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Ruth Padel & Derek Walcott: The Clinton Vs. Obama Of Poetry?
New York, 12:07 AM
Tue Dec 15
67 posts in the last 24 hours
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Ruth Padel & Derek Walcott: The Clinton Vs. Obama Of Poetry? |
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05/26/09
He visited my school last year, and even though I'm not in the English department and I was warned that he was a tremendous sleeze, I STILL managed to get hit on by derek Walcott.
PLUS, oxford has such an intimate tutor-style teaching system that I think the fact that he hits on every female student he has CAN and SHOULD be taken into consideration. How can we expected to feel comfortable and respected around him, even just as students, when his attitude is so demeaning?
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It's here if you're interested:
[entertainment.timesonline.co.uk]
To sum up, she still thinks he's kind of sleazy, but chooses to make a distinction between his behavior and his art. I don't agree with all of her points, but it's an interesting perspective nonetheless.
05/26/09
I have no dog in his hunt, it just always strikes me that there is an untold, or overlooked, side to this issue.
05/26/09
I think it is harmful: it upsets the very close bonds of trust and impartiality we're supposed to uphold with our students. I've spoken to several female students whose friends were sleeping with professors and they were always upset and skeeved out about it.
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He harassed a woman and was caught.
He wanted the job,
But then had to sob:
His past was tarnished as an ink spot.
Then a poet named Padel did seem
So good for the job and pristine
Till she told journalists that
Walcott was a brat
And and a lecherous libertine.
Oxford, hire me!
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"But what male teacher is going to escape a sexual harassment case? All you've got to do is stand there, and you're sexually harassing them."
Pffft.
05/26/09
And I don't think I was being harsh enough. Padal brought into question Walcott's 'Britishness', reminding people that he wasn't born in England. I'm British too (I was actually born there) and black; that shit sounds a bit too Thatcher/National Front for my taste. Calling her a scumbag was a compliment in my eyes.
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/sarcasm
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05/26/09
Padel- "good clean fight"? Yeah, no. If these allegations were serious, I feel that they could have been raised in another way. The sneaky approach she took is what made it look bad. And when women exhibit the BAD behavior that men do, I don't think the criticism should be about sexism so much as the human mistake that she made. It's wrong when men do it, it's wrong when women do it.
It sounds like they made two bad selections. Who's on deck?
05/26/09
Girl, I LOVE being black and female. Don't give up on it yet.
05/26/09
Sigh.
05/26/09
Agreed. It's like living in stereo!
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I do not by any means condone Walcott's sexually predatory behaviour (I am imagining myself in the place of that student at Harvard and how completely creeped out and frustrated and angry and tainted I would have felt at that sort of behaviour from someone I admired and respected), but I think that by withdrawing as he did (and issuing no denials of his wrongdoing), he handled the whole thing with as much grace as he could under the circumstances.
05/26/09
I believe his past behaviour should have been put out there. Boldly, not anonymously.
05/26/09
I don't think anyone who is 'Team Walcott' is condoning his behaviour. He has admitted to being a harrasser; what else is he supposed to do? A lot of art would have to be thrown out if we measure their work by a specific moral compass. Padel was stupid. Never let you greed and desperation lead you into making so many boneheaded mistakes.
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I swear I want to re-heart you every single day, Jello, solely for your delicious mastery of pop culture references.
05/26/09
There's been plenty of discussion of Walcott's behaviour. The last accusation (last of two) came in the 1990s. Is he meant to be condemned forever?
Also, Padel's emails didn't just bring up the harassment, they also, oh-so-casually dropped mention of Walcott not being resident in the UK, and being too old.
Less, has been said about that, but to my mind, they make it obvious that she wasn't just "bringing up a concern on behalf of aa anonymous student".
05/26/09