"Suicide"

The author is trying to give her view of affirmative action being a person who it helped.   She was in need of a job after her personal problems of her father's suicide and her own divorce. The author was first fired and then rehired only because there was a low number of female faculty members at Georgia State.   She was yelled at by the President.   He asked many people inappropriate questions during their interviews.   An unmarried woman was asked if she was on the pill. An interviewer asked two women if they were lesbians.   Another question that was asked was whether or not one of the women was a feminist.   They were discriminated against because they were applying for temporary job positions. He felt as though he had a right to pry into their sexual lives saying that it was because they are applying for a position in the field of education.   In actuality his class and position give him power to act in this manner.   You are not entitled to privacy if you are of a lower socioeconomic status.   Authorities think they have a right to pry into the lives of those who are not white, heterosexual males. Furthermore, she was not allowed to teach adults at the University of Chicago because they did not think that a woman could handle the adult non-credit class. "It is ironic because women are expected to "handle" children but not more sedate adults."   She informs him that it is illegal to say such a thing but later regrets saying anything to him.   The reason being is that due to his discomfort when confronted he would no longer be honest with female candidates in the future.   Then those females will be left to think that there is something wrong with them and that is why they are not hired instead of knowing the truth.   The truth is that their not being hired is due to his inadequacies, not theirs.   -B.D.

"An Affirmative Action Poster Professor"

The author of the article writes about her experiences as a part-time professor at Georgia State University struggling to become a full-time professor.   Being a woman of color, aspects of her identity, especially during the time period of the 1970s, made it more difficult for her to not only gain the teaching position she wanted, but the respect and equal treatment from the faculty and students a like.
            The author brings up interesting points when discussing the use of affirmative action in the hiring practices at the university.   Although she mentions that she benefited in ways from being hired due to affirmative action, it certainly has its downfalls.   While it certainly helped her get her foot in the door at the university, it made it harder for her to gain respect from her colleagues and get a promotion to full-time professor.   For her and many others, the issue of affirmative action is a double-edged sword--while she may have benefited from it, she is still feels it's unfair to pass up more qualified candidates.
            For feminists, whose goal is to achieve equal treatment for all people, it's tough too have a firm stance on affirmative action.   The topic brings up questions on whether affirmative action is still needed today and how effective it would be.   This article could be useful for anyone who is researching affirmative action, and racial/gender issues in the workplace. - M.J.

Bell describes the difficulties of being a woman professor in the 1970's. She describes that ever-pressing feeling that we often describe, the conflict between the desire to yell or fight something we disagree with and to remain quiet and stay employed. Also in her memoir is details about how in the workplace, her boss (in this case, a brooding, good ol' boy) and her peers dissected the teachers' sexuality and were able to ask personal questions about reproductive care and sexual orientation. She discusses the difficulty of being hired in order to fulfill affirmative action quotas, yet accepted it because of the sexism she had faced in the past--watching men with lower grades get accepted to graduate schools over her. Affirmative action and its principles and downfalls are debated here by a woman from her personal life, and would be useful to anyone studying present-day equality in academics and the workplace. - K.B.