Reply to Okla college student protesting against getting 0 for her personal religious opinion submitted as a Psychology essay

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]It is an objectively bad essay and I don't have a problem with it getting a 0. It is borderline incoherent. I don't believe in rewarding such poor writing and reasoning at a college level, so I have no problem with the grade.

As to whether it is "offensive" -- I don't know. I'd have to read the article she was reacting to (has that been posted anywhere?). There are a broad variety of opinions on the hot button topic of gender norms that I would find inoffensive, including the argument that sex is binary and that a Christian God intends for humans to adhere to gender norms that reflect binary ideas of sex and gender. I don't agree with that argument, but I don't find it offensive. It's not particularly uncommon and I actually think you could make an argument grounded in social science that this sort of enforcement of gender norms ultimately benefits individuals' mental health and has pro-social effects. Again, I wouldn't agree with such an argument, but I wouldn't find it offensive. I would find it interesting and would enjoy exploring those ideas, especially in a college-level class on gender as a social construct.

The instructor should have been savvy enough to frame her reasoning for giving the grade in a way that avoided the criticism it's now getting. I would simply have said that the essay was poorly written, incoherent, and failed to provide support for the arguments made. It doesn't need evidentiary citations, as it's an opinion essay, but it does require logical reasoning to support its assertions. I would have sidestepped the question of religious belief by explaining that in an academic setting, any belief or assertion needs to be supported with reasoning. Without reasoning, there is no point in having a discussion because there is nothing to discuss. It doesn't matter if the opinion stems from religious belief or personal philosophy -- it must be supported with reasoning and in a coherent way in order to be a part of academic discourse.[/quote]

The shitty essay was also needlessly inflammatory. I think calling that out was fair, especially given the other failings in the scholarship. Demonic? Really? Come on. [/quote]

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