September 8, 2008

Transgender Professor Causes a Stir on Return to Yeshiva U.

A professor at Yeshiva University, put on leave in 2006 after announcing she was transgender and in the process of becoming a woman, has returned to the Jewish campus — this time with a red purse slung over her shoulder, according to the New York Post.

Joy Ladin, an English professor at Yeshiva, was placed on indefinite leave two years ago after announcing her plans to change from male to female. The news came two weeks after the professor, then known as Jay Ladin, was given tenure, and although it has not been confirmed, faculty members have speculated that Ms. Ladin’s intentions were linked to her suspension.

Her return has caused a stir among the university’s rabbis, who said the 47-year-old’s lifestyle is a violation of Torah law and morality. Rabbi Moshe Tendler, a senior dean at Yeshiva’s rabbinical school, told the Post that “there is just no leeway in Jewish law for a transsexual.” The university’s president, Richard M. Joel, declined to comment but did say that he was proud of all his faculty members. Ms. Ladin received more support from students, who said the move was a step forward for the New York university.

In a similar case in 2007, Spring Arbor University, a Christian college in Michigan, settled with Julie Nemecek, a non-tenured faculty member who was notified that she could not wear women’s clothing to work. Ms. Nemecek, who was formerly known as John, had been told in December 2006 that her contract would not be renewed.

Lynn Conway, a professor emerita of engineering and computer science at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, told The Chronicle in 2005 that a majority of large universities employ “perhaps a dozen or more transitioned women and men.” —David DeBolt

Comments

1. As a transgender faculty member, and an alumna of Yeshiva University, I am glad to see that Yeshiva is putting the students first by retaining an excellent teacher and a distinguished academic. Faculty should be judged on their abilities, not their gender identity. As a scholar in the area of transgender workplace diversity, my work shows that conditions are improving, albeit slowly, for the 0.1% of the workforce that is transgender. You can learn more at my Ramapo College webpage at http://phobos.ramapo.edu/~jweiss

   — Dr. Jillian T. Weiss    Sep 8, 09:45 PM    #

2. As an alumna of the Yeshiva of Central Queens (not YU) I concur with Jillian’s comments. I must admit that I am very surprised that Rabbi Tendler seems to be completely ignorant of the Tzitz Eliezer. Rabbi Waldenburg is considered the expert on gender issues and long ago accepted the reality of trans women.
   Yeshiva University, which in my years as a student prided itself on combining Torah and science, should be very proud that it has continued that tradition, and is willing to treat Professor Ladin like anyone else with a medical condition and not discriminate based on ignorance and fear.

   — Dana Beyer, M.D.    Sep 9, 07:45 AM    #

3. Well, Sanity, perhaps you should just be grateful that you were born the proper gender and stop judging others who were not. There is no “sanity” in harshly judging others with your own sad prejudices — especially about a topic you clearly know nothing about. Ah, higher ed….

   — Kathy    Sep 9, 08:29 AM    #

4. Our good fortune: two intelligent postings before “Sanity” showed up. I encourage the blog troll to sleep late every morning.

   — Dave    Sep 9, 08:36 AM    #

5. It’s encouraging to see that, so far at least, three out of four comments are in support of personal liberty and in favor of persons being judged on the content of their character, not on the contents of their underpants.

   As a transgender man put it in a New Yorker article years ago, these are “among the few people in the world who have attained [their] heart’s desire.” I applaud their courage to do the hard thing, but the right thing for them.

   — Dan    Sep 9, 08:39 AM    #

6. I’m glad to see so many voices for liberty, but what about the freedom of a Jewish university to maintain its Jewish identity? Is that not also a liberty worth protecting?

   — Ben    Sep 9, 09:53 AM    #

7. I was reading a young adult novel recently about a transgendered kid and my 7 year old saw it and asked what it was about. I told her that it was about a kid who was born into a boy’s body, but felt like a girl inside. She told me that she didn’t get it, so I told her to close her eyes.

   “Now,” I said, “Are you a boy or a girl?”
   “A girl,” she answered definitively.
   “How do you know? You can’t see yourself.”
   “I just know.” she replied.
   “Okay,” I said, “What if you opened your eyes and you were in a boy’s body? How would you feel?”
   “That would be awful!”
   “Well, that’s how this kid in the book I’m reading feels all the time. She looks down at her body and it doesn’t feel like hers. She doesn’t understand why she’s in a boy’s body and not a girl’s.”
   My daughter replied, “I feel so sad for her. Is there any way for her to get a girl’s body?”

   My point is that if a 7 year old can understand it, then anyone can. I think my daughter would be happy for these women who finally have a body that matches who they are on the inside.

