What Do X Think?

Issue

Today in class our professor asked one of the out LGBT to share “what lesbians think” about a particular piece of artwork. I know the professor was probably just trying to encourage participation but she does this all the time, asking people to represent an entire group (“international students”, “Latinx”).

Possible Responses

• Send a message or speak to the professor during office hours about your discomfort.
• Did the class discuss norms at the beginning of the semester? If any of those ground rules are relevant, you could refer to them.
• If you’re uncomfortable speaking to the professor directly, perhaps engage in dialogue with fellow students around the issue and send a group message.
• Speak with your classmates who are called out. Do they have preferred ways of handling these experiences? Can you be an ally?
• If you are the student called upon you could say, ‘I can only speak for myself’.