Smith College is an women’s college.
But the Smith College student government is changing their student constitution to be gender neutral in language.
Well, I guess that’s nice enough. I mean, sauce for the goose and all that.
But they’re not doing it because it’s aesthetic or civil reasons. They’re doing it because some of the women are, ah, uncomfortable with gender-specific references to themselves as women.
Lindsay Watson, who recently ended her term as Student Government Association president, said she introduced the initiative as a way to attract a wider range of students to student government.
Watson said she was thinking particularly of students who identify themselves as transgendered, and therefore may be uncomfortable using female pronouns to describe themselves.
“One of the things I spent some time looking into is what is discouraging people from getting involved (in student government),” said Watson. “This was something that screamed really loudly.”
Right. People weren’t getting involved in student government because it referred to “she” and “her,” and they weren’t sure that’s what they wanted to be referred to as.
Well, actually, it seems that way.
Toby Davis, a senior who is co-chair of what is called the “T” committee, a transgendered students group on campus, expressed approval of the vote.
“When Watson came and talked to us about it, we were of course pretty psyched this would come from the head of the SGA,” Davis said. “It is making the SGA to me personally feel like a more welcoming organization.”
Which might raise the issue of why a transgendered person would be going to a single-sex college.
According to Mencher [a Northampton psychotherapist who was recently hired to serve as transgender specialist at the college], most of the students she counsels do not see themselves as transsexual – that is, they are not necessarily interested in using medical means to change their bodies so that they appear as the opposite sex. Rather, she said, they are exploring their gender.
“There are a lot of students here who identify as transgender but don’t identify as male. They identify in a more gender-ambiguous way,” explained Mencher. “They have come to a campus where that’s very much supported.
No word yet no whether Smith will be identifying itself as a women-and-ambiguous-others college.
(via Ad Orientem)
Oh for the love of ANY deity! Is this what people are being taught in our colleges?
Okay. My head hurts from the shaking in complete disbelief over the fact that we’re teaching people to be THAT politically “correct”…..it’s not politically correct. It’s politically stupid.
I hope they plan on expanding the harassment verbage. Being transgender, wouldn’t it be possible for someone to sexually harass themsevles?? I may be in trouble.