How my lame joke saw me fall foul of the campus zealots

The International Studies Association (ISA) meeting in San Francisco is a chance for academics the world over to come together. A few years back, I was voted ISA “distinguished scholar of the year.” But I’ll remember this year’s meeting for a different reason. Heading back to my hotel room in a crowded lift one day, the male attendant asked people to shout out their floors so he could press the relevant buttons; in response, I said: “ladies lingerie.”

Several days later, I learned that a fellow member of the ISA had filed a complaint against me and that I had been referred to its ethics committee. In an attempt to resolve matters, I wrote a conciliatory email to the woman who made the complaint: Professor Simona Sharoni, who teaches gender and women’s studies at a small New England college. As she did not grow up in the United States, I explained the intended meaning of what I said, apologised if it caused her discomfort and suggested we engage in a dialogue.