rationalskepticism.org

I'm With Stupid wrote:A long read, but it's an account of three people who managed to get clearly ridiculous research studies published in journals dedicated to what they collectively referred to as 'grievance studies.'

Here are some highlights of the ones that were accepted and/or published:

Human Reactions to Rape Culture and Queer Performativity in Urban Dog Parks in Portland, Oregon

Thesis: That dog parks are rape-condoning spaces and a place of rampant canine rape culture and systemic oppression against “the oppressed dog” through which human attitudes to both problems can be measured. This provides insight into training men out of the sexual violence and bigotry to which they are prone.

Published by Gender, Place, and Culture

Title: Who Are They to Judge?: Overcoming Anthropometry and a Framework for Fat Bodybuilding

Thesis: That it is only oppressive cultural norms which make society regard the building of muscle rather than fat admirable and that bodybuilding and activism on behalf of the fat could be benefited by including fat bodies displayed in non-competitive ways.

Published by Fat Studies

Going in Through the Back Door: Challenging Straight Male Homohysteria and Transphobia through Receptive Penetrative Sex Toy Use

Thesis: That it is suspicious that men rarely anally self-penetrate using sex toys, and that this is probably due to fear of being thought homosexual (“homohysteria”) and bigotry against trans people (transphobia). (It combines these ideas into a novel concept “transhysteria,” which was suggested by one of the paper’s peer reviewers.) Encouraging them to engage in receptive penetrative anal eroticism will decrease transphobia and increase feminist values.

Published by Sexuality and Culture

An Ethnography of Breastaurant Masculinity: Themes of Objectification, Sexual Conquest, Male Control, and Masculine Toughness in a Sexually Objectifying Restaurant

Thesis: That men frequent “breasturants” like Hooters because they are nostalgic for patriarchal dominance and enjoy being able to order attractive women around. The environment that breastaurants provide for facilitating this encourages men to identify sexual objectification and sexual conquest, along with masculine toughness and male dominance, with “authentic masculinity.” The data are clearly nonsense and conclusions drawn from it are unwarranted by it. (NB. One reviewer did raise concerns about the rigor of the data)

Published by Sex Roles

When the Joke Is on You: A Feminist Perspective on How Positionality Influences Satire

Thesis: That academic hoaxes or other forms of satirical or ironic critique of social justice scholarship are unethical, characterized by ignorance and rooted in a desire to preserve privilege.

Accepted by Hypatia: A Study of Feminist Philosophy

Moon Meetings and the Meaning of Sisterhood: A Poetic Portrayal of Lived Feminist Spirituality

Thesis: No clear thesis. A rambling poetic monologue of a bitter, divorced feminist, much of which was produced by a teenage angst poetry generator before being edited into something slightly more “realistic” which is then interspersed with self-indulgent autoethnographical reflections on female sexuality and spirituality written entirely in slightly under six hours.

Accepted by the Journal of Poetry Therapy

Our Struggle is My Struggle: Solidarity Feminism as an Intersectional Reply to Neoliberal and Choice Feminism

That feminism which foregrounds individual choice and responsibility and female agency and strength can be countered by a feminism which unifies in solidarity around the victimhood of the most marginalized women in society.

Accepted by Affilia: Journal of Women and Social Work

That last one is based on Mein Kampf.

They had to finish the study early because the Wall Street Journal were on to them when one of their fake academics was rumbled, but they already got 7 accepted or published by that point.

I don't really know enough about the areas of study to know whether these are considered crappy fringe journals or are generally well-respected in their fields, but a quick look suggests that the people publishing articles in them are all employed at proper universities. It'll be interesting to see the response.

Here's something of a rebuttal in the Washington Post.