Ruby Granger #29 Is it soon yet?

[CirceRises]

I would also add that all the references to gr*oming and ped*philia and sexual abuse to be inappropriately used and quite demeaning to actual cases and victims.
Ruby is such a sexless person and that is usually remarked upon here along with her childish behaviour and mindset, but then it switches to “be careful out there” as if she’s Ted Bundy or something.

Yes, her attachment to the past is weird and it’s clear she’s got some issues. However, having a mentor-like relationship with girls who are interested in academia is actually not an evil thing. There are comments from girls who knew her as head girl and talk about how nice she was to them. Having experience with bullying and loneliness herself, she was probably a helpful figure for some of the girls. Haven’t you ever met the weird horse girl librarian who’s awkward but still nice and harmless? It’s the same energy for me.

I actually think that helping younger people is a nice trait to have and it’s honestly ridiculous how quickly it got compared to stories of people being sexually abused. Like, come on.

 

[jiggy_girl]

It seems to me you're taking it very personally because you are/were also a student at Exeter.
We're talking about Ruby and it has nothing to do with you, the quality of your work and the amount of effort you put in.
Ruby has shown multiple times that she is incapable of any kind of critical thinking, especially in literature, that she doesn't like reading classics and that even when she does read them her analysis is superficial. She also made sure she and Blakeney shared all of their notes and that they also chose all of the same modules so she'd never have to face an assessment "on her own".
If you share all of your notes with each other, all the time, how can you even tell who came up with each idea? I think it's quite likely that Ruby relied a lot on Blakeney and that had she not had Blakeney her results would probably not have been as good.

I'm not saying she didn't do her own reading, I'm saying without Blakeney she probably would have struggled a lot more.

It's likely that the straight A* student relied on someone else? You sound ridiculous, in an attempt to discredit her achievement because you don't like her. She did her dissertation on her own and got the same mark as her other assignments - she got straight 70's. Do you have any idea h9ow ridiculous it sounds? It's nothing to do with me being a student at Exeter (I didn't even do English) - it's the fact that it's constantly used and it discredits the valid criticism of Ruby. If she was incapable of critical thinking, she would not have made it past her first year. Why discredit the genuine criticism of her, in an attempt to make yourselves feel better about her work?

 

[springstudy]

No one knows Ruby though. And actually, it’s more harmful to victims to completely state that Ruby’s intentions just because she’s a girl and a bit nerdy and awkward aren’t bad.

All we can go on are what she gives us. Which is a load of red flags. No one is making any claims, just that she acts strange. She actually watches a tv programme with lots of little girls in it… how is that related to mentoring girls? That is something she chooses to do in her spare time.

We’re looking at what she gives us, and it’s strange. And we’re commenting on it.

 

[Griftwood]

I feel like the "truth" is somewhere between the two extremes in both matters. Like, she's obviously done the work - she can't have spent all that time staring at books and articles without having read/skimmed quite a bit of them - but drawn heavily on other people's ideas (we know she used a lot of secondary sources for all her papers) and taken shortcuts (Sparknotes, anyone?). And let's not forget that a very large percentage of Exeter students graduate with a First, so it's hardly exceptional. The way she's portrayed it is problematic, though - endless busywork, cramming several days' worth of work into one "day in my life", etc.

It also seems very unlikely that she has any sinister intentions when she approaches girls younger than herself, but again, there are many kinds of interactions that can be exploitative, and not all of them are sexual or illegal in nature. But I know this: If I had a daughter, I sure as duck wouldn't want a young woman 5-10 years her senior to be in contact with her for no apparent reason except to make herself feel younger or relive her childhood. And, like many have pointed out, if Ruby was male, we wouldn't assume only the best of intentions - quite the contrary. Bottom line, we don't know what goes on in her head, so it's a little naive to be so convinced she's a safe person.

 

[yerdasellsavon]

I would also add that all the references to gr*oming and ped*philia and sexual abuse to be inappropriately used and quite demeaning to actual cases and victims.
Ruby is such a sexless person and that is usually remarked upon here along with her childish behaviour and mindset, but then it switches to “be careful out there” as if she’s Ted Bundy or something.

