I'm a fat woman, and I've worked in higher education for many years, as an administrator and instructor. Maybe it's because I have the advantage of age (I'm as old as some of my undergraduates' grandparents) and experience, but I would have handled this interaction a little differently.

As soon as I heard the remark, I would have turned and asked brightly "Did someone have a comment or a question?" If no one responded, and I had a pretty good idea who said it, I would have zeroed in on that individual (or at least the section of the room), moved a little closer for emphasis, and said "But I'm sure I heard something from over here..." (and if I knew the culprit) "...was it from you?" I would wait a good, long pause each time, to give the students plenty of time to feel uncomfortable.

If no one spoke up, I would eventually continue with "Well, if anyone does have questions or comments that are pertinent to the course topic, or the way I'm presenting it, please do speak up so that everyone can hear you, myself included. If you have anything not directly related that you need to share, I'd prefer that you brought it to me outside of class. My office hours and contact information are in the syllabus."

If a student did have the nerve to repeat the negative comment to my face, I would respond "And what on earth would make you think that this is an appropriate thing to say, particularly here and now?" And I would wait a good, long time for a response--it's quite okay with me if he/she squirms a little. For someone without children of my own, I'm told I have a pretty good one-eyebrow-raised "Mom look," and I would be using it here.

I would wind up with something along the lines of what someone else already responded, about the expectation that everyone treat one another with respect in this classroom. Depending on how the offending student had behaved thus far, I might also point out that I had the responsibility to show up and teach this course effectively--but that does not include an obligation to conform to his/her aesthetic standards while doing so. If any students have any feedback about the way I'm performing my actual responsibilities, I would be very happy to listen and discuss it with them--but would they please keep discussions of unrelated matters out of our class time.

Acting intimidated and ashamed when someone points out that I'm fat gives credibility to the idea that it's something shameful and bad, and that they have a right to feel superior to me if they're not fat. I do not agree with any of those things. I love having friendly, informal, collaborative relationships with many of my students, but we shouldn't kid ourselves--ultimately, in this situation, I am their superior. I'll never maintain order and credibility in my classes if I let them blatantly undermine that. The sooner we re-establish a standard of civility and respect, the better for everyone.

Well stated!

And if all that fails, you eat the rude student.

Anyone remember that scene from the Nutty Professor where Eddie Murphy's writing on the blackboard and his gut is pressed against the board, erasing everything he writes?

Any TA under the age of 30 is not going to be able to do that, though (or very few, anyway). It's an age and confidence thing, and it has to be learned the hard way.

I'm not the veteran instructor that MaryMc is, but I have undergraduate teaching experience.

Put your reaction of last week out of your mind---that was then, this is now. It is never too late to take the initiative.

MaryMc has given you a beautiful script. I would begin with something like, "Before starting with this week's material, I would like to do some review. Toward the end of our last class a comment was made that the class found very amusing, but which we unfortunately did not have the opportunity to discuss. Would someone please remind us of that point so that we can pick up where we left off?"

If you know the student or students with whom the remark originated, zero in on them. "Mr. ... Mr. N., was it your point? Ms. M., didn't you have a follow-up comment?" If not, survey the class. As MaryMc emphasizes, take your time. Make a casual circuit of the classroom, not forgetting to stop for ten or fifteen seconds at the back of the classroom. Make them squirm.

When you reach the front of the room again, deliver MaryMc's Reply #1. If somebody does have the nerve to repeat the remark from last time, so much the better for the little weasels. Because then you deliver MaryMc's Reply #2. In no case would I omit from Reply #2 the wonderful line about my job responsibilities not including the obligation to conform to anybody's aesthetic standards!

I call this a "script" because this will probably be an acting job for you. It doesn't matter, because your students can't read your mind! You might know you're acting, but they won't. If you need to, channel MaryMc!! (Do you have a friend you can role-play with? Do it! Don't neglect to play the nervy student and have your friend be you!)

Oh, consider dismissing class after making your point---that will put them in shock, and you will in fact have taught them a lesson more valuable than any section hour. (I was on the receiving end of that kind of admonishment once as an undergraduate, and we were consciousness-raised lambs for the rest of the semester.)

Canada:

And if all that fails, you eat the rude student.

You're a really classy person. F- for you.

Can we have a permanent moratorium on the use of the suffix "-phobia" to describe anything that is not, in fact, a pathological, paralyzing fear? Fatphobic, homophobic, any other kind of "phobic" that's made up on the spot by self-described victims...

