“We at Northeastern University stand for inclusion and diversity.”

Today I was supposed to speak to an animation class via video. College I’d never heard of, teacher I’d never heard of, small thing, figured they knew who I was. Made plans, blocked space in my calendar. Barely an hour before I’m supposed to log onto their zoom link, I get this:

Full email thread pasted below, because it’s so typical. I will never accept another speaking invitation unless they promise not to do this.

Every time I think, “good, they don’t care, it’s blown over,” and EVERY TIME this happens. I’m like Charlie Brown trying to kick Lucy’s football.
This was such a small thing I was doing AS A FAVOR TO THEM.
No more.

Parul Wadhwa <parwad@gmail.com>

To:

Wadhwa, Parul

Cc:

Nina Paley

Tue, Nov 14 at 10:32 AM

Hello Nina

We at Northeastern University stand for inclusion and diversity. We stand against your stance with TERF as expressed on your website and will therefore have to cancel our lecture today and withdraw this invitation.

Apologies for the inconvenience.

Thanks for your understanding and interest.

Parul Wadhwa

On Wed, Nov 8, 2023 at 9:24?PM Wadhwa, Parul <p.wadhwa@northeastern.edu> wrote:

Perfect, thanks Nina. See you Tuesday!

Parul Wadhwa

Lecturer, Mills College 

College of Arts, Media and Design (CAMD)

Northeastern University 

Oakland, CA

From: Nina Paley <nina_paley@yahoo.com>

Sent: Wednesday, November 8, 2023 2:05 PM

To: Parul Wadhwa <parwad@gmail.com>

Cc: Wadhwa, Parul <p.wadhwa@northeastern.edu>

Subject: Re: Guest Lecture request at Northeastern University virtually

 

Hi Parul,

Got it! 

You can use the bio at https://sedermasochism.com/director/

See you Tuesday,

–Nina

http://www.ninapaley.com/

On Tuesday, November 7, 2023 at 02:36:18 PM CST, Parul Wadhwa <parwad@gmail.com> wrote:

Dear Nina

I am looking forward to having you come to our class next week Tuesday at November 14th, 10am PST. 

Can you please share your bio that you’d like me to use to introduce you to our students at Northeastern University.

Please let me know if you have any questions!

Looking forward to meeting you next Tuesday.

Thank you for your time,

Parul Wadhwa

PS- Here is the zoom link for joining the class: Parul Wadhwa is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: ARTD2370 20327 Animation Basics SEC 30 Fall 2023 [OAK-1-TR]

Time: Nov 14, 2023 08:30 AM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

        

Join Zoom Meeting

https://northeastern.zoom.us/j/91462978281?pwd=S1RXYmdQQ1NUTmUxWk44T0RDV1Z2QT09

Meeting ID: 914 6297 8281

Passcode: 881802

One tap mobile

+12532158782,,91462978281# US (Tacoma)

+12532050468,,91462978281# US

Find your local number: https://northeastern.zoom.us/u/abQwIVKUea

On Mon, Oct 30, 2023 at 3:34?PM Nina Paley <nina_paley@yahoo.com> wrote:

Thank you!!

—Nina

Sent from my iPhone

On Oct 30, 2023, at 5:27 PM, Parul Wadhwa <parwad@gmail.com> wrote:

Yes, that works too.10-11am PST, Nov 14th it is then. I will send you a calendar invite this week. Thanks!

On Mon, Oct 30, 2023 at 3:25?PM Nina Paley <nina_paley@yahoo.com> wrote:

Hi Parul,

Can we do it an hour earlier?

—Nina

Sent from my iPhone

On Oct 30, 2023, at 5:19 PM, Parul Wadhwa <parwad@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi Nina

That’s great. Tuesday the 14th of Nov works for me. Let’s keep it at 11am PST?

Would you have about 15 minutes any day before that so we can discuss the lecture briefly? I can meet on zoom/phone any Friday for 15-20 mins. 

Thanks so much for your time. Looking forward to having you in class.

parul

On Fri, Oct 27, 2023 at 8:26?PM Nina Paley <nina_paley@yahoo.com> wrote:

Hi Parul,

Great! Any of those Tuesdays would work. How about the 14th?

—Nina

Sent from my iPhone

On Oct 27, 2023, at 9:27 PM, Parul Wadhwa <parwad@gmail.com> wrote:

Thanks for your interest, Nina. Yes, my class meets virtually every Tue 9-12pm PST. 

Would a meeting over zoom work for you?

