the ch!cktionary — The Harvard Crimson :: Opinion

3 Mar 2009
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The Harvard Crimson :: Opinion :: Death of a Harvard Man

Afraid of appearing patriarchal, the College promotes an ideal for female students—the career-oriented woman—but not for male students. Though this attention to women is long overdue, University Hall should also define what it means to be a Harvard man…

One student at the discussion last week noted the lack of decency in Harvard men today, concluding, “Being a good man is not a high priority.” Indeed, that’s because moral education is not a priority for the College. The old Harvard had its prejudices against women and minorities, but it tried to teach its graduates as best it knew how. Now, University Hall seems determined to train the next generation of professional women, yet it seems to have forgotten its men, explaining to them the boundaries but never the game plan.

This is a completely uncritical approach to the real problem with Harvard: professional tracking that equates economic equality (between genders, classes, etc.) with progress. The admission of women, now the majority at the College, and the existence of women’s organizations do not mean that the gender gap is any narrower at Harvard (all you have to do is look at the fact that the Women and Gender Studies committee is still a committee and not a department).

Further, I’d argue that the “ideal for female students”, that of the “career-oriented woman”, is an ideal that sucks. I don’t feel empowered by the professional options Harvard makes available, and gender equality can’t be achieved by imposing on women the same capitalist restraints that men have suffered under for decades. So now we’re all equally incentivized and pressured to conform to certain professional expectations? Well, yippee, now I get to be just as oppressed as the next guy.

Let’s face it: all Harvard students are in dire need of being unconditioned. A “moral education” is only useful if it goes beyond charm school. I’m less concerned about ungentlemanly conduct than I am about Harvard churning out entitled minions of Corporate America. Unfortunately, forcing students to think outside of the box is against the College’s economic interests, and for that reason, I don’t see the professional climate changing anytime soon.