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Eton teacher is sacked for video presenting a non-feminist perspective on masculinity
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05-12-2020 3:59am#1
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I thought this was an interesting case that brings up various issues and so might be worthy of its own thread.
There seems to be plenty of educators who discuss/bring up gender in other ways (from a feminist perspective) who don't get sacked.
Freudian slip in the Federalist article suggests they’re not taking this issue all that seriously
Recently, Knowland made a 33-minute video for his online class entitled “The Patriarchy Parody.” His stated goal was to make his students aware of the “different point of views to the current radical feminist orthodoxy.”
To be honest, I can’t either. He does state that his intent was to stimulate discussion, and they’re not necessarily his opinions, and the video is made for an audience of young men, which is all fine and fair enough. But the video is just awful! I mean awful in that it’s more like a tragic comedy of... I won’t say epic proportions, but it’s almost as though he’s trying too hard to present a caricature of masculinity, by presenting all the incel talking points.
It’s definitely not a criticism of modern feminist orthodoxy. If anything it supports the ideas of masculinity perpetuated by modern feminism with it’s nonsense about “male aggression” and all the rest of it. It’s 30 minutes of just non-stop awfulness, but I think the students would probably have gotten a laugh out of the way it was done and it’s content.
I’d safely say this isn’t the hill anyone truly wants to die on defending this teacher, because the facts are that he was asked by his employer to take the video down, he didn’t, and they have every right to sack him for bringing the school into disrepute. I’d say the same whether the school was Eton or any other school. As always though there’s the politics behind it, but I can’t see this guy earning enough on the grifter circuit to follow in Jordan Peterson’s footsteps.0 -
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The video contains lots of references; it's hard to accept it's sub-standard in terms of that for a second-level audience.
Sample screenshot (which I accept isn't representative of the whole video)
Each of the propositions I see there appear perfectly defensible to me .Why on earth would they notform a basis for calm analytical discussion of the issues raised ?
Hopefully more resistance will build up to the fascistic intolerance -not to mention the sheer idiocy- of wokism.
Unless there are other contexts we don't know of-I'm shocked that the Headmaster of Eton has succumbed to this latest intellectual spawn of PC.
It shows how far and deep the rot has spread.0 -
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Target:
Provost of Eton College
Region:
United Kingdom
Mr Knowland's dismissal will be appealed on the 8th of December by the Provost and Fellows. Attached is a letter from the Boys to the Provost asking for Mr Knowland's reinstatement.
Sign this petition if you support the right to free expression at Eton, and would like to see Mr Knowland reinstated.
All members of Eton community may sign if they wish, including OEs.
You only have to enter your name and email.
If you are unable to sign the petition, switch to mobile data instead of WiFi.
If you cannot sign from your mobile, please use your computer.
A Letter from the Boys to the Provost and Fellows, asking for Mr Knowland’s reinstatement.
Dear Lord Waldegrave,
The dismissal of Mr Knowland raises a number of concerns for the boys. We perceive in his dismissal some very grave implications about the nature of freedom in this school, and the moral stature of those in charge.
So that you are able to factor these concerns into your judgement of Mr Knowland’s appeal on the 8th, they are particularised in this letter.
The common opinion of the boys is that Mr Knowland presented the ideas in his video with as much academic nuance and sensitivity as could ever be reasonably expected. He makes at least 41 academic citations. His video is arguably a model for how to convey a contentious argument impeccably. We struggle to identify where Mr Knowland’s video steps out of the realms of academic debate and into genuinely discriminatory private opinion. The boys have concluded from watching the video that the problem cannot lie in the way he sets out the ideas, but in the ideas themselves. This dangerous conclusion must not be confirmed by a judgement against Mr Knowland.
Second, the boys perceive a hypocrisy on the part of the school about its role in the protection of minorities. Mr Knowland is being dismissed for having a different view to the view of the majority. His view is not very uncommon or exceptional. It is simply different. Mr Knowland’s dismissal presents as a gross abuse of the duty of the school to protect the freedoms of the individual, especially where those freedoms run up against the norms held by the majority. We feel morally bound not to be bystanders in what appears to be an instance of institutional bullying.
