Word: genderism
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...liked the feminist emphasis on the importance of picking fair and accurate names for objects, groups, and people. I count myself among the legions of women often responsible for propelling the use--some say overuse--of politically correct speech. These days, I go about passionately correcting any sort of gender bias I hear in the language around me. Even my Discman has become a Discperson. While I may occasionally go to the extreme, I truly believe that gender-neutral words can and will promote gender-neutral thinking...
...that it is absurd that Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis '68 chose to veto the resolution by the Undergraduate Council which proposed that the word "freshman" be replaced by "first-year" in all official University documents. While I certainly believe that there are more tangible issues of gender that must be worked out on this campus, the need to change the language is just as urgent in my mind. The simple switch to "first-year" in official University language will validate changes that are already taking place in common parlance, and ensure that no student should feel that...
...course, traditions die hard. Even as a self-proclaimed gender policewoman, I still tend to blurt out "Freshman Week" or "Freshman Dean's Office" if I am not being careful. Dean Lewis does have a point that "first-year" might sound a little awkward, and that there might be a better substitute to the offending word. Or maybe "freshman" is just one of those words in the "who would want to be one anyway?" category--like "garbageman" and "hitman"--that even the most strident p.c. advocates are content to leave alone...
However, before we allow ourselves to indulge in over-idealized visions of future coexistence at Harvard, two highly related and somewhat troubling occurrences must be noted. First, the most glaring result of randomization to date is that the gender balance, once the only control imposed by the University, is terribly skewed. It's rumored that the incoming residents of Pforzheimer and Eliot are 70 percent male and only 30 percent female. Strike one for randomization...
Council Secretary Lamelle D. Rawlins'99, who sponsored the bill, discussed plans to form a working group of students that would investigate instances of gender inequality on campus