Campus ‘activism’ redefined

Campus ‘activism’ redefined
By Michael Graham Thursday, April 3, 2008
http://www.bostonherald.com Op-Ed

Oh, to be a campus activist now that spring is here.

“Campus activist” is what the Boston Globe-Democrat calls the students pushing for coed dorm rooms at colleges across the country. Not just coed dorms, floors or even suites. One room, two beds, a boy and a girl.

As Dr. Frankenstein said just before he threw the switch, “What could possibly go wrong?”
More than 30 colleges and universities, including Dartmouth, Clark, Brown, and Brandeis have coed dorm room policies. This is part of the academic Left’s commitment to social justice, the battle against heteronormative bias, and a way for guys who look like Michael Moore to get a smokin’ hot roommate.

Not surprisingly, enlightened, socially progressive college males are giving this policy a resounding “Yeah, baby!”

This movement is led by the National Student Genderblind Campaign, which insists that colleges without gender-neutral housing are “heterosexist, oppressive, and anti-affirmative.”
“Heterosexist” means you think men and women are different. “Oppressive” means you won’t leave them alone in a dorm room long enough to prove you right.

“Anti-affirmative?” I think that means you’re not voting for Hillary. Or maybe Barack.
Note that all these schools already have coed dorms. They place very few restrictions on male and female mingling on campus.

But liberal academics aren’t content with coupling. They’re demanding cohabitation to make their point that acknowledging gender differences is, in and of itself, a form of oppression.
What oppression, you ask? Who’s being harmed by a same-sex roommate policy, you wonder? Isn’t this just asking for trouble?

You, sir, are clearly demonstrating misogynist, crypto-fascist tendencies.
Either that, or you have a daughter in college.

To every self-described progressive who blames conservative talk show hosts for making “liberal” a dirty word, I refer you to this story. Liberalism isn’t the victim of the Vast, Right-Wing Conspiracy. Its reputation has been ruined by its own loony adherents who promote ideas that fly in the face of common sense.

Seriously, is there any part of this idea that doesn’t scream “stupid” to every grownup who hears it? The campus advocates of this idiocy admit right up front that they believe there is no meaningful difference between the sexes.

“Among millennial students, whether it’s race, gender, or nationality, the borders are coming down,” James Baumann of the Association of College and University Housing Officers told the Globe. “The lines just aren’t there anymore.”

Get it? College kids don’t even notice each other’s sex anymore. That line has been erased, the gender-neutral utopia is here, hallelujah!

Why, if Angelina Jolie walked across the Brown campus naked today, the reaction would be “Who’s the lumpy guy with the big lips?”

Yeah, right.

The Knee Jerk Brigade of the Massachusetts Left want to turn issues like this into a debate over human sexuality. Sexual liberty is the only form of liberty still in vogue among campus liberals. The same people who would happily ban all gun ownership and impose speech codes will fight to the death defending your “right” to carnal knowledge.

But when liberals insist that college kids are going to have sex anyway - roommates or not - they are undermining their own “gender-neutral” nonsense.

Normal people understand that boys and girls are different, and that common sense dictates they be treated differently as a result.

And to quote that great French philosopher, Maurice Chevalier, “Vive le difference!”

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/opinion/op_ed/view.bg?articleid=1084584