Law School Professor Writes Women Should Not Have Jobs And Other Sexist, Homophobic Nonsense

Oh, and don’t worry his job is safe.

Brian McCall

There’s a storm a brewin’ in Norman, Oklahoma. Not a twister or anything potentially tragic like that, but there is controversy surrounding the writings of law professor and associate dean for academic affairs and associate director of the Oklahoma University Law Center Brian McCall.

According to a recent report by the OU Daily, McCall’s 2014 book, “To Build the City of God: Living as Catholics in a Secular Age,” is filled with all sorts of retrograde BS… and there’re some real doozies in there. Plus, as a bonus, McCall is associated with multiple organizations that the Southern Poverty Law Center has classified as anti-Semitic hate groups. Delightful.

But let’s really dig into some of the 1950s era stuff a real professor at a good law school actually believes. Like women should only wear skirts:

“Women must veil their form to obscure its contours out of charity towards men… To know that women in pants have this effect on men and to wear them is thus a sin against charity as well as modesty.”

He goes on to note:

“… if there is something really impossible to do in a skirt, does this not indicate this is an activity inappropriate for a woman to perform?” McCall wrote. “A simple test of modest and feminine behavior can be summarized: if you can’t do it modestly and gracefully in a skirt, you shouldn’t do it at all.”

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He also doesn’t think women should concern their pretty little heads with such worries as a job:

McCall wrote in the chapter “Authority In the Household: With All My Worldly Goods I Thee Endow” that women’s entering the workforce has lowered the price for labor and has hurt families financially. He calls a woman’s leaving the home to work “another false promise of the devil come to pass.”

Remember, this is a man that teaches at a professional school that really does let women in. In fact 42 percent of the most recent class are women, and McCall thinks they’re there because of the devil. Can you even imagine being a woman in this man’s class? Or if you needed his assistance in a matter in his role as associate dean? These views directly undermine the student body’s confidence in McCall’s ability to fairly perform the job he’s been hired to do.

And, hold onto your hat, there are more offensive statements.

Like voting is something only a man should do, because the 1950s are entirely too modern and he’d really prefer we all go back to pre-1919:

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The chapter also states that it is a man’s duty to vote, not a woman’s, though the man may take her beliefs into consideration when casting his vote.

And of course he has thoughts about same sex marriage, calling it “insanity” and going on to say:

“A society that cannot distinguish between a marriage and a perversion of nature has lost all grip on reality.”

He even has some crappy hot takes about the state of the American educational system, and yeah, tradition plays a heavy role in them in ways that are sexist and racist:

McCall also wrote about his views on education, including his disdain for a “think for yourself” education instead of a classical education based on theology and philosophy. McCall wrote that forms of African-American and women’s and gender studies are “nonsense subjects” that liberals use to distract from tradition.

Now you’re probably thinking that someone with such downright embarrassing views to an institution of higher learning would be in serious danger of losing his job right now. Unfortunately, you’d be wrong. According to the interim Vice President for Public Affairs, Erin Yarbrough:

“The university must uphold First Amendment rights for everyone. Personnel matters in this area require the expertise and independence of our (Equal Employment Opportunity) office and general counsel,” Yarbrough said. “They often involve a detailed and complex legal review to ensure a result that guarantees the protection of an employee’s rights under the anti-discrimination laws and the protections of the Constitution.”

Cary Nelson, a University of Illinois professor emeritus and former president of the American Association of University Professors, also notes that as a professor McCall enjoys academic freedom which should protect him from being fired. However, he can be removed from his administrative role:

“As a faculty member, (McCall is) covered,” Nelson said. “Academic freedom protects him from any reprisals. The problem is that he’s an administrator, and those statements are still protected, but there is one form of sanction that he’s not protected against, and that is removal from his administrative position.”

That seems like the very least the school should do.


headshotKathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).