - whatever you think would help you the most. I'm here to help you because you are putting in the time and the effort to complete this course.

The rest of you are free to do what you want with the time. Best of luck on Project Three - it is still due during our final exam time.

Best,

Dr. M