March 30, 1995
The recent demise of varsity football at SF State is another example of excessive gender reform. As the National Organization for Women continues their man-hunt for collegiate offenders, I wonder whose team they will tackle next.
Federal gender-equity laws require that public institutions correspond their programs in proportion to gender enrollment. While we shouldn't deny imbalances from past gender-role stereotypes, we shouldn't tip the scale the other way either. Gender issues won't be resolved by enforcing simplistic homogeneity -- and reverse discrimination.
Everyone has their own particular abilities and interests, and it so happens that many of these fall across gender lines. How can you stop it? To implement gender equity in all respects, we would have to mandate all departments. Why single out physical education? Early childhood education, for instance, is disproportionately female. Why not mandate that? Or most technical fields, which are predominately male?
The absurdity of such proposals is obvious. The very term itself "gender equity" by definition is contradictory. When can "opposite sexes" become equal? You can't enforce hard-line gender mandates without being unfair or foolish.