HANNAFORD: Professor's racist attack on Smith cheap, mean and baseless

Sometimes, smart people can act as stupid as bricks. Take Dr. Lise Gotell, a professor of gender studies in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Alberta, who spotting some pictures of Premier Danielle Smith in southern Alberta, recently tweeted that ‘Premier Smith updates us on her tour of white Alberta.’ "White Alberta?" What's your point, madam? Because it sounds pretty mean-spirited. And also 'weird,' to use a political phrase. At more than one level.For a start, Professor Gotell's specialisation in gender studies should imply a predisposition to the elevation of women. One might even suppose that knowing Alberta was the one Canadian province led by a woman, might be balm to Dr. Gotell’s sad soul.But apparently not. The very desire to post such a comment indicates that Dr. Gotell's resentments are by no means mollified by a sista’s success.So, as to the premier’s two-town ‘tour of white Alberta,’ surely Dr. Gotell is not implying that the premier is a racist whose handlers carefully stage her pictures to exclude anybody who’s not wholesome whitebread?No, of course not. Smart people don’t expose themselves to ridicule with such comments. Even in Edmonton, most people — even gender studies professors — are un-stupid enough to know that if you’re going to do the tour of small town Alberta, places like Westlock and Drayton Valley as pictured, that’s the demographic you’re mostly going to run into.A simple mistake then. And a simple apology would suffice and doubtless be accepted graciously.However, a quick (and admittedly superficial) review of Professor Gotell’s publications suggests that is unlikely to happen. She appears to be fully informed by critical theory. That is, the idea that the world is divided into oppressors and oppressed and women are by definition and regardless of personal circumstances, an oppressed group. Her world then, is one in which subjects such as ‘Towards a Democratic Practice of Feminist Litigation,’ or ‘A Critical Look at State Discourse on Violence Against Women: Some implications for Feminist Politics and Women’s Citizenship,’ are life’s important issues. Coincidentally, it's what she gets paid to teach to feckless young women in search of meaning and purpose.Those of us living in what we think of as the real world might find that all a bit over our heads. But students do sign up to study this kind of thing, heaven help us all, to be taught by people with such opinions as those of Dr. Gotell. What's more, her opinions have been quoted approvingly by the Supreme Court of Canada. For example here, and here, and here. Not bad for the Faculty of Arts.So whatever we think, that unfortunately is the real world we all have to deal with. So it matters that her attitudes, mean-spirited as they are, are more than just stupid; they are wrong.Here, from the premier's X account, are a few other items. Let's call it from some of her 'tour of non-white Alberta.'.Which brings us back to why Professor Gotell despises — hates? — Danielle Smith so much, that she would slyly try to hint that she was a racist, and therefore unworthy to hold office.Could it be that for Dr. Gotell, the premier is just the wrong kind of woman?That is, Danielle Smith is successful, admired by many and widely recognized for being well-briefed and super-bright. She is a conservative of course, but even people who don’t agree with her politics will usually give her that much credit. They will also allow that her gracious responses to people who address her in a hostile manner usually leaves them looking… well, stupid as bricks.Above all, she does not think of herself as a victim by merit of being born a woman in the first place.Perhaps that’s what really gets to Professor Gotell. Deep indeed must be the animus that eats at her heart.

HANNAFORD: Professor's racist attack on Smith cheap, mean and baseless

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