Would any Tues between the 14th Nov-5th Dec work for you?

thanks,

p

On Fri, Oct 27, 2023 at 6:44?PM Nina Paley <nina_paley@yahoo.com> wrote:

Hi Parul,

I’d love to, but I live in Illinois. Would this be a remote video visit?

Thanks,

—Nina

Sent from my iPhone

On Oct 27, 2023, at 4:23 PM, Parul Wadhwa <parwad@gmail.com> wrote:

Dear Nina

My name is Parul and I am an artist and educator currently teaching at Northeastern University, Oakland as a Lecturer. My current offering is an Animation Basics course (syllabus attached) that introduces undergraduates to the 12 basic principles of animation and their applications in 2D and 3D using animation tools.

I am writing to you to invite you as a Guest Speaker to my class. 

I teach Tuesdays 9am-12pm PST  virtually so any coming Tuesday would work for me. Would you be available for about 40-45 mins + 10 mins Q&A to speak to my class? 

I was hoping you could share about Sita sings the Blues (which is my favourite piece of yours) in the context of the class. I was wondering if you could introduce your journey into animation and working on this film, the animation techniques you used and the storytelling process. Also, anything else from your work that you might want to include.

There is a stipend of $150 from the university for your valuable time.

Please let me know if you are available and interested. 

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Have a good weekend.

Sincerely,

Parul Wadhwa

MFA, Digital Arts and New Media

https://www.parulwadhwa.com

<ARTD 2370 + ARTD 2371 .pdf>

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Open Letter to the University of Illinois

February 28, 2019

In July of 2018, Arcadia, a cafe in Urbana, announced on Facebook an “Art Salon” at which my new film would be screened. The next day, Professor Mimi Thi Nguyen commented on Arcadia’s event page: “She’s a transphobe. I will never attend your events now.”

My crime was, months earlier, sharing on Facebook the following lyric: “If a person has a penis he’s a man.” At various times I have also shared such contentious views as, “women don’t have penises,” “sex is not gender,” “woman means adult human female,” and “everyone is free to identify however they wish, but not to force me to identify them the same way.” Nonetheless, “If a person has a penis he’s a man” is continually quoted as my greatest hit of so-called ‘hate speech.’ It is also a fact.

When asked by other commenters why my stating biological facts was ‘transphobic’ and grounds for no-platforming, Ms. Nguyen replied “I’m the chair of Gender and Women’s Studies. I know what I’m talking about.” Speaking not merely as an individual, but in her capacity as a UIUC faculty member, Ms. Nguyen threatened a local business and libeled a community member and encouraged others to join in.

Arcadia promptly cancelled the event.

That October, my film, Seder-Masochism, screened to enthusiastic audiences at the Vancouver International Film Festival. In attendance were film scholars Kristin Thompson and David Bordwell, frequent speakers at past Ebertfests, who loved the film and emailed Ebertfest director Nate Kohn to recommend it. Kohn replied they already knew about Seder-Masochism, and it was at the top of their list. Which makes sense, since it’s by an Urbana filmmaker (me) whose last film was a star at the festival (Sita Sings the Blues) and contains my late father’s voice, which is known to much of the festival’s audience (Hiram Paley used to be Mayor of Urbana, as well as a math professor at the U of I).

Later that Fall, I turned down an invitation to judge a major film festival in Buenos Aires, because its dates overlapped with Ebertfest. Since Seder-Masochism was “at the top of (their) list,” I didn’t want to miss it. In January, I emailed Nate Kohn and Chaz Ebert to ask if in fact Seder-Masochism would screen. For over a week, they didn’t respond. That same week, I was attacked by a Twitter mob accusing me of ‘hate speech,’ once again for having said “If a person has a penis he’s a man.” Then all trace of my film was removed from the website of a women’s film festival in Belgium, after they were bullied by a Belgian transactivist.

Still awaiting a response, at the end of January I emailed Ebertfest again. They replied: “Sorry, we don’t have room for it.” (Update 3-28-2019: Chaz Ebert confirms Ebertfest’s decisions had nothing to do with my no-platforming in Urbana and Beligium, and they were unaware of any controversy. )

I’m not entitled to be at any film festival, and the decisions of Ebertfest – a special event of the University of Illinois College of Media – are made behind closed doors, preventing any hope of accountability. But going from the top of Ebertfest’s list to “sorry there’s no room” in the midst of libel campaigns is consistent with the blacklisting and no-platforming of feminists at universities nationally and internationally. From the banishing of noted feminist speakers like Sheila Jeffreys and Julie Bindel; to the suppression of ‘politically incorrect’ research at Bath Spa University and Brown University; to secret blacklists of female academics uncovered at Goldsmiths University, the speech-suppressing behavior at the University of Illinois is consistent with unsavory developments around the world.

