In the Guise of Civility: The Complicitous Maintenance of Inferential Forms of Sexism and Racism in Higher Education

Abstract

In this paper, I examine and explore the continued existence of inferential forms of sexism and racism in higher education. Situated in autoethnography and using complicity theory and narrative analysis, this essay addresses issues and experiences related to civility, sexism and racism on a largely Euro American campus. More specifically, I critically examine the interdependence of sexist and racist ideologies that persist in university classrooms in the guise of civility. I argue that inferential sexism and racism are endemic to U.S. higher education and classrooms and are as dangerous as overt forms of sexism and racism because they are harder to identify, and more naturalized and acceptable.