Jimbo 175 Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/8270475.stm A university leader has caused controversy by saying curvy female students are a "perk of the job". Terence Kealey, of the University of Buckingham, said lecturers were aware of females who "flaunted their curves". In a tongue-in-cheek article for Times Higher Education Magazine on the seven deadly sins of academia, he advised academics to "look but not touch". The National Union of Students condemned the comments as insulting and disrespectful to women. Dr Kealey, a clinical bio-chemist and vice-chancellor of Buckingham University, likened the classroom to a lap dancing club and said admiring the curves of attractive students could help "spice up" marital sex. There will be a girl in class who flashes her admiration... Enjoy her! She's a perk. Dr Kealey In his article about the sin of lust, Dr Kealey wrote: "Most male lecturers know that, most years, there will be a girl in class who flashes her admiration and who asks for advice on her essays. "What to do? Enjoy her! She's a perk." Referring to characters from Middlemarch by George Eliot and The History Man by Malcolm Bradbury, he added: "She doesn't yet know that you are only Casaubon to her Dorothea, Howard Kirk to her Felicity Phee, and she will flaunt you her curves. "Which you should admire daily to spice up your sex, nightly, with the wife." Dr Kealey recalled the days when sex between student and tutor, in return for academic favours, could go by unchecked. "Thanks to the accountability imposed by the Quality Assurance Agency [the university watchdog] and other intrusive bodies, the days are gone when a scholar could trade sex for upgrades." 'Appalled' Olivia Bailey, womens' officer for the NUS , said: "I am appalled that a university vice-chancellor should display such an astounding lack of respect for women. "Regardless of whether this was an attempt at humour, it is completely unacceptable for someone in Terence Kealey's position to compare a lecture theatre to a lap dancing club, and I expect that many women studying at Buckingham University will be feeling extremely angry and insulted at these comments." Dr Kealey said he was using humour to warn against lust His article has prompted a lively debate on the Times Higher Education website. "I'm amazed that Terence K has a position in any university, and I'll be damn sure never to apply for a job at Buckingham," said one reader. Another added: "Any scholar, who assumes that female students who show interest in the subject and ask for help because they have a crush on you or hope to manipulate you with their sexual charms, is a reality-challenged idiot. "And anyone who thinks that female students are there in the classroom expressly as objects of the instructor's viewing pleasure needs to retire." But another said: "I'm appalled that everyone's so appalled! - it's just not that important, or offensive." Humour Adding his own voice to the online debate, Dr Kealey said his article was a "moral piece" which used humour to encourage people to exercise self-restraint. "Sex between academics and students is not funny, and should not be a source of humour," he wrote. "But employing humour to highlight the ways by which people try to resolve the dissonance between what is publicly expected of them and how they actually feel - not just in this context - reaches back to origins of humour itself." A spokesman for the University and College Union said: "Harassment is not something to be taken lightly and I would be surprised, and deeply concerned, if any university, or vice-chancellor, tried to laugh it off." Dr Kealey has been vice-chancellor at Buckingham - the UK's only independent university - since 2001. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig 6700 Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 Give the man a knighthood... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sonatine 11542 Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew 4857 Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 excellent anyone who doesn't think so Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fish 10965 Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 pseudo-feministas will froth into a frenzy, but normal people ... well no, normal people will no doubt feign offence for the shits and giggles of it all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom 14013 Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 and they wonder why they outperform the men Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig 6700 Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 Why the hell does Bridget not post on here any more? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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