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waiiiitttttt i forgot an absolute classic 4. this novel must be about shelleys own family and relationships because i cant fathom how women might comment on scientific and cultural discourses outside of their own immediate circumstances. also applicable to any woman novelist ever

u know someone’s about to get dragged through the mud when an academic uses the phrase ‘it’s tempting to assume’

“it’s tempting to assume” is academic speaking for “you might think, if you’re a fucking idiot,”

the perception of academics as all out-of-touch rich white cis straight men is also absolutely not limited to this website (which plays into it both from a dark academia perspective and from a more anti-elitist/verging on anti-intellectual perspective). it is also 100% a thing on actual college campuses, even when physically face to face with professors who are people of color, women, lgbtq, disabled, and very much plugged in to the workings of the world. there is a profound difficulty in seeing that the people who teach us are in many ways like us. 

there’s such a strong desire to conceptualize students and professors as us (young, progressive, marginalized) vs. them (older generation, privileged, out of touch), that it becomes very difficult to realize that this professor is only 15 years older than you are and is still paying off student loans, the author of this article is gay and comes at this with the experience of having been gay in the 80s, this lecturer is unsure whether they’ll have a job come fall. we’re on the same team.

Classic lit isn’t relatable TO YOU. I have something wrong with me though

Have you ever worked in a lab because you’re just describing perfectly normal academia