Yes, her attachment to the past is weird and it’s clear she’s got some issues. However, having a mentor-like relationship with girls who are interested in academia is actually not an evil thing. There are comments from girls who knew her as head girl and talk about how nice she was to them. Having experience with bullying and loneliness herself, she was probably a helpful figure for some of the girls. Haven’t you ever met the weird horse girl librarian who’s awkward but still nice and harmless? It’s the same energy for me.

I actually think that helping younger people is a nice trait to have and it’s honestly ridiculous how quickly it got compared to stories of people being sexually abused. Like, come on.

I think the Ruby being a paedophile thing has become misconstrued. No one’s saying Ruby’s a paedophile and if anything, she seems asexual, but that doesn’t mean her relationship with them could be inappropriate.

You say “helping younger people is a nicer trait”; if you were a parent of a 13-year-old and you found out she had a 22-year-old pen pal writing her letters, would you not be a bit creeped out and find it crosses boundaries? She’s not their mentor and there’s a clear power imbalance between a 22-year-old and a child.

She wants to be friends with them and hang around them/school as it makes her feel like a child, while getting praise from children and teachers boosts her ego. She’s not in it to help them; it’s an ego trip and a chance to fulfil her childhood obsession. It’s inappropriate and creepy and definitely shouldn’t be encouraged. Seeing it as “helping” is exactly how Ruby construes it and can put an “it’s fine” label on it, when it’s not. She should be talking and socialising with fellow adults as (amazing as it may be to her), an adult is exactly what she is.

 

[braginskayas]

I would also add that all the references to gr*oming and ped*philia and sexual abuse to be inappropriately used and quite demeaning to actual cases and victims.
Ruby is such a sexless person and that is usually remarked upon here along with her childish behaviour and mindset, but then it switches to “be careful out there” as if she’s Ted Bundy or something.

Yes, her attachment to the past is weird and it’s clear she’s got some issues. However, having a mentor-like relationship with girls who are interested in academia is actually not an evil thing. There are comments from girls who knew her as head girl and talk about how nice she was to them. Having experience with bullying and loneliness herself, she was probably a helpful figure for some of the girls. Haven’t you ever met the weird horse girl librarian who’s awkward but still nice and harmless? It’s the same energy for me.

I actually think that helping younger people is a nice trait to have and it’s honestly ridiculous how quickly it got compared to stories of people being sexually abused. Like, come on.

You're not wrong, in the sense that I don't think it's fair to make extremely serious accusations based on very little. There was nothing wrong with Ruby acting in a mentor capacity when she was Head Girl at school, or more generally with young people she still knows in her day-to-day life (relatives, family friends, etc). The real problem is when she tries to do the same with people she doesn't know, like young fans and online followers (like the whole letter-writing thing). She's not a trained educational professional, there are no safeguarding checks in place, and quite frankly I don't think she's in a place to be giving out advice considering how much unhealthy behaviour she's promoted on her channel before. It's irresponsible at best.

I also think that, even if nothing remotely untoward is going on, Ruby's obsession with childhood is still concerning. She continues to visit her old school even though she left years ago, almost exclusively engages with children's media, dresses like she's eleven, and hardly ever spends time with people her own age. That is not normal behaviour whatever the cause is. It's not good for her, she needs to grow up and get help, and I think the people around her are enabling her by letting her do this.

 

[yerdasellsavon]

I might be in the minority, but I don’t particularly see much wrong with how Ruby worked for her degree. From what we can gather, she played the game well; she used Blakeney’s ideas, she asked tutors, borrowed articles and used similar methods. I can’t lie, I’ve done similar in terms of asking course mates for article links and discussed ideas with them and I can say I don’t think I’ve read the entirety of an academic essay in my life; I skim it and pick out quotes. This works for me and I’ve had consistent firsts/high 2:1s. At the end of the day, she hasn’t cheated or even done anything wrong, she’s just played the game well. Doesn’t mean doing this is transferable forever and Oxford very may well destroy her if she does a Masters there, but as for her degree, she’s just used all the resources she has around her. She writes the essays and clearly does work hard, just uses things around her advantageously.

