This semester all my professors are male. I don't mind this; they are all knowledgeable in their fields, hard but fair graders, easy to get along with, and, frankly, I couldn't care less the gender of my teacher as long as they teach well. But I have noticed something which strikes me as strange. Each professor (at least once; one practically every class) has told us students in one way or the other, in one context or another:
"Oh, yes, and men are stupid."
Which gets an appreciative giggle from the class, male and female students alike, and then the lecture continues.
I find this oddly irritating.
I am not by any means against the empowerment of women; it is true that women have traditionally been given poorer education than men, something which I, as a bookworm and knowledge-hungry nerd, see as nothing but deplorable. But to me, empowerment is equal opportunity, not using obsession over equality as an excuse at belittling others, not only of the opposite gender, but of your own. I find this sort of extreme feminist sort of talk aggravating enough when a woman is doing it; why do men now seem to be jumping on the bandwagon in bashing their own sex? I mean, good for all those females who are now seeking careers in science and math and all--they have a right to it-- but does this necessarily mean, in the words of one of my professors, that they are 'triumphantly breaking free of the chains of tradition and taking over the scholarly world, which is only fair because women are smarter than men. Sorry guys, but we're idiots.'
I think not. Men are people too. Men have the same rights as those women clamor for. Why can't we just accept that both women and men can be intelligent and successful and worthy of each other?
Perhaps I'm just living in the past, but I don't think that by glorifying women and knocking down men we can create a more perfect world.
And so, sitting in my classes--most particularly the one where I get subjected to jokes about male inferiority every week--I find myself pondering, not the lesson on the board, but instead other questions whispering in my mind.
Why, in our modern educational culture, do we think it fine to class men as 'stupid' in an attempt at pumping women's egos higher?
Why, in our efforts to 'break down barriers', do we think the proper procedure is to swap which side of the wall we stand on and then build the barrier stronger?
Why do we pursue equality not simply by giving those who are lower a hand up, but instead by dragging down those who have been higher and then trampling on them?
