I graduated from a women’s college. “Where every year is the year of the woman”. The school was awesome and fostered women’s empowerment. We were immersed into a culture that valued woman and allowed us to advance and realize that we were capable of achieving anything we wanted to achieve. We were not undervalued or repressed in any way. The school boasts many many successful woman at high levels. This is all great in my opinion.
We were in no way isolated from men and the school was in a 5 school consortium so we had access to about anything we needed or wanted.
I now have read a few articles where Mount Holyoke, a women’s college, has asked professors to stop calling the students women. I don’t get it. We are women and we are empowered.
Upon reading the article it appears this has stemmed from the transgender movement. The school accepts students who are female and have changed policy to accept students who were born male but identify as a woman. This also is good in my opinion.
Where I’m getting a thoroughly confused is the school is also accepting students who were born female but identify as male. This is backwards in my opinion and also goes totally against the transgender movement. A transgender male is fighting to be recognized and treated as a male. Then why go to an all women’s college. It appears they want it both ways and want what’s convenient.
I am a firm believer in Women’s colleges and have never regretted my choice. The relationships and friendships I formed are stronger than any other relationships in my life aside from my family. But I suddenly feel we should do away with single sex institutions if this is where it’s going. Not being allowed to call students at an all women’s college “women” is bordering on the ridiculous.
Without getting political can someone help me to understand this.
I believe it applies only to students who transition while attending the school. So they do not have to leave college if they transition to male during those years. Impacts very few students I would imagine.
Yes, the numbers are very small. I think it makes little difference in the experience for most students. And not very different from many colleges where millennials are challenging how pronouns and gender references have been historically used. I don’t think it empowers women any less. Not does making the colleges fully co-ed make sense. That is throwing the baby out with the bath water.
Ok. I guess I can buy that to a degree. Except my understanding of transgender is they know. This is not a sudden decision to be transgender. So why choose an all womens college if you already know you identify as a male.
And if this impacts so few students why can they no longer refer to the students as women.
The actual policy seems fair to me. MoHo only admits women (and those who ID as women). However, if a woman decides to transition WHILE A STUDENT, then s/he won’t be kicked out.
No one really addressed her question. Her question isn’t about the presence of transgender individuals, which would naturally be few students anyway.
It’s about not calling women “women” because apparently someone is offended. That’s insane. Women are biologically women. Women have come a long way in the business world and should be proud to be women.
If you want to attend a woman’s college you should be prepared to be called a woman. If you aren’t a woman, go somewhere else. Not kicking someone who transitions during matriculation is fine, but demanding in addition that every woman not be referred to as a woman is over-the-top ridiculous.
Well, many students leave behind parents or a community that didn’t feel safe to transition in. Or they only fully come to terms with the need to transition at that stage in their life. These are human beings- no hard and fast rules apply.
Ok. But if you decide to transition while a student how can you be offended that they refer to students as Women. You chose to go to a women’s college. Accept that you are with women or transfer to another school.
I have no problem with transgender. I have a problem with no longer calling women at a women’s college “women”.
I tend to agree - call women what they are – women. There is nothing wrong or discriminatory about it and like others I find it patently ridiculous to forbid it.
I like Wellesley’s stance. All the students are called women. If an individual doesn’t like this, they can inform their professors and friends of their pronoun choices, but Wellesley remains a women’s college.
If we accept the notion that people can choose not to identify as EITHER men or women - like some students prefer to be “they” or whatever - then that is a challenge for institutions that have built a reputation/program/mission based on gender. I imagine the situation evolves constantly.
I guess my point is
Transgender males want to be referred to as males…I’m ok with that
Transgender females want to be referred to as females…I’m ok with that
But I want to be referred to as a woman at all woman’s college and somehow now that’s not ok.
So, is it bad? Sometimes yes it is bad.
I respect the transgender community but I expect it to be a two way street.
Maybe most of the students WANT to be someplace where women are women and can be called women! It bothers me that those people’s (womens’) ‘preferences’ don’t seem to matter.
I think many are not researching what MoHo is trying to do and are assuming that no one can call a woman a woman on campus. From what I have read, this is not the case. A lot of what the guide is suggesting is during the “getting to know you period” between professor and students. Instead of assuming that everyone there is a woman and addressing them at such, they are being asked to be mindful that there may be some students who don’t identify that way. They may be pre-transition, actively transitioning, have already transitioned, or even may be gender neutral. They are being asked to address them, as a whole, as students. Doesn’t seem to be ridiculous to me.
My daughter went to a women’s college. Her freshman/sophomore roommate started formally transitioning over the summer between freshman and sophomore year. She had other friends who transitioned during their college years and still others who were gender neutral. I learned a lot spending time with her friends during visits.
I object to being called ‘they’’ when it is grammatically incorrect just to avoid the choice between he and she. I’m also not interested in Zi, Ze, it, y’all, or youse guys.
Never going to please all the people all the time, but I agree with the OP that a women’s college should be able to call its students women even if there are a few men in the class. Payback for centuries of being referred to with masculine titles or terms.
I hate when people put Esq. by my name. It’s a masculine title. "In English law, a title of dignity next above gentleman, and below knight. " So not even a particularly high amount of dignity. If you want to note that someone is an attorney, say so. ‘Jane Doe, Atty.’ is just as clear as ‘Jane Doe, Esq.’
It wears me out too – I changed my name when I married. I searched and searched the state motor vehicle website about information to figure out what I needed to do to get the name changed on my drivers license. The steps to be taken and the documents needed were nowhere to be found on the website. I had to call, wait on hold etc. over something that is really a common and routine occurrence.
HOWEVER - on the website there was an exhaustive explanation of what you needed to do if you were changing your GENDER and wanted it corrected on your drivers license. As if that happens as often as my situation!
I mean really?? Because nobody ever marries (or divorces) and changes their name 8-|
My point is how tiresome this can all be. (unpopular and politically incorrect opinion I know - I can live with it)
It is a women’s college and they shouldn’t be made to feel paranoid about calling women (who choose to be there) women. It is their culture.