Of course, this is just speculation, as we don’t know exactly how she works, have seen the entirety of an essay and YouTube isn’t really an accurate picture of everything.

 

[Ilaariaa]

You're not wrong, in the sense that I don't think it's fair to make extremely serious accusations based on very little. There was nothing wrong with Ruby acting in a mentor capacity when she was Head Girl at school, or more generally with young people she still knows in her day-to-day life (relatives, family friends, etc). The real problem is when she tries to do the same with people she doesn't know, like young fans and online followers (like the whole letter-writing thing). She's not a trained educational professional, there are no safeguarding checks in place, and quite frankly I don't think she's in a place to be giving out advice considering how much unhealthy behaviour she's promoted on her channel before. It's irresponsible at best.

I also think that, even if nothing remotely untoward is going on, Ruby's obsession with childhood is still concerning. She continues to visit her old school even though she left years ago, almost exclusively engages with children's media, dresses like she's eleven, and hardly ever spends time with people her own age. That is not normal behaviour whatever the cause is. It's not good for her, she needs to grow up and get help, and I think the people around her are enabling her by letting her do this.

She also isn't reaching out to young followers and online friends out of the kindness of her heart because she wants to mentor these girls: she's doing it because she has no friends her own age, she doesn't want any, and she seeks company with people she doesn't feel judged by/inferior to.
When she talks to people her own age she has to come to terms with how different she is from them in every aspect of her life and it's much harder to pretend that she's fine and everything is fine with the way she lives; but because she acts like a bookish 12 year old, if she hangs out with that demographic she can pretend she's one of them and there's nothing wrong with her life.

And moreover, it's just shady all around to befriend young teenagers online. First off, it's not a good thing to encourage: minors should not be giving away their details online or talk to (adult) strangers so intimately, which is what she tried to accomplish with her penpal scheme thing. Even if she specifically doesn't have ill intentions, the kids she's talking to will think it's good to befriend adults online and might end up in dangerous situations. She was literally trying to get kids under 12 to share their address and contact details with her.

Secondly, if she truly wanted to mentor and guide younger people, I'm sure there are lots of more appropriate ways to do it in real life rather than just talking to kids she met online. I'm sure there are a lot of programs that allow volunteers to work with kids, maybe tutoring them or coordinating activities, where you have young adults working with teenagers in a proper environment. If you want to guide and mentor younger girls that's the proper way to do it. You don't go on your Youtube channel with thousands of followers and put up a shady form requesting personal information to contact them privately.

 

[springstudy]

Also, just to say that blanket terms like “she is such a sexless person” and “she seems asexual” in defence of inappropriate relationships are dangerous. They do not make someone harmless and unable to be inappropriate with minors. Not relating that to Ruby, just saying. I think its just uncomfortable to use those as excuses in any situation like that.

 

[judgingyourlife]

Ngl, it's so easy to bull an English degree. I got a 2:1 from a reputable university whilst in a deep depression, I read about 2 of the books we were supposed to, skimmed articles, and picked out random quotes to spin an argument with. I even managed to get a 2:1 in an exam on James Joyce's Ulysses by watching YouTube videos about it. So not surprised Roobee managed a first, especially with the help of Blakeney, and people to proof read. Doesn't mean she cheated at all.

 

[Griftwood]

I might be in the minority, but I don’t particularly see much wrong with how Ruby worked for her degree. From what we can gather, she played the game well; she used Blakeney’s ideas, she asked tutors, borrowed articles and used similar methods. I can’t lie, I’ve done similar in terms of asking course mates for article links and discussed ideas with them and I can say I don’t think I’ve read the entirety of an academic essay in my life; I skim it and pick out quotes. This works for me and I’ve had consistent firsts/high 2:1s. At the end of the day, she hasn’t cheated or even done anything wrong, she’s just played the game well. Doesn’t mean doing this is transferable forever and Oxford very may well destroy her if she does a Masters there, but as for her degree, she’s just used all the resources she has around her. She writes the essays and clearly does work hard, just uses things around her advantageously.

