Survey Says . . .
I've just been asked (the accompanying letter says "selected," but I think we were all "selected") to complete a survey on my experiences of diversity at my school.
The questions begin innocuously, with "How much contact would you say that you had with people of the following backgrounds while at this college?" They proceed to "How comfortable would you be being close friends with the following people?" Next, "How comfortable would you be being a neighbor of the following persons?" And then, "How comfortable would you be being a roommate of the following persons?"
The trajectory of the questions suggests that they are trying to gauge where your biases lie, right? Getting closer and closer to home? How tolerant are you, really?
Then we get to the clincher question, which becomes entirely ridiculous when, as now, I will reveal the groups into which the survey categorizes people:
How comfortable would you be dating the following persons?
African-Americans
American Indian*
Asian
Chicanos
A heterosexual man
A heterosexual woman
A person with a disability
A person with different religious beliefs than your own
An individual with HIV or AIDS
An international student
An openly gay or bisexual man
An openly lesbian or bisexual woman
Given that the survey queries my comfort with various people in more and more intimate scenarios, this final set of questions is absolutely absurd. Here's what I want to know: Do I best express my tolerance for other people by dating them, for crying out loud?!?! Am I expected to?
To be perfectly honest, I would be very uncomfortable dating an openly gay or bisexual man, less because I think he'd make a bad companion (quite the contrary, based on my observation) and more because I'd be thinking, "This probably isn't going anywhere." And no, I probably wouldn't be comfortable dating an openly lesbian woman, but not because I'm particularly homophobic--does being straight mean that I'm intolerant of diversity because I'm not comfortable dating people I'm not attracted to, and I'm not attracted to women? And if I were a homosexual person, would I be considered equally intolerant because I would only be comfortable dating homosexuals of the same gender?
There is also a set of questions that ask how often I have felt discriminated against or harrassed on campus based on age, disability, socio-economic status, gender, race/ethnicity, religious beliefs, or sexual orientation. Fair enough question. But the clincher, again, is the follow-up, which asks: "In what form was the discrimination or harrassment expressed?" The options include "Threats of physical violence" and "Anonymous phone calls"--truly serious signals of discrimination/harrassment. But then there are also "Ignoring" and the even more ambiguous "Glances."
Okay, so truly, sometimes discrimination happens through those means--some people get suspicious glances while they shop, others get ignored by salespeople. And those are real problems. But how the heck is someone supposed objectively and conclusively to know which of the seven qualities (race, gender, disability) caused the harrassing and discriminatory "glance"?
People, please. I'm all for doing what we need to do to create an environment of social justice, but the execution of this survey seems rather suspect . . .
*I have no explanation as to why some are singular and some are plural. Perhaps they are also gauging my exclusivity in dating. Would you be more comfortable dating multiple African-Americans/Chicanos, or a single Asian/American Indian?
The questions begin innocuously, with "How much contact would you say that you had with people of the following backgrounds while at this college?" They proceed to "How comfortable would you be being close friends with the following people?" Next, "How comfortable would you be being a neighbor of the following persons?" And then, "How comfortable would you be being a roommate of the following persons?"
The trajectory of the questions suggests that they are trying to gauge where your biases lie, right? Getting closer and closer to home? How tolerant are you, really?
Then we get to the clincher question, which becomes entirely ridiculous when, as now, I will reveal the groups into which the survey categorizes people:
How comfortable would you be dating the following persons?
African-Americans
American Indian*
Asian
Chicanos
A heterosexual man
A heterosexual woman
A person with a disability
A person with different religious beliefs than your own
An individual with HIV or AIDS
An international student
An openly gay or bisexual man
An openly lesbian or bisexual woman
Given that the survey queries my comfort with various people in more and more intimate scenarios, this final set of questions is absolutely absurd. Here's what I want to know: Do I best express my tolerance for other people by dating them, for crying out loud?!?! Am I expected to?
To be perfectly honest, I would be very uncomfortable dating an openly gay or bisexual man, less because I think he'd make a bad companion (quite the contrary, based on my observation) and more because I'd be thinking, "This probably isn't going anywhere." And no, I probably wouldn't be comfortable dating an openly lesbian woman, but not because I'm particularly homophobic--does being straight mean that I'm intolerant of diversity because I'm not comfortable dating people I'm not attracted to, and I'm not attracted to women? And if I were a homosexual person, would I be considered equally intolerant because I would only be comfortable dating homosexuals of the same gender?
There is also a set of questions that ask how often I have felt discriminated against or harrassed on campus based on age, disability, socio-economic status, gender, race/ethnicity, religious beliefs, or sexual orientation. Fair enough question. But the clincher, again, is the follow-up, which asks: "In what form was the discrimination or harrassment expressed?" The options include "Threats of physical violence" and "Anonymous phone calls"--truly serious signals of discrimination/harrassment. But then there are also "Ignoring" and the even more ambiguous "Glances."
Okay, so truly, sometimes discrimination happens through those means--some people get suspicious glances while they shop, others get ignored by salespeople. And those are real problems. But how the heck is someone supposed objectively and conclusively to know which of the seven qualities (race, gender, disability) caused the harrassing and discriminatory "glance"?
People, please. I'm all for doing what we need to do to create an environment of social justice, but the execution of this survey seems rather suspect . . .
*I have no explanation as to why some are singular and some are plural. Perhaps they are also gauging my exclusivity in dating. Would you be more comfortable dating multiple African-Americans/Chicanos, or a single Asian/American Indian?
posted by Tara | 5:07 PM
3 Comments:
And no matter how you -- or the collective -- answer, the results will be trumpeted in some sort of "look at the ignorant, bigoted masses" sort of way, no doubt.
So: If I spike my hair and paint it pink and blue, and wear only black clothing and Goth makeup, and people look at me, have I been singled out? OR DID I SINGLE MYSELF OUT?
Sorry. I get a little heated about this stuff.
Also -- the folks who haven't felt discriminated against aren't likely to fill the thing out. They have nothing to gain by doing so. They have no burning issues in this regard. So it's hardly scientific.
I am not a big fan of surveys (it just about killed me when I had to design one for an Anthropology class at Swat). But really, this one seems particularly ill-designed. . .
Kate, I'm a little heated myself, no less because it's implied that it's anonymous--but if that's so, then why does my copy bear a serial number on it?
Post a Comment
<< Home