Why are we installing a Feminist Resource Center? Oops! I mean — Women’s Resource Center?
In 2006, the New York Times declared that female dominance of men in universities was “the new gender divide.” About 60 percent of U.S. college students are female, and that number is even more staggering at AU, where about two-thirds of our students are women. Women’s Initiative is arguably the most powerful organization on campus. As a ratio, more women than men successfully obtain Bachelor’s degrees.
So there’s not an academic need for a Women’s Resource Center.
As an alternative justification, several commenters on The Eagle’s Web site have pointed to the feminist myth of the “pay gap.” Women, these activists claim, only make 75 cents for every dollar men make. This figure is obtained through the eyebrow-raising methodology of averaging the annual income of all women and stacking it against the average annual income of all men. This is a really, really dumb way of measuring income disparity. Women have different lifestyle choices than men: they are more likely to take part-time jobs and stay home with children and less likely to relocate for work or engage in physically dangerous jobs that pay a lot of money. Using a similar methodology — that is, one that does not account for lifestyle choices rooted in biology — one would have to say that lightning is sexist because men are struck by it five more times than women are. Indeed, according to CNN’s Jeanna Sahadi, women actually make more money than men in about 40 professions, including some — like sales engineers, statisticians, and transportation workers — in which women make a staggering thirty percent more. The “pay gap” myth is feminist religious dogma, not an economic reality.
So there’s not an economic need.
As a last-ditch argument, some point to the fact that women have special health needs. Women might get raped, or sexually assaulted. I suppose I’ll have to concede this: women, often and tragically, get raped. But a room filled with feminist buttons and books by Andrea Dworkin is not exactly what women need after being raped or assaulted.
Memo to feminists: there are these things called “hospitals.” We also already have a sexual assault hotline and the Student Health Center. A “resource center” is political in nature and has nothing to do with rape or assault. (Here is where proponents of the center point to the need to combat something that they call the “rape culture” — which only underscores my point that it’s going to be a Feminist Resource Center.)
So there’s not a health-based need.
We already know that the Women’s Initiative is a Feminist Initiative: it is vocally pro-abortion rights, allies itself with left-wing campus crusades and annually performs a play by feminist icon Eve Ensler. Why should we expect something different from a Women’s Resource Center?
When the center opens, here’s what students can expect: it could be hostile to Republicans, Libertarians, capitalism and conservatism. Books by strong women in politics like Sarah Palin will probably not be featured. The center will be vocally pro-abortion rights. It will promote feminist interpretations of economics. Feminists will work the front desk. It will ally itself with left-wing “social justice” causes on campus. And it will be paid for with your tuition money.
Alex Knepper is a sophomore in the School of Public Affairs and a classical liberal columnist for The Eagle. You can reach him at edpage@theeagleonline.com.
