16th Nov 2009
the hot professor
Well, I’ve written about student fashion and stereotypes enough on this site, it seems only fair that I should turn it around on my own kind for once and talk about the fashion icon of the hot professor that you see walking across campus… You know who she is, the one with the cigarette pants and stacked heels, or miniskirt and stiletto boots. She doesn’t have to be young, but she does have long hair and, more often than not, those librarian glasses (in black most of the time) that she can take off and chew on in opportune moments. Legs like forever and no fear of hem length or ass coverage. Highly fashionable, and highly desirable. Men want her, women want to be her. I don’t know whether to be jealous or afraid. I mean, in some sense, if you have it, flaunt it, but in our world of schooling, sex doesn’t belong (despite the proliferation of Lolita stories, real or not, and songs like “Hot for Teacher”). Witness the reactions to stories of female teachers seducing their students. Throughout history, male teachers have been the object of the sexual gaze for a long time, but female teachers? We’re supposed to be pure, above the realm of the body, I think. Especially in higher education — male professors with their female students is an old story, but female professors? In a way, I shudder to think, because I believe that is a boundary that shouldn’t be crossed, for a long list of reasons. Yet people are people, and ratemyprofessor.com has that stupid chili pepper for a reason (and every professor I know has checked to see if they have one, myself included).
We want to be found attractive, but not too much, I think. What is the place of attraction in education, and how should that be negotiated, particularly for those of us who work with teens and adults? I’ve never had an issue of a student with a crush and, knock wood, I never will — but when we teach, we are on display for all to see. Something to think about.
Hey there Dana!! Nice post! I so want to be the hot professor you describe. But seriously … I feel like when you get to ‘a certain age’ you don;t have to worry about this stuff anymore - inappropriate behaviour with students. For women anyway, you get to a point where no one sees you as a sexual being anymore and they instead view you like their mothers!
As a TA I have had some problems with student crushes, but I find that if the students imagine their TAs or professors as “hot teachers” they are too intimidated to do much. Hopefully, the TAs and professors adopt your attitude which is that students are students, not dates. I’m still a grad student (one more year) but if I ever become a professor, I plan to look just as good as I can. I’ve lived in New York for almost a decade now, and it just isn’t my style to dress or act frumpy just so I won’t upset someone’s sensibility about the proper aspect for a female professor. One of the lessons young people learn in college is how to deal with temptation gracefully - this ranges from attractions to their professors all the way through to attractions to illegal substances. And echoing your first commenter, it’s not like the professors are going to be all that appealing when compared to the multitudes of young ladies filling in more than half the seats at many universities. It’s a youth obsessed culture. So go on with your pencil skirt and stilettos.