I'm not afraid of fat people (well, maybe of being sat on by one, but that's more "crushed-to-death-phobic"). I just strongly dislike the sense of entitlement that seemed to come as a side order with the large Double Six-Dollar Burger combo at Carl's Jr. that it looks like they've eaten for five meals a day. Extreme distaste for people who have absolved themselves of personal responsibility is not a fear, so let's stop with the "phobia", please.

No, "Monster Dog" you cannot have a moratorium. Your post was a perfect performance of phobia -- look it up. It also means, "dread of, aversion toward" -- matches what you say to a T.

Thank god douchebags like you aren't boss of the world.

JM75:

No, "Monster Dog" you cannot have a moratorium. Your post was a perfect performance of phobia -- look it up. It also means, "dread of, aversion toward" -- matches what you say to a T.

Thank god douchebags like you aren't boss of the world.

Thank the gods I'm not boss of the world, indeed! My cheapskate nature would permanently crash the consumer-goods economy, my nineteenth-century social Darwinist views would be a disaster for women and the underprivileged, and my hands-off foreign policy would probably get Tel Aviv nuked to hell and back by Ahmadinejad. Not to mention my imposition of the classical Greco-Roman-inspired polytheism I practice as the state religion would really annoy Christian and atheist alike.

I wouldn't take the job of king of the world unless I were dead and somehow achieving apotheosis so I wouldn't have to deal directly with my subjects.

This might backfire. The best way to have authority is to have it without throwing it around like this. Students might end up seeing the TA who singled out the "fatophobe" as the bully. Further, ending class early is taking away instructional time from the whole class. Not only might this be read as a bit of a tantrum, it's not especially fair to the students who didn't laugh at the teacher's expense.

I think it's wise to keep in mind that in the classroom there's already a very asymmetrical power relation and that such misbehavior on the part of students just as often requires dismissal as it does a firm hand. A raised eyebrow or simply ignoring such behavior demonstrates more power than does rising to the baiting.

But this is my take. What's right for each teacher will vary depending on that teacher's personality and teaching style. This TA is still figuring all that out, so I advise him to take my advise and any other advice with a grain of salt. (Except for my advice in another post to briefly--and without any fuss--notify his teaching supervisor that this happened, preferably in person.)

Cracker wrote:

"What's right for each teacher will vary depending on that teacher's personality and teaching style. This TA is still figuring all that out, so I advise him to take my advise and any other advice with a grain of salt."

You're right, and I should have said that. Nobody should go outside their comfort zone, and there are many ways to get to the same endpoint.

My field is philosophy and my teaching style is to encourage/require discussion---so calling a student out on an issue does not come unnaturally to me.

As to my method being bullying or abusing the power disparity, none of this need be done angrily or defensively; there will be no further consequences in treatment or grading; and although we persist in calling them and treating them like "kids," these people deserve the respect of being treated like the adults they are now responsible for being.

Re notifying his teaching supervisor, maybe it would help him to remember that his is not the first time that somebody in a class has gotten personally critical with a teacher---whether on the basis of race or sex or creed or appearance. If not his supervisor, perhaps another professor, a friendly dean, or a more experienced graduate assistant would make a likely teaching mentor to help deal with this problem.

Chloe:

although we persist in calling them and treating them like "kids," these people deserve the respect of being treated like the adults they are now responsible for being.

I taught an evening lab once and my "kids" in the classroom probably had an average age of 30+. During the day lab I had one woman in her mid-50s. Granted, these are probably not the ones making fat jokes but it reinforces the notion that college "kids" should be treated like adults.

Sure, we can have a permanent moratorium on the use of the suffix “-phobia” to describe anything that is not, in fact, a pathological, paralyzing fear.

I’m not afraid of MonsterDog being boss of the world. I just strongly dislike the sense of entitlement that comes as a side order some Mondays and Thursdays, but maybe some people make a meal of it every day. Extreme distaste for people who land like a ton of bricks on other people’s personal responsibilities . . . who needs a suffix for it?

MonsterDog:

 I just strongly dislike the sense of entitlement that seemed to come as a side order with the large Double Six-Dollar Burger combo at Carl's Jr. that it looks like they've eaten for five meals a day. Extreme distaste for people who have absolved themselves of personal responsibility...

 

wow.  Just because someone doesnt fit into society's idea of the right size in no way means they have "absolved themselves of personal responsibility'.  Sometimes people have health issues that make them heavy, or on medication that make them heavy.  For me, (which is the opposite of most people), I am heavy when I am not on birth control pills. Cannot lose weight no matter what I do if I am not on hormones.  My weight drops 10-20 lbs within 3 months of being on the pill and it then is easy to take off thru dieting.   But yeah, I should stay on the pill at all times, regardless of medical advice or finances, just so I don't make other people uncomfortable.