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postal 2 nakedJuly 13, 2006
Boy Crisis Interrupted
The media is always obsessed with gender differences, but this week has provided several noteworthy articles. If you want to get angry, check out John Tierney's take on Title IX, complaining that men are now the minorities at universities and need the special attention. There's a great response here, mocking Tierney's argument that girl's have better things to do than sports and that sports "trick" boys into going to college. The next day, the New York Times published a study revealing that young men in the highest income group are "if anything, slightly MORE likely than women to be in college"(emphasis mine). In other words, rich white men are as comfortable as ever.
As the Washington Post pointed out, in many ways, the "Boy Crisis" is just another manifestation of the backlash against feminism. The latest example of sexism being alive and strong, especially in the sciences, is told by neurobiologist Ben Barres. Ben Barres, who used to be Barbara, published an article relating the experience of being a male biologist versus being a female biologist, as the Post describes:
After he underwent a sex change nine years ago at the age of 42, Barres recalled, another scientist who was unaware of it was heard to say, "Ben Barres gave a great seminar today, but then his work is much better than his sister's."
And as a female undergraduate at MIT, Barres once solved a difficult math problem that stumped many male classmates, only to be told by a professor: "Your boyfriend must have solved it for you."
"By far," Barres wrote, "the main difference I have noticed is that people who don't know I am transgendered treat me with much more respect" than when he was a woman. "I can even complete a whole sentence without being interrupted by a man."
Harvard professor Harvey C. Mansfield calls Barres "a political fruitcake," and Mansfield's colleague, Steven Pinker, echoes his disgust with Barres's article "reducing science to Oprah." Well-known psychiatrist Nancy Andreasen agreed with Barres, however, and said the acceptance rate of her publications soared when she stopped sending out research articles under her full name and used the initials N.C. Andreasen instead. Why, when it comes to providing opportunities to women or taking them seriously academically (and let's be honest, in many other areas too), does less have to be more?
~M.E. Smithberger
Posted by Mandy Smithberger at July 13, 2006 07:53 PM