Another response to another hateful column by the same Smithie
Posted by Martin Havel on March 9, 2010
This is a response to this article.
Before I started reading these unintentionally defamatory articles, I’d only shared my concerns about Smith with the closest of friends, fearing that I’d be painted as an anti-feminist—but I cannot rightly call myself a feminist if I do not stand up for gender equality. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that men’s colleges have been invaded by women. Men are better off for it, though it is worth noting that many more of the traditionally men’s schools now accept women than the traditionally women’s school accept men, which limits the options available to men relative to the options available to women.
Contrary to the study which Ms. Doherty failed to site, other studies have shown that all students are better in a co-ed environment (“Separated by Sex,” AAUW, 1998). Note that AAUW is the American Association for University Women. It is as far as one can get from anti-feminist. If a woman finds men so distracting that she has trouble studying, perhaps it is not because of the presence of men, but an issue of her own which needs to be addressed. I had trouble studying in a public school environment, and it turned out that I had learning disabilities. It is unfair and inaccurate to blame it on the men, and I don’t think it is right to discriminate against men for the fact that they were born male. By all means, study with a group of all girls if you find that helpful. But it is not the fault of men that they can be distracting, and men should not be collectively punished for the immaturity of a minority.
Similarly with the discomfort in “mixed-gender situations,” the problem is NOT the men. Ms. Doherty validly asserted that the primary reason men get so much attention is because they are so scarce. I guarantee that keeping Smith’s admission policy discriminatory is not going to help with that issue (see post in response to Doherty’s September opinion piece regarding the prospect for Smith to become co-ed).
While I will never defend egregious use of such cheap perfumes as “Axe body spray”, I’ll say this: you’re not going to make men more likely to attend your parties if you keep railing against them in your editorials, and you’re not going to learn to deal with the presence of men by maligning that half of the human population in one diatribe after another.