   — Stacey    Sep 9, 09:55 AM    #

8. I think a private university has the right to be as wrong-headed as the law allows… which is why discrimination based on gender identity and gender expression should not be permitted in the workplace. ENDA (the Employment Non-Discrimination Act) should be passed with transgender provisions intact. This would not prohibit the university from barring transgender faculty, just from receiving federal funds when they do.

   — equality    Sep 9, 09:59 AM    #

9. Too bad that society has so few options that really messed up people feel the need to chemically and surgically mutilate themselves sexually. Cutting it off and taking hormones doesn’t make you a woman. But sexually mutilated messed up people need jobs, too.

   — Lee    Sep 9, 11:15 AM    #

10. To all who want to learn more about the biology and psychology of transgendered people, I recommend the book “She’s Not There: A Life in Two Genders” by Jennifer Finney Boylan. It is beautifully and compassionately written by a woman who was mistakenly born into a man’s body.

    — MKS    Sep 9, 11:51 AM    #

11. To discriminate against individuals because of their genetic/developmental inheritance over which they had no control is ridiculous. Under normally circumstance it would be surprising that Rabbi Tendler, a PhD biologist, is taking this stance. Perhaps his interpretation of the Jewish religion interferes with his thinking the way he permits it to interfere with his acceptance of evolution. since he is also denies the fact of evolution. In the latter case he refuses to take into consideration and discuss the concept of natural selection. In the case of a transgender person he apparently refuses to admit that such cases naturally exist and that the Torah supports the view that issues of health and survival – including mental health – trumps all religious beliefs and rituals. Rabbi Tendlerr should keep his narrow, false fundamentalist views of religion and life to himself and not interfere in the lives of other people.

    — Sheldon Gottlieb    Sep 9, 11:51 AM    #

12. With due respect for an individual who accords little respect to those who see the world differently. those who know Rabbi Tendler’s views (and style) on a range of other issues will not be surprised by his position here.
    My guess is that those who provide over-the-top characterizations of trans-people, including some prior commentators, have little if any personal experience of or empathy with them, and most likely, with others different from themselves.
    Judaism has the capacity to do better.

    — The Wise Bard    Sep 9, 12:20 PM    #

13. The Kaballah teaches us that G-d is both genders; masculine in heaven, feminine (Shekinah) on Earth. If God can switch genders, so can his/her children.

    — Brilliant Blonde    Sep 9, 12:21 PM    #

14. Yeshiva, for pragmatic reasons, became a secular institution in 1970. As such, it had little choice but to allow Professor Ladin to return or face certain defeat in the legal arena. One can hope the leadership also decided it to be morally right. While Mr. Tendler is welcome to his views, he should not be voicing them as if he speaks for the institution. In that respect he has clearly overstepped his bounds. Perhaps it is time for a new dean.

    — CW    Sep 9, 12:31 PM    #

15. I am kind of astonished that so many academic types are unfamiliar with the research regarding gender and the brain. If more people actually took time to understand the science of gender (it is not a black/white issue), the world would be a better place.

    It is disturbing that so many people feel comfortable spewing hate. I wonder why, when a minority group is involved, some in academia feel it is acceptable to throw their intellectual standards out the window.

    — Nancy    Sep 9, 01:08 PM    #

16. While I in general agree with #16, I suggest that it isn’t the intellectual standards that get thrown out, but the moral ones. The notion that scripture “justifies” fear and hatred of those who are sexually different from “us” is bizarre. Sure, you can find the verses condemning homosexuality, but you can also find “justifications” for the subjugation of women, for chattel slavery, and for genocide.

    Realizing of course that the KJV of the Bible might be seen as slightly inappropriate here, text-mining its ca. 1000 pages yields about half a page of homophobia by the most generous standard of inclusion. That’s 0.05%, hardly the hallmark of a major theme. Factor in the fact that the Ten Commandments don’t mention the subject, nor does (to the surprise of many Christians) Jesus of Nazareth, and we’ve got a pretty flimsy reed to hang our prejudices on.

    In my opinion, the most appropriate thing for anyone to say in this case is, “Welcome back, Professor Ladin.”

    — Dan    Sep 9, 02:11 PM    #

17. Did the purse have to be RED, and did it have to be slung over the shoulder? Is she/he wearing pumps?

    — GT    Sep 9, 02:19 PM    #

18. If I happen to be under the impression that I am a cabbage, is everyone around me then obligated to treat me like a cabbage? Have I the right to insist upon being watered and eventually boiled with some nice corned beef? Or is there a point at which it is the ethical obligation of sane people around me to say “Dude, you’re not a cabbage”?