Of course, this is just speculation, as we don’t know exactly how she works, have seen the entirety of an essay and YouTube isn’t really an accurate picture of everything.

It's fine for us mere mortals to do, but Ruby has consistently portrayed herself as this great scholar who totally deserved a spot at Oxford It would be another thing entirely if she'd been open about it and said "hey, we're all busy and here are some tips on how you can save yourself a lot of headache", but she's gone out of her way to make herself look like this erudite person who reads entire books cover to cover, studies "for fun" during her "study breaks", works long days, etc. I don't have a problem with someone going to Sparknotes for a little leg-up, but it really goes against the Hermione-like person Ruby has made herself out to be, and it's harmful when there's a lot of young viewers who aspire to be just like her and don't understand that she's taking all the shortcuts she can.

 

[theMoth]

on another note: I think it's unhealthy to encourage long hours of studying. I can't remember how I studied when I was a teenager. But I did an apprenticeship (this kind of system more of less only exists in Germany and it's basically you work full-time at a company and train to be something, whatever the job is, and go to school 2 times a week, but this differs from the kind of apprenticeship. This takes 2 or 2,5 to 3 years (depending on a few things) and you earn money during this time. and the end there are exams, practical and theoretical) my mid-20s (which is late btw. in most cases, you are 16 to 18/19-ish, depending on when you finish school etc.) and had to learn a lot of stuff. I used memorising techniques and flash cards and my husband/then boyfriend helped me by quizzing me. Later, I did my "Abitur" (it's like A-Level) at a school for adults. I never could study a whole day nonstop. I always took long breaks. I had no study ritual or set a timer or crazy things like getting up too early to start in the middle of the night. The same goes for university. I like to write things down by hand, with an actual pen on actual paper. Sometimes I print texts to annotate them (okay that was before I bought my new iPad with a pencil). At the time I started university I started watching videos from Ruby and other "studytuber" and felt a bit bad for my lack of discipline when it came to learning. But I also think it gets more difficult with age. I think that I can't concentrate enough any more. But that can also be due to the access to devices like smartphone, tablet and the distractions through them.

Everyone has their own learning strategy. Maybe there are some who can study for hours straight. But the most of us, I guess, aren't able to to that and that is okay.

 

[allthemyths]

I have the impression that something else is being forgotten in this discussion – namely how she presents herself online, how she speaks and writes (!). She uses bizarre words over and over again ("exquisite"), seems to have a frighteningly limited vocabulary and is effectively unable to summarise and critically evaluate the books she claims to have read.

I am not saying that she put no work or effort into her degree, I am saying that it's sincerely a complete mystery to me how she achieved her grade. I've thought about many scenarios over the past few months – a paid ghostwriter for her essays or her dissertation? – and I simply cannot explain how such a huge gap between her online persona and her academic achievements has come about. But I do think it's fair to question and also criticise exactly that.

 

[queencarmen]

the thing is though, with humanities/essay based subjects like english history etc once youve sort of cracked how youre supposed to structure your essays theyre really not that difficult if you put the work in and read loads in my experience (i got 1st) in my mind theres no doubt she achieved those grades on her own, i dont think shed risk any potential consequences from getting outside input. from what i found during my time you are rewarded for indepth work and they can see if you genuinely like the subject and have researched it thoroughly which im sure she did for all of her essays. i dont even like her lol and i think her videos promote unhealthy habits (i remember watching one of her like 16 hour study with me videos when doing my a-levels and it made me feel like crap) but i think people on here are too critical. she does make mistakes with her writing but that doesn't neccessarily matter that much in the grand scheme of things, i think people overestimate how good you have to be for undergraduate level

 

[CatCafe234]

I have the impression that something else is being forgotten in this discussion – namely how she presents herself online, how she speaks and writes (!). She uses bizarre words over and over again ("exquisite"), seems to have a frighteningly limited vocabulary and is effectively unable to summarise and critically evaluate the books she claims to have read.