In 2017, the U of I adopted “Guiding Principles” on Freedom of Speech and Civic Engagement. I list some ways they are failing to uphold these principles:

    • “We have a duty to vigorously and even-handedly protect community members against conduct that falls outside the First Amendment – including true threats, pervasive harassment, incitement to imminent lawless action, and libel…” Ms. Nguyen’s accusation, “she is a transphobe,” is libel. I do not fear or hate trans people. Although it shouldn’t be anyone’s business, I have had trans friends and lovers, and stood for the human rights of trans people, since before Ms. Nguyen entered college.
    • “We will create conditions for a safe and robust exchange of viewpoints.” This has not happened at the U of I. While one-sided policies of “preferred pronouns” dominate, no voice is given to those who use English sex-based pronouns over newly imposed “gender identity” rules.
    • “In all matters involving freedom of speech, the University of Illinois system will endeavor to maintain a high level of transparency.” I am confident anti-feminist blacklisting occurs here, as it does on many other campuses. Blacklisting is by its nature non-transparent and unaccountable, but its effects are devastating.
    • “We will not condone shouting down or physically obstructing or threatening a speaker or the speaker’s audience.” Does this include on Social Media? Because Facebook is where Ms. Nguyen did just that, and got my event shut down.
    • “We must always strive to be valued local partners, learning from and collaborating with the communities that are home to our universities and programs.” Bullying a local venue into shutting down a screening by a local artist achieves the opposite of that mission.
  • “We owe our students opportunities for substantive civic engagement so that they graduate not only prepared for personal success but also knowing what is expected of them as productive global citizens.” Certainly the University has already failed its students and faculty by refusing any open discussion of genderist ideology and policies. This failure to foster free speech has spilled beyond campus and into the surrounding cities of Urbana-Champaign, harming the community.

HARMS

Many local residents were looking forward to the event at Arcadia. Due to the bullying by Ms. Nguyen, representing the University of Illinois, and her associates, the event was cancelled. Many more locals hoped Seder-Masochism would screen at Ebertfest this year. Now, they will not see it.

Many in this college town are afraid to voice support for me, or express any gender-critical thought, for fear of being branded “transphobic.” Academics who even question ‘gender identity’ have been disciplined or denounced in open letters; those who express fully gender critical views have lost their jobs. Between that and the imposition of ‘preferred pronouns,’ requiring the speaker to suppress their correct recognition of biological sex in favor of compelled speech – that is, lying – University employees, their spouses, and friends, feel compelled to keep quiet.

So, instead of the “opportunities for substantive civic engagement” promised in the University’s Principles, the University instead fosters a climate of fear and silence in the wider community.

Beyond this harm to our community, I have been harmed personally as well. I can’t calculate the cost this has had on my professional reputation, career, and livelihood. I have certainly suffered psychological harm: being falsely accused and shut down in my hometown, with no accountability for the accusers, evokes a despair I had previously only read about in books like “The Crucible” and histories of witch trials.

REMEDIES

The University needs to protect speech.

I acknowledge the University is in a bind. Recent State interpretations of Title IX have – perhaps unwittingly – redefined ‘sex’ to include ‘gender identity.’ As long as Title IX fails to uphold its original purpose – protections based on sex – and instead protects incoherent, ill-defined, and fundamentally sexist concepts of ‘gender identity,’ it is at odds with the First Amendment – and with itself.

The University’s Student Affairs web page states:

We will continue to protect and treat all students according to their gender identities and gender expressions, honoring chosen names, pronouns, and restroom access, as is current campus policy.”

‘Preferred pronouns’ are compelled speech, forcing the speaker to contradict their own recognition of another’s sex. This compulsion violates the First Amendment. But ‘preferred pronouns’ also violate Title IX itself, insofar as it still protects sex. Although trans activists vehemently deny this, there is ample evidence that some trans-identified males are autogynephiles – that is, fetishists who are sexually aroused by imagining themselves as women. Being forced to call such men “she” is forced participation in sexual activity without consent. That is just one way privileging ‘gender identity’ over sex is institutionalized sexual coercion.

‘Sex’ and ‘gender identity’ are fundamentally mutually exclusive; you cannot protect one without delegitimizing the other. The University considers failure to use ‘preferred pronouns’ harassment against the individual who imposes them. But ‘preferred pronouns’ themselves are harassment, including sexual harassment, against individuals compelled to use them.

