Recently, a UK-based talk show, Good Morning Britain, interviewed four professors to comment on the Covid-19 pandemic. However, while all the three male professors got the title against their name, the only female professor on the panel did not.
Not like this was an accident. 4 professors interviewed and the three men get their title on the banner.
— Hocus POCUS (@admit_medics) October 19, 2021
After a Twitter user pointed it out, the professor in question, Prof. Devi Sridhar, Professor & Chair of Global Public Health, Edinburgh Uni Med School, made a sarcastic quip about how, even in 2021, women seemingly, can’t be professors.
Can women be professors in 2021? 🤔 https://t.co/vQKLwHLsUr
— Prof. Devi Sridhar (@devisridhar) October 19, 2021
Soon, people commented on her tweet, and the original tweet, calling out GMB for the ‘blatant misogyny on display’:
Everyday sexism, as well as giving credibility to the cretinous and lethal Great Barrington Declaration by overblowing the credential of one and downplaying the credential of the other.@GMB @devisridhar @dgurdasani1 @chrischirp @fascinatorfun pic.twitter.com/DyW7NhAXu3
— Who I am doesn’t matter (@n0b0dy0fn0te) October 19, 2021
She’s been brilliant. The only one who has consistently and eloquently given excellent information.
— Elizabeth Hopkins (@elizabe30042418) October 19, 2021
@GMB blatant misogyny again. Why was @devisridhar not given her professional title?
— Caitriona 💙🎃🎃💥 (@Caitrionakelly4) October 19, 2021
@GMB How disrespectful to Professor Sridhar – are you doing this deliberately or is it just ignorance? No excuses this is clear misogyny.
— Barb2602 (@BarberHey) October 19, 2021
drives me bonkers. presenters also often call female profs by their 1st name and male by their title. be consistent for everyone !
— lucinda melcher (@LucindaMelcher) October 19, 2021
The thing is when you see this, you can’t un-see it. It’s EVERYWHERE. The only female equally qualified human doesn’t get a title? Multiply this by the thousands of times this happens as kids grow up. It’s an unconscious bias. It can be changed with awareness & ownership
— Meaks (@WhatMeaks) October 19, 2021
💚🤍💜@GMB – PROFESSOR Sridhar earned her title. She was awarded it, and her Chair because she is highly intelligent, hardworking, and has a deep and probably unparalleled understanding of her subject. It wasn’t left wrapped in pink ribbon under a tree.
— The Reader #WomenWontWheest (@MrsSadly) October 20, 2021
Please respect this
And that’s the problem. Most people simply miss the subtle undermining
— Jim Higham (@JimHigham) October 19, 2021
This is one of those subtle examples of misogyny that most don’t notice. But it’s exactly these small, possibly unconscious, differences in how men and women are treated that normalise the bigger differences. It snowballs.
— TattieJ (@tattie_j) October 19, 2021
This is Professor Devi Sridhar. Say her damn name and label her correctly.
— Steve 🌎 🇬🇷🇪🇺💙 #European #Global #Citizen (@poorscousertom) October 19, 2021
This is Professor Devi Sridhar. Say her damn name and label her correctly.
— Steve 🌎 🇬🇷🇪🇺💙 #European #Global #Citizen (@poorscousertom) October 19, 2021
Why is it that even in 2021, we do not want to value women in authority positions? Why is our society hell-bent on disregarding women’s achievements and/or disreputing advice, if it comes from a woman?
Whether it’s questioning a woman’s right to use her hard-earned credentials (as a Wall Street Journal op-ed did for the US first lady, Dr. Jill Biden) or stripping down their identity to their dress or attire (as has been done to countless women, one of the most recent being the Norway women’s volleyball team), women are constantly disrespected and not treated as equals. But it’s high time this attitude changes because misogyny has no place in the future.