    — So    Sep 9, 02:32 PM    #

19. “So”, I would be happy to boil you with some nice corned beef.

    — Beth    Sep 9, 02:53 PM    #

20. The blog troll first showed up as “Sanity” (3), returned as “Lee”
    (10), and MAYBE yet again as “So” (19).

    To “So,” I ask “Say what???????”

    — Dave    Sep 9, 04:17 PM    #

21. Dave,

    Is anyone who disagrees with your liberal orthodoxy necessarily a “troll”? Do you find that outlook generally productive for an intellectual life? Isn’t that exactly why people of differing opinions don’t talk to each other anymore?

    Perhaps my analogy was ineffective. I was merely attempting to raise the possibility that wishing something doesn’t make it so. If I became convinced that I am Napoleon, we would all agree that I am ill. Why doesn’t that apply to gender as well? Just a question.

    — So    Sep 9, 05:20 PM    #

22. Reform, Conservative and Reconstructionist Judaism have come to terms with gender variance. The Orthodox still yearn for the simpler time of the shtetl. Whoever thinks it’s possible to reason with these troglodytes is delusional.

    — Debra    Sep 9, 05:25 PM    #

23. So, I disagree fundamentally with your point of view. But I do apologize for my very snarky reply.

    — Dave    Sep 9, 08:36 PM    #

24. Debra,

    Thanks for lumping all Orthodox Jews in with Rabbi Tendler (who really is a troglodyte). It’s always disappointing to me to see the “politically correct” crowd behave as obnoxiously as their “un-PC” opponents. For future reference, some Othodox Jews are disgusted (though not surprised) by Rabbi Tendler’s comments.

    So,

    The quick answer to your question is that the difference between and male and a female of the same species is a hell of a lot smaller than the difference between a man and a cabbage. Smaller even than the difference between you and a famous historical personage. Have you ever seen somebody on the street that you couldn’t identify with certainty as a man or a woman? Have you ever seen someone that you couldn’t tell if he was Napolean or not? It’s not equivalent. Just an example, please don’t try to read too much into it.

    — Sam    Sep 10, 12:28 AM    #

25. I think that So raises a valid question that deserves a serious reply.

    First, let me say that I myself am a transsexual in the process of gender transition, so I may be a bit biased. I’ll also add that I am not a gender researcher myself, so I may have a detail or two wrong. But that being said:

    Transsexualism has existed in humans for centuries, probably much longer (animal behavior research shows that it exists in many species). Over the past few hundred years, doctors and therapists have tried various combinations of drugs, counselling, and other treatments for this unbelievably distressing and uncomfortable condition. Decades of research have shown that (unlike treatments for delusions, such as in So’s cabbage and Napolean examples) counselling, drugs, etc. are ineffective as treatment for transsexuals. The medical community is beginning to coalesce around hypotheses (supported by some brain research studies) that this condition is medical in nature, rather than psychological; that there may in fact be a brain structure difference in transsexuals that makes us perceive ourselves as the “wrong” gender.

    So all the traditional therapies have repeatedly been shown ineffective. On the other hand, while not having a 100% success rate, gender transition HAS been shown to be effective as a way of treating the condition, with therapeutic success rates that are impressive by most medical standards. As Harry Benjamin, a pioneer in transsexual research, put it, if we cannot change a person’s conviction to match the body, in all compassion, should we not, in some cases, change the body to match the conviction?

    — tm    Sep 10, 01:15 AM    #

26. People (including posters here) claim that homosexuality and transexuality are natural, and not diseases. But how can this and the theory of natural selection be consistent? Is not procreation the most basic requirement addressed by natural selection?

    — Arky    Sep 10, 02:10 AM    #

27. Transsexuals are perfectly capable of reproducing prior to transition, Arky, and many do. Also, although the medical establishment is far from fully understanding the cause of transsexualism, research indicates that this condition is not genetic, but congenital: present at birth (likely due to factors in utero), but not encoded into the genes.

    (And before anyone freaks out speculating over the potential effects on children of having a parent transition, please review the literature on this subject.)

    — tm    Sep 10, 08:42 AM    #

28. But, what if I really am a cabbage? Stacie – I could just hug you – that is the most beautiful and poignant explanation of GID I have ever seen.

    — Roberta Zenker    Sep 10, 06:20 PM    #

29. if you have not gone through shas, rishonim, acharonim, and poskim (as R’ Tendler most certainly has) realize that, while your opinion might fit with modern, liberal culture, which has deteriorated into such a sad state as it has, it has no place in the halachic universe. and if you do not know what those terms mentioned above mean, than even more so.

    — conservative    Sep 12, 05:45 PM    #

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