My plea to the University is to reaffirm its commitment to Free Speech and acknowledge the untenable and inconsistent demands added to Title IX by the redefinition of sex. It is tragic that the former integrity of Title IX, which has been instrumental in providing sex-based protections and opportunities for women and girls, is now in opposition to the First Amendment. Free Speech is important. Sex-based protections are important. Redefining ‘sex’ to include ‘gender identity’ is an assault on both.

On an immediate and practical level, the University should:

Assure the right of all employees and students to use whatever pronouns they see fit;

Assure the right of all students and employees to question and discuss current “gender identity” politics without fear of libel or punishment, and;

Host meaningful discussion on this subject. Feminist Journalist Meghan Murphy is available to debate anyone on the topic, “Does Trans Activism Negatively Impact Women’s Rights?” The University would do well to host such a debate here.

Finally, having lost two screening opportunities in my hometown because of the University’s negligence, I would like the University to sponsor a screening of my film Seder-Masochism for the community.

Sincerely,

–Nina Paley

Director, Seder-Masochism and Sita Sings the Blues

Urbana, IL

ninapaley.com

Mimi_Nguyen1

Mimi_Nguyen2

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Blacklisted

Update: Chaz Ebert confirms Ebertfest’s decisions had nothing to do with my no-platforming in Urbana and Beligium, and they were unaware of any controversy.

+++++

Ebertfest (Roger Ebert’s Film Festival) is the big film festival in my town (Champaign-Urbana, Illinois). In October, its director told 2 film critics/scholars I know that my new feature film Seder-Masochism was “at the top of our list.” Which makes sense, since it’s by an Urbana filmmaker (me) whose last film was a star at the festival (Sita Sings the Blues) and contains my late father’s voice, which is known to much of the fest’s audience (he used to be Mayor of Urbana, as well as a math professor at the U of I). I emailed Ebertfest in January to ask if they were going to screen it, because I have to make plans in April. They didn’t reply. I emailed them again over a week later (Friday). “Sorry, we don’t have room for it.”

A week earlier Seder-Masochism was the target of a de-platforming campaign in Belgium. The women’s film festival that programmed its Belgian premiere removed all traces of it from their web site after transactivists threatened them. A few days before that, I was the target of a Twitter mob for sharing opinions with Graham Linehan.

Screenshot 2019-01-23 17.37.59

Ebertfest’s decisions are made behind closed doors, and I’m certainly not entitled to be at any film festival. But it is my opinion that their decision is very much related to my defamation and condemnation as a “TERF“. Much of the witch-hunt against gender-critical feminists comes from Academia, and Ebertfest is an extension of the University of Illinois College of Media. Last Fall the self-described “Chair of Gender Studies” Mimi Nguyen led a campaign against me to have my film de-platformed at a local cafe.

Mimi_Nguyen1Mimi_Nguyen2

I am blacklisted, but I will not shut up.

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Another way the Internet is like the Printing Press

10 years ago, the Free Web was revolutionary, democratizing, and empowering. Many of us correctly compared it to the advent of the printing press, another revolutionary technology that was inextricably linked to the Reformation that soon followed.

What I didn’t consider was that also inextricably linked to the Reformation were the European Witch Hunts. (Perhaps not inextricably linked, but simultaneous, were the European Enclosures.) Now we’re seeing online Witch Hunts (and Enclosures too, hello Social Media). So my enthusiasm for the Internet is a lot more qualified now, as is whatever I had for the Reformation.

Recommended reading (albeit in leaden academic prose – someone should rewrite it for a popular audience!): Caliban and the Witch

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Modern Ten Commandments

I was recently asked what the Ten Commandments would say if they were written today. I suggested these:

  1. Thou shalt go to college and acquire at least a Bachelor’s degree.
  2. Thou shalt root for at least one sportsball team.
  3. Thou shalt drive a car.
  4. Thou shalt eat the flesh of animals.
  5. Thou shalt breed.
  6. Thou shalt worship babies, and mothers, and parents. With thy tax penalties shalt thou worship them.
  7. Thou shalt be monogamous, that thou mayst treat thy partner as property even while denying it.
  8. Thou shalt copyright everything, that thou mayst censor even while denying it.
  9. Thou shalt bank and use credit cards and organize thy days according to “work” and “bills”.
  10. Thou shalt not question any of these commandments, lest thou be some kind of radical freak.
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