Geoffrey Miller is a visiting professor currently on loan from the University of New Mexico to New York University, but a horribly body shaming tweet he sent this weekend has probably made both schools ashamed to claim him.
Over on Twitter, Geoffrey Miller tweets under the totally scientifically respectable handle @MatingMind , which we infer means “I use the veneer of science to tell people how to get laid.” The term “evolutionary psychology,” which is Miller’s area of expertise, is one we frequently see bandied about by pick-up artists and seduction “experts,” so perhaps his fat shaming ramblings are not much of a surprise.
Still, the now-deleted tweet in which Miller posted the following statement didn’t sit well with people — not only is he being a jerk to fat people, he’s also suggesting that he considers a person’s looks when he evaluates their work.
“Dear Obese PhD applicants: if you didn’t have the willpower to stop eating carbs, you don’t have the willpower to do a dissertation #truth.”
Geoffrey Miller’s fat tweet was sent on June 2, and the story was picked up today by Jezebel — where reaction was swift and irritated.
Perhaps quite predictably, Miller was not all that assured in his public jerkery — pretty quickly, the mea culpas (or “please don’t fire mes”) began issuing forth from his Twitter feed as well.
Miller’s feed is now locked (which we suspect is totally not alpha male behavior), but before he got scared and ran away, he had this to say for himself:
“My sincere apologies to all for that idiotic, impulsive, and badly judged tweet. It does not reflect my true views, values, or standards.”
Tellingly, he felt compelled to tweet as well:
“Obviously my previous tweet does not represent the selection policies of any university, or my own selection criteria.”
While it’s unclear how this Twitter slipup will affect Geoffrey Miller or the universities with which he is affiliated, it serves again as a reminder that anything you post on Twitter can be preserved with screenshots and quotes, and if you publicly admit to discriminating against people based on appearance, you’re going to have a bad time.
