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So I have this prof who has this weird thing about ONLY calling the male students. He always mentions students' names whenever he discusses, whether it is to make a point (e.g. "Isn't that right, John?") or when he's calling a student out for recitation. Our class is 70% women and 30% men and for some reason, he will only call on the male students and once he's run out of male names to call, he'll go through them again.
My female classmates have noticed too, it was a bit surprising that the guys I talked to about it hadn't. One of them said he must be doing that because he works in a male-dominated workplace (he's a regional manager for a liquor company) and all his subordinates are males. And that just pisses me off. I'm not even kidding, he wouldn't call on me or other women even if we were raising our hands as long as a male classmate was raising his. The only time he'll directly acknowledge us is if he just blurt out the answer before he gets to call on someone.
UPDATE: I had a class with him yesterday and he tried pulling this shit again except a lot of us women would just blurt the answer when he asks a question before he gets to call on someone. He still calls on male students when making examples and stuff but not at least we've kinda forced him to address us. A few of us considered reporting him to the dean but we're honestly scared of the consequences on our academic standing (bc he can't be trusted to not retaliate) since we're graduating students.
Of course guys don't notice - it's their birthright to be the chosen one
Start making fun of it among the female classmates.
Create running jokes like fake "drinking games" each time he calls on a man. It'll keep the women solid and eventually the prof will catch on once you're all in on the joke. Then when the entire class swigs their coffee for example, the prof will ask what's up and you can inform him.
It's not a weird thing, it's very common. A lot of male college teachers do this. If your school has an office that helps students with discrimination issues, you can and should report him.
Misogyny is so prevalent in academia it's why I dropped out of university. Literally couldn't carry the weight of it anymore.
I had a male classmate in college who complained aboit the opposite. We had a male professor who, my classmate claimed, favored female students. The professor allegedly called on women more often than men in class, and allegedly graded women's assignments more favorably.
Maybe that was true, maybe it wasn't. If it was true, then maybe the professor's motivation for favoring women was based, or maybe it was pervy. I dont know. But my response to my classmate was basically get over it. I dont care. Women get the short end of the stick at a rate that rounds up to 100% of the time. I'm happy if once in the rarest of whiles men are treated unfairly.
If it wouldn't be ridiculous I'd bring a huge foam finger for when I raise my hand in case the professor is having difficulty seeing me. 👆
I'd also be curious what the professor would do if confronted directly by someone raising their hand and speaking simultaneously, asking if there's a reason why they can't speak or why he won't call on a woman. I'd imagine the answer to be some verbal diarrhea though.
Realistic suggestions have already been mentioned I think: university ombudsman, faculty office, diversity/discrimination offices/groups, university admin. If the university covers it up or is disinclined to do anything of use it'd be easy enough to get a reporter to sit in and expose the story to the media. You usually have to go for the bottom line or the court of public opinion if you want action in these types of situations (*in my personal experience).
Just adding to the other posters advising that you report him - please do so as a group if you can. A group of most or all the women in the class going to the office together to file a complaint will hopefully have a strong impact.
I'm so enraged on your behalf. It really shakes me that the misogyny is really coming back in full swing and we're really feeling the heat from all sides. Would not surprise me if soon, more and more schools will just ban girls and women from attending because the male teachers "have had enough of our so called bullshit". I hope you report him to the dean, or request a late drop of the class before he gives you a failing grade. That can make getting scholarships and student aid harder to get later on, I think. One of my biggest regrets in life was trusting men enough to teach me about anything, when all they've done was ruin my self-esteem down all the way to the ground. I'm taking online classes in a regular co-ed university and to be honest, I wish I'd enroll in an all-women school instead. I think my best thing to do is to just enroll in with female professors exclusively once this semester ends next week, because I can't take the male professors anymore.
Female teachers, professors, and mentors have uplifted me, inspired me, made me curious, called me out when I was wrong about something but then would patiently run the material with me in a manner that was both respectful and professional, shared tips and laughter with me, and made felt confidence after the lessons were over. Maybe a few weren't it, but overall, it was almost always a great experience.
Male teachers, professors, and mentors, on the other hand... Either sexually harassed me, ignored me, or acted immature and very hurtful on purpose, or made me question my own intelligence, skills, and pretty much everything else. I've had maybe a very few that I can count on one hand who were pretty decent and had good experiences with, but they were rare. That's my advice to you, basically. Request a female in every and all situations (doctors, therapists, drivers, etc) and only enroll with female professors. Sure, a very few men out there are worth their teaching certifications, but that's the key word here: very few.