THE ROBERT W. WHITAKER ARCHIVE

MOMMY PROFESSOR'S GENDER | 2006-05-06

For the person who has not outgrown his college education, the professor is a surrogate Mommy, telling him what he should believe. In fact this person is a perfect example of the Victorian prude Mommy Professor is supposed to reject, banning all reference to any Forbidden Subject.

But when I am talking about Mommy Professor should I say "he" or "she," or should I use the generic term "it." to indicate Mommy Professor is a phenomenon, not a human being?

Most professors are thught of as male. But Mommy is female.

The most accurate and descriptive pronoun for Mommy Professor is one I cannot use here.

It is a contraction of "she" and "it."