Why is it that male academics spend endless hours pontificating about their rights to free speech, then when a dissenting female decides to raise her voice, tell her to shut up? Don’t believe me? Here’s the latest reply I received to my discussion of IRBs on the Cheiron listserv:

“Heather: In all due respect, I think you have said quite enough on the
topic. I have now several cases attesting to the unconstitutionality of
the IRBs.”

To which I replied, “sorry, didn’t realize there was a limit to how often one could post on the same topic.”

I’m not the only one who has challenged the status quo on this issue — yet somehow the guys get a pass. I thought I was overreacting, but a buddy of mine from my Cornell graduate days confirmed that this bloke’s comments were not only ironic but amazingly rude. She admired my restraint. [“must control fist of death” is my mantra!]

This issue has come up on my campus as well. A group of us are drafting a listserv etiquette guide — probably won’t do any good because the worst offenders will either ignore it and/or continue to protest their right to be as obnoxious as possible.

[addendum, here’s a private message from the same fellow mentioned above:

Dr. Prescott: You just don’t get it on IRBs and probably never will. So
just go on dominating the Cheiron list with your less than enlightening
communication. ]

This is what I get for writing a nice review of his book years ago!