Being a woman in political science, or working within the department, comes with a challenge that’s hard to combat: misogyny. Throughout my years at UO, I became hyper-aware of the way I was being treated in my classes compared to male students. It wasn’t until I took a class on political game theory that I knew had to speak up about this issue. 
This class always bothered me. We talked about politics just being one giant game, but rarely talked about the effects that had on the most vulnerable communities. I always wanted to speak up, but the class was dominated by White men, so I chose to stay silent.
One day, our professor addressed Black Lives Matter and the murder of George Floyd in our class. I knew I had to say something. I started explaining the history behind the creation of police departments and prisons, but the professor didn’t want to hear any of it. While I was speaking he laughed and gave a sarcastic thumbs up to signal me to stop. I didn’t stop, but I was completely disrespected in front of my peers. 
What bothered me the most was right after I spoke, he nodded and agreed with all the other White male students and their colorblind explanations that were just problematic. 
Even when I did say the right things, I was still belittled. If I didn’t have my references in hand every time I spoke, I would immediately be questioned. When I spoke, the majority of students agreed with my arguments, but that never stopped my hands from trembling with fear.
Abha Joshi, a senior at UO and a political science major, has dealt with the same issues. She noticed that since her first year at UO, misogyny had only progressed in the classrooms, “For every woman who raised her hand there were several more men that would raise their hand too,” she said. 
She noticed that when male students didn’t get their way, they would argue endlessly because they always felt they deserved to be right.
“We have to think so many times before speaking up because I feel like our voices, as women, are never taken seriously,” Joshi explained. “Too many times I have seen my male classmates confidently argue or be disrespectful towards professors in class while most women I know hesitate to raise their hands.”
In a Dartmouth study by Jennifer Jiwon Lee, she found that across multiple disciplines men were always the dominant speakers in the classroom. Male students were the first to speak about 63% of the time, even though they only comprised 45% of the class. 
A UO political science professor, who remains anonymous, later confirmed this with me, but also went into detail about her treatment in the department. When describing the field as a whole, she said that, “There’s a tone of masculinity.” 
Many published works are from White men. They get to consider what topics are important to talk about, often excluding gender and race because, “The things that men do are more legitimate.” 
She then explained how, “The whole field is set up to have a problematic tone making it difficult for women of color, people of color and LGBTQ+ voices to be heard.” 
According to Raymond Tatalovich and John Frendreis, men’s political science books receive more awards than women’s. In addition to this, “Women Also Know Stuff,” a resource that promotes women’s political science works, has its problems. It coordinates too many events with panels that have more male speakers than women. 
Treatment in the classrooms for female professors is something their White male colleagues don’t have to experience. They need to demand respect for students to take them seriously. She explained, “I have to be better, my arguments need to be more shatterproof because I know I’m going to be questioned.”
After hearing all of this, it’s easy to become discouraged, but not all hope is lost. When speaking with the professor, she said she wanted to leave all underrepresented students with this piece of advice: “It’s important and crucial that people hear you. There are people that want to hear you and there’s faculty in the political science department that want to hear you.” 
I know that misogyny does not only exist in political science, but in other departments as well. I’m so tired of being spoken over or laughed at for speaking truths that the class needs to hear. We, as women, know that we are smart and it’s time that we take up space in the classrooms. Male professors and students, I want you to hear this loud and clear: Sit down and shut up. It’s my time to speak.