A instructor at a renowned music institution claims she was fired from her position after raising the possibility that drag performances would be perceived as sexist.
Cultural studies instructor Cathy Boardman urged her students to consider whether or not “womanface,” a pejorative term for female mimicry, was degrading.
However, administrators at the BIMM Institute, which has locations around the nation and connections to Sussex University, informed her that transgender students had been offended and that this was a “very sensitive” topic.
Then Ms. Boardman was let go from her position. The professor, who is now suing for unjust dismissal, said the college administration had earlier forewarned her that a select number of students were “out to get her.”
The Mail on Sunday quoted her as saying, “I might lose everything.” I’ve always had unstable employment, but this paid position gave me optimism that I might obtain a home and provide my youngsters a better future.
According to Ms. Boardman, who holds the “gender-critical” idea that a person’s biological sex cannot be changed, she has been the subject of prejudice because of her sex.
She is just one of several academics and professionals who are coming under fire for questioning or seeming to question transgender dogma.
Kathleen Stock, a feminist philosophy professor at Sussex University, was essentially fired from her position last year after asserting that one cannot alter one’s biological sex.
When Professor Stock was the object of protests and vandalism after some students initiated a campaign, she published an emotional piece in The Mail on Sunday.
A global development think group fired tax specialist Maya Forstater for holding a similar opinion, while attorney Allison Bailey claimed that colleagues called her a “transphobe” for holding the opinion that a person’s biological sex cannot be altered.
Essentially, I was dismissed for performing my job, Ms. Boardman said. We are expected to consider things from several angles. What is the purpose of university if we don’t? By implying that students are incapable of critical thinking or being questioned, educational institutions, including but not limited to BIMM, are harming their pupils. The unfortunate reality is that our campuses today have a culture of fear.
She worries that the legal issue would be the end of her five-year career. She earned a degree in social anthropology and started giving freelancing lectures in cultural studies at BIMM in 2017.
Manchester is home to the institution, which grants degrees in music and event planning.
She referred to her position as a “dream job,” saying that she was generally well-liked by her coworkers and enjoyed working with the youngsters. She did, however, become the target of student complaints in November 2020 after delivering a Zoom lecture on the topic of sex, sexuality, and gender.
Ms. Boardman claims that by juxtaposing an old photograph of a white performer dressed in “blackface” with a modern image of a drag queen and the question “What about womanface?,” she hoped to spark discussion.
She wished for the students to consider if a caricature of women may be judged insulting and subject to criticism, much as a parody of black people might.
She claims it took her a full year before she learned that staff and student complaints had been made.
I was not arguing that blackface and drag were interchangeable, she said.
The use of blackface has always considered racist. Drag began as a freeing form of entertainment for homosexual men who were shunned for being sissy. Now it is a disgusting imitation of femininity. I was only attempting to make comparisons between members of more dominant groups in society making fun of those from other groups.
I just felt it was a pretty intriguing subject to think about; I wasn’t promoting anything.
After another presentation on sex and gender in March 2021, Ms. Boardman encountered fresh challenges. She claims that since her presentation coincided with the vigil for Sarah Everard, a woman who had been raped and killed by a Metropolitan Police officer, she made the decision to concentrate on the maltreatment of women.
A few of the 400 students she addressed, however, accused her of “transphobia” since she failed to mention transgender persons throughout her hour-long lecture, which they saw as offensive. When a student questioned why we hadn’t discussed transgender concerns, Ms. Boardman said, “I stated we didn’t have the time to do it right.” ‘
The student was then encouraged to concentrate on trans issues in their essay. In November 2021, a third incident occurred in the staff room. Someone asked Ms. Boardman whether she had seen [American drag queen] RuPaul.
Then they asked if I would go to a drag show after discussing taking the group there. I said, “Oh, gosh, please, no drag show for me. I abhor drag!” Drag humour often involves being edgy and controversial, which is OK, but I find it misogynistic.
At the time, nobody remarked on what I stated. However, a coworker raised an issue a month later.
Ms. Boardman said that she received a meeting request from the principal in December to address what were seen as her “trans-exclusionary” beliefs. She claims that the principal informed her that certain pupils were “out to get” her during this meeting.
Ms. Boardman said she received feedback that she had engaged in “bad academic practise” by lecturing students on a “provocative” subject without alerting them to it or providing them an opportunity to address it beforehand.
She subsequently learned that she had violated the institute’s regulation in a situation involving student welfare, which she considers to be unfounded. She was left worried about both her career and her safety at the conclusion of the session.
When kids are out to get you, Ms. Boardman added, “I didn’t realise the full amount of what it meant.” I was thus afraid during the holiday season. But nobody asked how I was doing.
She said that things reached a breaking point when the same student group that had attended her lecture on sex, sexuality, and gender utilised an assessment survey to disparage her instruction.
They even claimed that I was homophobic despite the fact that I am a lesbian.
She was asked to another meeting with her bosses in May of this year, at which point they told her that she had ‘failed’ to complete her probationary time as a deputy course leader. A following letter said, among other things, that she had failed to uphold the professional standards of her position due to her “inappropriate” expression of ideas.
After it was decided to fire her, she learned she didn’t have to come back to work to finish her notice and that her email account had been closed. She attempted to contest her dismissal, but in June she learned that the initial decision to fire her had been upheld. She stated, “I worry I won’t be able to get another work in lecturing now.” Yet they subjected me to this treatment in the name of inclusivity.
According to a college representative, BIMM “completely supports and protects freedom of expression, academic freedom, and equality.” The school also claimed it has strict regulations in place to guarantee that staff and students are treated equally and in strict line with these values. Given the current legal proceedings, it would not be appropriate for us to comment on the particulars of this matter at this time other than to state categorically that any claims of discrimination are categorically rejected.
He said that Ms. Boardman’s narrative omitted crucial information about her unsatisfactory probationary period.