Why has the school not extended the protection to Mr Knowland that we hope it would to any boy who voiced a similar idea, be it on religious or secular grounds?
Are the boys also bound by the same restrictions to expression? Should boys who express the same idea as Mr Knowland expect to be similarly dealt with? Is there a difference if this idea is voiced privately, or, as with Mr Knowland, in an academic context?
Third, in a meeting on the 24th of November, the Head Master explained the test that he applies to determine what kinds of ideas are illegal. For him, anything that can be deemed ‘hostile’ by any single member of one of the school’s designated minority groups will be censored. We think this test is too severe. Young men and their views are formed in the meeting and conflict of ideas. A conflict of ideas necessarily entails controversy and spirited discussion. The Head Master’s ‘hostility’ test excludes nearly all of what makes up a liberal education.
How can the school reasonably expect teachers to engage in the promotion of free thought inside and outside of the schoolroom when the consequence of overstepping some poorly-defined line of acceptability is to lose their livelihood and home? Is this not an abuse of power?
Fourth, in a previous meeting with Pop, the Head Master stated his view that female teachers would be in some way ‘compromised’ by having to discuss the video in class. This appeared to be the Head Master’s principal objection to the video. Does this not patronise female staff? The undersigned believe that women are no less equipped than a man to contend for or against the video’s arguments.
Fifth, the school now prides itself on being a more compassionate place. This is justified; any B Blocker’s experience will confirm that the school is more tolerant and understanding than when they first arrived, no doubt as a result of your efforts. However, the dismissal of Mr Knowland – at least on the facts available to the boys – points to a heartless and merciless spirit at the top of the school. Mr Knowland is loved by all who have encountered him. He is an obviously and thoroughly good man. We know he has many children, one of whom is disabled. We are struggling to reconcile the school’s opinion of itself as tolerant or compassionate with this instance of cruelty. Mr Knowland’s dismissal truly seems cruel.
There is a sense that, by dismissing Mr Knowland, the school is seeking to protect its new image as politically progressive at the expense of one of its own. If this is true, it points to a complete lack of moral integrity and backbone.
Sixth, it is not really the concern of the boys to what extent the teachers can feel secure in the school, or be confident in the support of their Leadership Team. However, the dismissal of Mr Knowland sets a precedent that we would imagine the teachers are apprehending with some deal of mistrust and fear. Teachers have privately articulated to many boys their inability to speak up about this and other issues for fear of being dealt with in the same way as Mr Knowland. Is the school content that this is a healthy environment?
Seventh, in the meeting on the 24th of November, the Head Master admitted that Mr Knowland’s video was in fact “not the real problem”, and was not the ultimate reason for his dismissal. The Head Master said that Mr Knowland was dismissed for some action subsequent to the video which could not be disclosed to the boys. In the Head Master’s words: for “what happened after the video”. It has been made clear that this subsequent action was Mr Knowland’s refusal to take down the video from his private YouTube page. We urge the Provost and Fellows to recognise that the rightness or wrongness of Mr Knowland’s refusal to take down the video still consists in the rightness or wrongness of the video itself. If, as the Head Master accepts, the video is “not the real problem”, we struggle to understand where Mr Knowland has done wrong. In sum, there is no evidence of any wrongdoing in the video nor in the declining to remove it at the result of a capricious request.
Moreover, we believe the Head Master should not expect absolute obedience from his staff. They are not children. It is unsurprising that the Head Master has had to resort to punishment and threats to enforce such a style of government.
Those who have signed below do not necessarily support the ideas presented in Mr Knowland’s video. We all, however, support his freedom to express them.
We urge the Provost and Fellows to rule in favour of freedom of thought and expression. We hope that you will rule compassionately, and that you reinstate Mr Knowland.
Yours sincerely,
The undersigned
Who the F*ck wrote that.
Secondary school pupils?
I feel like a lemon!
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He is not the 'sexist monster' here, it's his employer, Eton, who are acting like that.....
Reminds me a bit of this:
https://youtu.be/j64SctPKmqk 0 -
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I haven't watched this so far.Sacked Eton teacher: I stand by my patriarchy lecture
79,405 views•21 Jan 2021UnHerd
123K subscribers
Freddie Sayers meets Will Knowland to discuss his sacking from Eton College.
