ita !, what does your sister teach? Do you know how they selected who they were going to "study"?

Also, per the policies/procedures:

"Although deception is practiced in some institutions in order to prevent or control participant reactivity, it is forbidden at Northern Caribbean University. An alternative procedure or strategy should be used to prevent participant reactivity."

WOW, that is BANANAS.

On the bathroom front, erika makes a good point that it is not just non-typically-gendered (??) people who have issues with gender-separated bathrooms.

And thinking about disabilities, I have to confess that I came very close to pulling a "some of my best friends are black" the other day when talking about this guy who works here and is blind. He is a hot mess -- walks into people all the time, etc., but I'm pretty sure he would do that even if he could see. So I'm talking about this guy, and feel the need to mention another former colleague who is also blind and definitely had her shit together. Who does that?? Me, apparently. Sorry, world.

WHAT IN THE FLYING FUCK. Raise some HELL, little sis o' ita ! de la o. That is some serious unethical stinky stink bullshit.

I'd just imagine there are more efficient ways to get better ROI, and that was pretty much the only thing I've been saying the whole time.

Do you have a suggestion? Just curious.

"Although deception is practiced in some institutions in order to prevent or control participant reactivity, it is forbidden at Northern Caribbean University.

So, basically they designed a "study" that included the exact opposite of the university's rules? Kiss your grade/grant/degree goodbye, jackasses.

One time when we were on vacation we went to the Improv...I used the men's...he made dudes get out, it was kind of awful. I think we would have done better if he didn't try so hard to be "proactive" about it. (I was already grown, so it wasn't "OMG...Dick Trauma!"(at least not for me)

There is little like my baby sister on an outraged rampage.

As she rightfully should be. That's some MIGHTY serious bullshit.

Do you have a suggestion? Just curious.

I'd have to spend more time on it, but in a brainstorming session on the topic I'd try and work out something more inclusive, so that your participation in the month raises the profile's issue in your environment without touching as blatantly on "I'm going to pee now" which is pretty much verboten in number of circumstances in which you might want to raise visibility.

I'd also go with something that's more accessible for people with less commitment, since this is the audience whose points of view need to be shifted the most. So if it's an exercise that involves documenting the incidences, rather than trying to commit to something more than likely to fail (since associating failure with the effort is probably not a good idea right up front--I'd like to work out something that *seems* possible, and then turns out frustrating, since that's a teachable moment, rather than something that seems impossible before you even get started, or something you can actually accomplish, though with privation or difficulty on your part--I think both scenarios are more constructive than the one suggested), that would be educational. If it's an exercise in something whose topic is easier to discuss before you introduce the topic of a rigid gender binary, I think it's more likely to engender discourse in arenas with a larger audience than something so intimately related to a topic excluded by much etiquette.

Tying it to something biologically required is a good idea, because that makes the imperative nature completely apparent, but I think there are other things to take into consideration with an awareness-raising effort of this sort.

what does your sister teach? Do you know how they selected who they were going to "study"?

She teaches anthropology, but not at this university. The email was sent to another UWI lecturer as well, so she's reaching out to her to see what her experience was. I don't know what area the other teacher is in.

An alternative procedure or strategy should be used to prevent participant reactivity

That's pretty damned succinct. And, you know, *sensible*.

Holy fuck, that's INSANE. No way could that study and any IRB possibly be within three parallel universes of each other. May your sister tear every single person involved in this study into bite-sized strips.

Thanks, meara. I've forwarded that link to her. She's rotating through a bunch of reactions right now, and, seriously, she was so much nicer than she needed to be, which makes this all the more horrifying. If it had been me, it would have just been "Professor ita ! was as much of a bitch as her reputation would suggest. I'm never having sex as a result of her encounter, since everything hurts forever."

Not the "she made every excuse for me possible and tried to make me as comfortable as possible while I recorded our conversation and pretended to be distraught" that she actually *got*.