I am not saying that she put no work or effort into her degree, I am saying that it's sincerely a complete mystery to me how she achieved her grade. I've thought about many scenarios over the past few months – a paid ghostwriter for her essays or her dissertation? – and I simply cannot explain how such a huge gap between her online persona and her academic achievements has come about. But I do think it's fair to question and also criticise exactly that.

I’ve said this before - Ruby seemed to spend a short time actually writing and a very long time tinkering each and every essay. She had lots of meetings with her tutors and supervisors, took their feedback on board and probably went through and added quotes from the papers and books they recommended - and a few extra, to give the impression of lots of wider reading. It really is not that hard to get a first at undergrad level if you have a basic aptitude for the subject, seek out and act on feedback and take advantage of the various things that exist in the university environment to support you in researching and writing. Ruby approached her degree with the same ‘mark-hunting’ attitude that she had at school and it worked, which it can do but probably doesn’t really give you the real university experience in terms of taking the time to study broadly and really develop your own interests.

 

[replace32titles]

If Ruby really wants to be a role model for girls and to help them out and mentor them and whatnot, there are worse things she could do than volunteer with a Guide or Ranger unit. They're crying out for leaders and helpers and it would be a setting where there's plenty of safeguarding procedures just to make sure nothing starts to look creepy. Also, a relatively high-profile Girlguiding advocate would be a great thing, although I'm not entirely sure Ruby's quite who I'd choose to show off the modern organisation. But we know she wouldn't do it - who wants to be volunteering when they can be writing?

 

[yerdasellsavon]

I have the impression that something else is being forgotten in this discussion – namely how she presents herself online, how she speaks and writes (!). She uses bizarre words over and over again ("exquisite"), seems to have a frighteningly limited vocabulary and is effectively unable to summarise and critically evaluate the books she claims to have read.

I am not saying that she put no work or effort into her degree, I am saying that it's sincerely a complete mystery to me how she achieved her grade. I've thought about many scenarios over the past few months – a paid ghostwriter for her essays or her dissertation? – and I simply cannot explain how such a huge gap between her online persona and her academic achievements has come about. But I do think it's fair to question and also criticise exactly that.

I get your point, but I do think again, spoken word, especially on a video, is going to be very different to an academic essay.

When writing, I’m sure she uses thesauruses, which will boost her vocab and make sure she’s using the right words, while as for critical evaluation, you can find essays and sure she rephrases that or adds her own spin.

Academics are a game; the brightest person isn’t necessarily going to get the best grade, but the person who plays the system the best.

on another note: I think it's unhealthy to encourage long hours of studying. I can't remember how I studied when I was a teenager. But I did an apprenticeship (this kind of system more of less only exists in Germany and it's basically you work full-time at a company and train to be something, whatever the job is, and go to school 2 times a week, but this differs from the kind of apprenticeship. This takes 2 or 2,5 to 3 years (depending on a few things) and you earn money during this time. and the end there are exams, practical and theoretical) my mid-20s (which is late btw. in most cases, you are 16 to 18/19-ish, depending on when you finish school etc.) and had to learn a lot of stuff. I used memorising techniques and flash cards and my husband/then boyfriend helped me by quizzing me. Later, I did my "Abitur" (it's like A-Level) at a school for adults. I never could study a whole day nonstop. I always took long breaks. I had no study ritual or set a timer or crazy things like getting up too early to start in the middle of the night. The same goes for university. I like to write things down by hand, with an actual pen on actual paper. Sometimes I print texts to annotate them (okay that was before I bought my new iPad with a pencil). At the time I started university I started watching videos from Ruby and other "studytuber" and felt a bit bad for my lack of discipline when it came to learning. But I also think it gets more difficult with age. I think that I can't concentrate enough any more. But that can also be due to the access to devices like smartphone, tablet and the distractions through them.