Accompanying article here: https://unherd.com/thepost/sacked-eton-teacher-i-stand-by-my-patriarchy-lecture/
Podcast link here: https://shows.acast.com/lockdowntv-with-freddie-sayers/episodes/sacked-eton-teacher-i-stand-by-my-lecture
Watch The Patriarchy Paradox here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTHgMxQEoPI
When teacher Will Knowland was sacked by Eton for refusing to take down a lecture from his YouTube account, his departure sparked furious debate. The provocative lecture, ‘The Patriarchy Paradox’, argued that the idea of a repressive patriarchy throughout history is a myth, that men have had it harder than women, and that traditional gender roles are not social constructions but due to innate biological differences.
To its critics, the video was deemed offensive and sexist for espousing such a retrograde view of masculinity. But to Knowland and his supporters, whether the content was offensive or not was secondary to the video’s broader purpose: that these ideas, however provocative they may be, are fair game for discussion and debate.
That this incident occurred at the world’s most prestigious school — home to over 20 British Prime Ministers (including the current one) and princes William and Harry — only served to give the controversy more attention.
It's an intriguing case study of the nexus between elite institutions, competing visions of masculine virtue and the limits of acceptable ideas. Knowland argues that he was upholding Eton’s traditions, which he sees as being under threat:
"I felt that my duty to uphold Eton's very long rich tradition of encouraging independent critical thoughts and having broad based debate was being called into question. Why should we stop boys from watching this even in their own time? People should be allowed to make up their own minds about it."
He positions his lecture in the spirit of a liberal education, in which a full range of ideas should be discussed:
"I think, watching the way in which debate had been narrowed over the last five years or so, particularly on this topic at an all boys school struck me as slightly strange. And if you're an all boys school, and you can't have a rigorous open discussion of masculinity, as informed by anthropology, and psychology, I think something is going wrong. And if the reason for that is that it might upset a member of staff, then you're heading in the safespace direction. And I think that if Eton can't resist that, which is a threat, that is, I think it's fair to say permeating the wider culture, if Eton, can't resist that then I think very few places have got a chance of doing so."
But was sacrificing a job that he held for nine years, to defend such a deliberately provocative and one-sided treatise, worth it?
"Well, I knew I was taking a risk making a stand on a point of principle. But as far as I see it, it's a point of principle that is essential to the identity of the college, and also essential to what a liberal education is all about. So there's a sense in which, if I'd allowed that, my job already wouldn't have been as valuable to me. I mean, there are people who might say, you stay in it just for the money, but any teacher who's in teaching for the money is very easily bought. And I think that there are more important things than that. And there's a sense in which I'd lost my job even before I was sacked."
As ever, we'll leave you to decide whether is a point of principle you would defend. Many thanks to Will for his time.
#Eton #Patriarchy #ToxicMasculinity0 -
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Teacher Cancelled by Eton for Controversial Lecture Speaks Out
I don't watch that many YouTube videos but perhaps this channel may be known by some of you:About TRIGGERnometry:
Stand-up comedians Konstantin Kisin (@konstantinkisin) and Francis Foster (@francisjfoster) make sense of politics, economics, free speech, AI, drug policy and WW3 with the help of presidential advisors, renowned economists, award-winning journalists, controversial writers, leading scientists and notorious comedians.
I'm around a 3rd of the way true this video and was stuck by the following:18:07
i don't mean to misquote you i think
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that's what you said yeah
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that's part that what you've just said
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is part of it what else do you mean by
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that
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well i went into education into eton in
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particular
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because i like the excitement of rigorous discussion of debate i like challenging not just other people's viewpoints but my own as well and this is why free speech is so so valuable because it enables that kind of discussion that means that the rough edges can be taken off ideas and one question people often have is well do you think everything in the video is completely true the whole point is that i'm not actually really sure and the discussion should be had so we can all learn more from it like the proverb says the pearl is formed by abrasion we need the marketplace of ideas to be able to actually find out which ones stand attest to that kind of conflict
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that makes sense and0 -
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTHgMxQEoPI
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0SXWEQMsgM
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