A young woman has been relentlessly trolled and attacked after sharing her ‘woke’ PhD thesis online.
Cambridge-based teacher Dr Ally Louks sparked backlash on X, formerly Twitter, over the weekend after proudly posting her thesis, titled, ‘Olfactory Ethics: The Politics of Smell in Modern and Contemporary Prose.’
Clutching a hardcover copy of the thesis, Dr Louks wrote, ‘Thrilled to say I passed my viva with no corrections and am officially PhDone.’
She later added, ‘To clarify for anyone unfamiliar with academia, I have a PhD in English Literature, not a PhD in Olfactory Ethics – that is the subject of my thesis that earned me the PhD.’
Instead of being congratulated for her achievements, Dr Louks’ post was met with waves of vitriol from right-wing trolls determined to disparage her education.
‘You would have spent your years better by getting married and having children,’ commented one troll.
Another wrote, ‘Imagine having a brain this diseased and rotted by leftism? Oof.’
One troll went as far as to send Dr Louks vile threats of sexual assault, which she was forced to report to the police.
A young woman has been relentlessly trolled online and even received death threats after sharing her PhD thesis online
‘To be clear, this is where I draw the line. This is abhorrent and illegal and no one should ever have to deal with this,’ she wrote.
Despite the backlash, Dr Louks has also received waves of support on social media.
‘The recent election has the libs wondering if maybe wokeness has gone too far. This thread — the sheer vitriol directed against a woman celebrating her personal achievement— should make you wonder if maybe wokeness hasn’t gone too far enough,’ one wrote.
‘The vitriol on this post is so bleak. Women cannot post about their achievements without getting harassed by misogynists,’ wrote a second.
‘My first thought was “damn what a useless PhD,” and then I seen all the misogynists in the replies screaming about female education and how she should be having babies instead. You go girl, get that useless PhD!’ added another.
A fourth commented, ‘Large numbers of people are heaping abuse and mockery on a seemingly nice lady who’s proud of earning a PhD, demonstrating that the worst thing you can be on social media is earnest and vulnerable, especially if you’re a woman.’
Another wrote, ‘A woman, earnest and bookish and industrious, dedicates her life to interesting and in-itself-valuable knowledge instead of being a dumb, slavish housewife. And dudes whose knowledge of the world doesn’t extend beyond UFC stats and crypto are losing their minds. Pure misogyny.’
As a result of the vitriol, Dr Louks said that she was planning to leave X soon for BlueSky, which is known for having a more progressive slant compared to the Elon Musk-owned X.
Cambridge-based teacher Dr Ally Louks sparked backlash over the weekend after posting her thesis, titled, ‘Olfactory Ethics: The Politics of Smell in Modern and Contemporary Prose’
The young woman was met with waves of vitriol including threats of sexual assault
She later joked, ‘I just know I’m gonna be the talk of the English faculty this week.’
While Dr Louks is proud of her PhD, not everybody is as happy to have spent years pursuing their higher education.
Discussing her ordeal with Business Insider, a woman named A. Rasberry said she’s $250,000 in student-loan debt after earning a bachelor’s, master’s, and doctorate degree in business management from Saint Leo University in Florida.
Despite her impressive credentials, the 38-year-old hasn’t had a job in her field of study in four years.
‘I graduated with my PhD in 2020 and can’t find a job to save my life,’ said admitted.
‘I am overqualified for most entry-level positions, but I am under qualified for management or leadership positions,’ she added.
After failing to find work, Rasberry has had to turn to nursing to make ends meet.
‘I thought education was the road to financial freedom, but I was wrong,’ she said.
