This professor had the very best response to being named in this jaw-dropping Spectator column about the ‘male libido’
When professor and author Lea Ypi gave a lecture at Cambridge University she presumably didn’t expect to end up being written about in the Spectator magazine, and certainly not like this, an absolute jaw-dropper of a column which, no matter how many times we read it, we still can’t quite believe it.
It’s a piece in Andrew Neil’s right-wing magazine by Lloyd Evans headlined ‘My (surprisingly) decent proposal’ but ‘decent’ wasn’t the word springing to most people’s minds.
Here’s how it begins.
It was spotted by Lea Ypi – professor of political theory at the London School of Economics, who was named as one of the world’s top 10 thinkers by Prospect magazine – and whose absolutely perfect response said it all.
Advice for scholars: next time you lecture on Kant and revolutions at “Downing” (@DarwinCollege) Cambridge, make sure your hair is neatly tied and that you’re not blonde. Or else your research impact will be on the @spectator libido section. pic.twitter.com/j9qbo0p2Ai
— Lea Ypi (@lea_ypi) April 18, 2024
‘Advice for scholars: next time you lecture on Kant and revolutions at “Downing” (@DarwinCollege) Cambridge, make sure your hair is neatly tied and that you’re not blonde. Or else your research impact will be on the @spectator libido section.’
Perfectly put. And the rest of the column doesn’t get any better (trigger warning).
And here is just a little bit of the shock, outrage (and sympathy) people had right now.
1.
Professional women still having to wade through this shit to do their work. 2024. https://t.co/K5WoI3sYIP
— Stephen McGann (@StephenMcGann) April 18, 2024
2.
Very important as a female academic to be *exactly* the right level of attractive. Too much blonde hair spilling over your shoulders is as dangerous as too little make-up and too shapeless an outfit. https://t.co/gKuQcALCbN
— Dr Charlotte Lydia Riley (@lottelydia) April 18, 2024
3.
JFC! How could this be published? Why would he put his name to it? Why would he name you? Why doesn’t he know what a rail terminus is??
— DaVe (@mckjerral) April 18, 2024
4.
Every senior politician in the UK will attend the annual garden party of the magazine that published this abhorrent piece of writing to curry favor with its editors. https://t.co/zigNmOoBFo
— Gareth (@g_f_red) April 18, 2024
5.
How can this be published in a magazine!!! It’s outrageous.
— Şebnem Yardımcı Geyikçi (@sebnemyg) April 18, 2024
6.
We need to rediscover the concept of shame https://t.co/xsDILLzRt5
— keewa (@keewa) April 18, 2024
7.
Omg! Women in academia.
— Arieda Muço (@arieda_muco) April 18, 2024
8.
As a woman scholar, either you are ‘frumpy’ and ‘too manly’, or you are ‘too sexy’ ensnaring pathetic men with your looks. https://t.co/RlfhwBXLuN
— Prof. Pragya Agarwal (@DrPragyaAgarwal) April 18, 2024
9.
this is horrific I’m so sorry!
— Dr Charlotte Lydia Riley (@lottelydia) April 18, 2024
In three words …
What the hell??! https://t.co/QrBtWJOgSW
— Greg Jenner (@greg_jenner) April 18, 2024
Last word(s) to @lea_ypi.
This documentary (filmed in my old house in Durrës) in which I talk about migration, political parties, social-democracy in Europe, Albania, post-communist transition (and more) is back on @ARTEfr and available in all six languages https://t.co/TYFUgaDrXU
— Lea Ypi (@lea_ypi) May 10, 2023
Source @lea_ypi