Everyone has their own learning strategy. Maybe there are some who can study for hours straight. But the most of us, I guess, aren't able to to that and that is okay.

This is the problem that’s been discussed with Studytubers for years and it can apply to all of them. Yes, they may be good for motivation or tips, but they give unrealistic expectations of what’s required for impressionable teenagers.

Take Ruby’s degree grade for example: a 76. That’s an outstanding grade for anyone, yet Ruby said she was disappointed with elements of it and wanted “a high first”, especially for her dissertation. That is so problematic as not only does the numerical figure you’re awarded not matter in the slightest, yet people starting uni or even those far off it will go in thinking that anything not close to 80 is underwhelming or not good enough, which is so far from the truth. I know we all have different expectations, but that’s just unhealthy. A first is a first, end of.

As for it being unnecessary to do such insane amounts of studying, of course it is. If you enjoy it, fine, but Ruby paints herself out as some genius and someone who loves to study, but the truth is at her degree yesterday, there were 100s of students who got a first like Ruby, but didn’t devote half the time she did. They likely went out, socialised with friends, were involved in societies and so forth. Exeter has a beach only about 20 minutes by train which all students flock to; do you think Ruby has been there once?

These people who have done more yet have the same grade will have gained so much more: more personality, more life experience, more confidence and more of a social life. Ultimately, they will be 10x more employable with half the work.

 

[studygal]

The most reasonable explanation I can think of is that Ruby has very little intrinsic motivation, but she cares a lot about her grades and how her academic achievements are perceived. She puts a lot of time and effort into her uni work because she can't slack off and still graduate with a first. She gets actual feedback based on her performance. Her lecturers don't care that she wrote her essay with a quill and ink, they care that she has actually written something sensible.

This however isn't true for her youtube videos and other social media. She doesn't seem to have a goal in mind, so she's not trying to improve. Ruby gets away with not putting any effort into her videos because she doesn't have to - her fanbase doesn't care. Unless she suddenly loses tons of subscribers, she won't change. I don't think she's a moron, but I am pretty sure that she has never filmed a second take or took some time editing and rewriting the caption of an instagram picture.

 

[judgejohndeed]

I kind of understand now why she's embarrassed about her grade. Given 40% of her cohort got a First - which is remarkable, and no offence to someone who posted they went to Exeter, but for me calls into question the idea that Exeter marks harshly at all unless you really think the cohort at Exeter are just far superior than other top English departments like e.g. Durham - she probably wasn't near the top of the cohort. Imagine advertising for years that you spend 15 hours a day studying and you're not producing 'publishable'* work regularly? I really struggled with this on my undergrad, scraped a 2.1 despite studying really hard and couldn't work out what I was doing wrong. On both my master's degrees I worked fewer hours but got almost straight distinctions. When I was an academic, I built in sessions on study technique at the start of every academic year, the main principle being work smart not hard/long. Anyway, 76% is obviously a great grade and not one to feel ashamed of really, but I guess most people equate long working hours = top of the top grade so I get why she might feel 'entitled' to a higher one even though I'd say that's not how it works and often, in fact, the reverse.

*I have long had a bugbear with the prevailing principle that 80% at undergrad level is 'publishable' work, it's not until you're at doctorate level that you must produce work that adds something new to the field, and the only undergrad students I ever knew 'publish' articles were in those university journals. Not peer reviewed journals. I actually had a few master's students who struggled to get master's work graded at 75% into peer reviewed journals, so I really wouldn't expect much undergrad 80% work to be published without significant revisions and I do think it's unfair for tutors to keep telling students '80% is publishable'.

 

[Larancia]

Like mentioned, its so sad to see her pushing longest study sessions and being 40% She is literally average. Saddest part is that she achieved slightly above average despite her extreme efforts. I say its better for her to be rejected from oxford if thats her outcome compared to her effort