‘A lack of compassion:’ Woman gets harassed for earning a Doctorate
Dr. Ally Louks posted a photo of herself online, celebrating how she finally finished her dissertation for her PhD. Instead of celebrating her success, she was ridiculed and threatened by online misogynists.
Louks recently became a PhD holder after completing her thesis for her English Literature doctorate. She tweeted about finishing her thesis, titled “Olfactory Ethics. The Politics of Smell in Modern and Contemporary Prose.” Her thesis largely focused on how fiction authors would use smell to invoke mental images related to social class, race, and gender in literature.
Needless to say, this isn’t work that could be easily digested on Twitter. Those who failed to understand the importance of this thesis took a dig at her paper. Most of these critics fail to see the practical contributions this PhD would bring. One Twitter user sarcastically wrote, “We’re obviously too uneducated to appreciate the subject.”
Louks responded, “I really don’t think a lack of education is the issue here, but rather a lack of compassion.” Unfortunately, the newly minted PhD holder’s claim would stand. Aside from having her work reduced by online spectators to leftist drivel, Louks had several sexist messages hurled her way. One email she received even threatened her with sexual assault. The sender accused her of being “everything wrong with modern society.” It appears that doing research on smells and social class, not sending violent rape threats, is a bigger problem.
Despite the backlash Louks received, many more were appalled by the threats she received just for her PhD thesis. One Twitter user felt terrified for Louks. They tweeted, “You can post a photo of your PhD as a woman, quite a normal accomplishment, and then get rape threats from deranged men who are emboldened by our society’s quick descent into conservatism and fascism.”
The rise of anti-intellectualism
Perhaps the biggest irony in this case is that those who are struggling to understand the importance of her work are the ones who reduce it to nonsense they refuse to engage with. One even had to use AI to make arguments against it. There is a growing social and political resentment against the academe, and this Twitter debacle about a niche thesis messily summed it up.
Needless to say, none of these people are her advisors. Her pursuit of knowledge doesn’t have to lead humans to reach the next galaxy. It could simply be because she found it interesting to research. Louks herself clarified that this paper wasn’t for a broader audience, but people won’t live and let live. Those throwing a fit about how nobody would read her paper are missing the point: they’re not the target audience, and it’s okay if they aren’t. They can move on with their lives if they really don’t care, but the truth is—they do care if it inflates their intellectual status.
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