I think here on Feministing, it has been proven that racism and sexism still do exist. In the past couple of days, readers have gotten a rape shirt pulled, among other things, so I think the reader who commented on your story needs to get out of their sheltered university education and into the real world and find out that racism and sexism still do exist. And yes, I have been to grad school.

honestly? they've vanished? makes it sound like a magic trick of some sort. and they definitely haven't, since i see them both every single day in many locations.

no one in their right might should believe that there's no racism or sexism anymore. What kind of utopian drug is that person on?

When your undergraduate diploma is placed in your hand, all the imaginary racism and sexism you experienced up to that point just fades away, as you are ushered into a magical egalitarian utopia.

Aaaaahhh HHaaaa ha ha! Hi-larious! What more is there to say about this?

The commenter really did their homework, thats all I can say, and clearly cares about dealing with Jessica's arguments on a case by case basis.

Thank Gawd he didn't just dismiss her and her points in one fell swoup.

hey, sami, love how they cap on you for your lack of education... um...

sure makes me feel bad about never having even taken the gre's... i must be a real idiot.

*waves* here I am in grad school... when exactly does the vanishing act happen? 'Cause I haven't seen it yet.

Er, "swoop", that is.

Wow that's so cool racism and sexism vanished! They were there like 30 seconds ago before I read this guy's comments so I really appreciate the speed with which racism and sexism dropped off the face of the earth. I hope poverty is next. Then maybe disease? Where can we write this guy for suggestions?

That is a seriously confusing comment board. I can't tell if Darladoon is serious, sarcastic, trolling, or suffering from multiple internet personalities. Whatever it is, I think he/she could benefit from some time away from the computer to put together coherent thoughts, and maybe see some of that good old fashioned, real world inequality.
Makes me appreciate Feministing commenters!

wow. condescending assholes make me lose my sense of humor, but I'm glad to see the rest of you have the power of snark.

Huh, the guy at Home Depot this morning who assumed I didn't know what a screwdriver was for must have not gotten the memo...

The logic of this guy really is baffling. Since when are sexism and racism things you need a graduate degree to see or feel? Funny how concepts obvious enough for people from children to the elderly, every economic status, and with every possible educational level are totally lost on this "grad school" educated dude. He must be working diligently for his MA in Applied and Theoretical Asshattery.

Eh, Nation commenters, as a general rule, are more often troll-y than not. I think that you should point out that this one's assumption that you are an undergrad smacks just a wee bit of racism and sexism itself. Would he assume that a non-staff writer with a name like "Robert Brown" was a callow undergraduate?

He's not alone, Erica B. My co-worker who said that Senator Clinton can't please America because she couldn't please her husband didn't get the memo either.

If you're like me, you'll get to grad school and become totally radicalized when you realize that sexism and racism are more pervasive than you could've imagined.

Just last month, applying to be a professor at a small college, I sat across from an academic dean who naturally assumed that I wouldn't be *presenting* research at conferences -- which would have meant a travel budget of $1,000 -- but only *attending* conferences -- which meant my budget would be only $500.

I got that weird, disconcerted feeling that I get when talking with pretentious older men who assume that a cute blond woman couldn't possibly be a serious scholar.

I got the job, btw.

What convinced me to accept was a student I met, a young woman with a 10-month-old baby at home who said, "This campus needs more feminists."

she is basically a temporary intern, who probably has yet to finish undergraduate studies. by the time she gets to grad school, she'll find out that racism and sexism have indeed vanished......

Even money says he/she's thrilled to death to finally be able to use the undergrad insult after enduring those four agonizing years. Okay, maybe five.

I wonder at what point between undergrad and grad school you lose your ability to locate your shift key.

Last thursday my critical gender studies professor experience a big slap of disrespect due to her gender and her race during class right in front of her own students. The class before us is a graduate physics class and every day there are these two ladies who just linger and discuss their class even after our own class has started.
Our professor, who immigrated from Ghana to the United States, was clearly upset by their lack of respect for her and worked so hard to get herself together and tried to calm herself down by telling us "This is exactly what this class is about." It was in our face the discrimination and disrespect, even at her level of education, she encounters on a daily basis. There it was in her face, in my face, in all of our faces.

Oh, wait, I guess my opinion does not matter, since I am an undergrad. I can't wait until graduation day when I can FINALLY open my eyes and see that what happened that day to my professor was a complete illusion.

Darladoon is clearly a bastion of maturity.

Well, that board is just full of verbose trolls.

I'll just go and get champagne to celebrate the end of sexism and racism - on the very day that the UN reprimands the US for ongoing racial discrimination...

Btw - Darladoon is a black woman.

Um, my graduate degree was in sociology and my partner`s was in social psychology. My degree focused on paraphilia (with focus on crime and gender) and my partner`s on racism and discrimination.
So, sexism and racism, respectively, were pretty much ALL we studied.

P.S. Cat in sink = ROFLcopter

The white menz have allowed us to vote and get jobs. Voila! No more racism or sexism!

Er, wait, another commenter says racism and sexism is "just human nature." So what is it about human nature, I wonder, that makes caucasion the preferred race and male the preferred sex? Is that a coincidence?

They have certainly not vanished. If anything, colleges are places where the full force of sexism and racism is diminished, because grading has a certain amount of transparency, because scholarships are not awarded in some secret way among a small group of powerful bosses and because students can freely unionize and protest whereas workers often cannot.

So yes, it's worse out there. And I'm not arguing that there isn't any sexism or racism prior to the moment of leaving college, say. Just that it's worse aftah.

I know most persons reading on commenting and this site are very likely, as is evident, to be appalled and amazed by these comments on the disappearance of sexism and racism. However, I thought I would add an anecdote of my own. I am in grad school, getting my MA to be precise. I don't TA this quarter, but many of my friends do. The class they are TAs for is being taught by an emeritus who is very "old school." There are three female TAs and one male. The male TA was going to be out of town during the exam, and the emeritus professor had planned on being out of town as well. However, upon learning that his only male TA would not be present either, he stated that he would probably come for the exam after all, otherwise it would be just the "womenfolk" running it.

No, guys, he's totally right, actually. When you plug your ears and close your eyes and yell "LALALALALALALALA" really loud, you will find that racism and sexism do, indeed, vanish! Just do that and don't stop and you'll be set.

I think we do forget that coming on here helps us notice sexism more. There are people who have always had men be nice to them and their friends and got their education and job without any apparent sexism. Perhaps they notice stereotypes but don't consider that they have bad effects. Also, it seems nowadays women can do anything men can do and that is enough of an achievement for some people. It's not like the education system is great at teaching gender issues. So it's hard to get the message out there that there is inequality and what that inequality entails.

well, if you want to get the message out, i suggest you go on there and post a bit. drown out the punks.