[Smt-talk] Message from the Chair of the CSW

[Laurel Parsons]

Dear colleagues,


Rocks, when flipped over, often reveal things we did not expect or wish to
see. This has surely been the experience of many of us over the past few
days, as we were confronted with misogynistic attitudes within our online
community. As Chair of SMT's Committee on the Status of Women, I have been
disturbed and angered by many of the statements that have been made,
particularly those directed to individual women who have spoken out such as
Donna Doyle and Jennifer Bain. Yet I’ve also been heartened by the articulate,
cogent, and emphatic defiance of these attitudes by both women and men in
our Society, including SMT President Poundie Burstein. I would like to
personally thank all of you who have lent your voices to that powerful
resistance, evidently not without personal cost in some cases.


Two days ago on the CSW's Facebook page, one of our graduate student
members commented that her head was exploding, to which I replied that my
head had been exploding for 25 years. To those of you who have been shocked
by some of the extreme statements you’ve read on smt-talk, women academics
who have worked in male-dominated disciplines for long periods of time are
unfortunately accustomed to dealing with (usually) more subtle expressions
of male privilege, whether that takes the form of behaviour by individual
colleagues or systemic barriers that still exist for women in the academy.


I hope that, in future, those of you who have responded so vociferously to
what was initially a question of gendered terminology can continue to bring
that level of engagement to concrete issues that directly affect the
day-to-day environment in which women theorists work and build their
professional careers.  This may require us not only to educate ourselves on
these issues and advocate for external policy changes, but to reflect on
our own privileges, attitudes, and behaviours, since it is possible for
even the most well-meaning among us to inadvertently contribute to a
negative climate for our colleagues. Our missteps are of course not limited
to issues specific to women and gender, but those of race, ethnicity,
disability, age, and other forms of "difference." In that sense, all of us
have work to do.


At the same time, let us keep all that has happened over the past few days
in perspective.  At this time in its history, the Society for Music Theory
surely embraces a more diverse collection of personal identities and
scholarly perspectives than ever before, and has benefited from the
leadership of a series of SMT presidents and executive boards who have been
genuinely committed to that diversification.  We *are* moving forward -- we
just have to use the energy we've seen in the past few days to keep going
in that direction.


Sincerely,


Laurel Parsons

Chair, SMT Committee on the Status of Women

-- 
Laurel Parsons, Ph.D.
Sessional Lecturer, Music Theory
School of Music
University of British Columbia
6361 Memorial Road
Vancouver, BC
V6T 1Z2

E-mail: l <laurel.parsons at ubc.ca>aureljparsons at gmail.com
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