During a brief respite today I was reading an article about the state of college admissions, a topic about which I am quite interested. The article was written after the writer had surveyed various college admission heads and college counselors in high schools around the country. Apparently, it was relayed that a new, mostly unknown, AA program has crept into our system in order to create a gender balance in universities. If it were left to general guidelines of merit, women would comprise a much larger percentage (possibly even in the 80's). So universities accept lower qualified males and turn away stellar females. So, what can be done to counter this alarming trend? Do males fare so poorly due to genetics or environment? Nature or nurture, a nod to Steven Pinker.
I'm going to adopt an entirely new and startling position, and suggest that it's a combination of the two... I'd have to read the text before really commenting, but I don't seriously doubt there is something to it, although the degree to which such an unspoken standard could become universal begs a few questions.
My position on this is the same as when race is the consideration. If girls are making the grades, let them in. (Having more girls than guys at a school is probably better than any other incentive for guys to pick up their grades.) Same principle applies jobs. If a woman is the most qualified, she ought to get the job--and get paid the same as a man under similar circumstances.
I think a lot of it has to do with boys not knowing their gender roles. They don't know how to be men because much of America has become dominated by women. Most advertising on TV is directed at, you guessed it, women. They are lacking in confidence and swagger because they are emasculated. They aren't allowed to be boys and be aggressive. So they are a "lost" generation, adrift in an increasingly feminized society. Besides, who was more able to focus in school, boys or girls? It was always the girls who brought home the books and worked hard for that A, when I could care less. B's and C's were good enough. But if the girls are making the grades, they deserve to be let into school. I'm sure the guys there don't mind the higher female/male ratio, it does make your life easier!
Actually, research has shown the opposite, as "male" values are sports and athletics and not academics (while it is much more acceptable for women). Your personal story sounds familiar and seems to be directly related to maturity. So, usually the boys are socialized that way. Your feminized society take, though, seems to fit in well with the rest of your views. Personally, I just think guys are stupid. Especially if they are white. Regardless, where is the outrage? Stupid boys are being admitted over smart girls.
LOL! Yes, it's all part of our master plan. First, we spent several thousand years pretending to be subservient just so we could lull you men into a false sense of security. Then, when the time was right, we unleashed our aggressive male domination/Alan Aldafication campaign via a steady stream of television ads for feminine hygeine products and household cleaners. Bwahahahahha!!! You are all powerless to resist!!
Your so right --- what to do with this "lost generation" of for lack of a better word "birls" If only we had more right-wing neo-con Alabama Marines the Universities of America would be teaming with over qualified MEN who know their proper gender roles. This whole problem began when women started voting and has snowballed downhill ever since.
This is a serious problem that hasn't gotten much play. I think it's partly a lot of things. I do believe there has been an emasculation of young boys in the classroom. Boys I would say thrive in a competitive environment and I do believe they're wired to learn differently than girls. I think this too often today is seen as a behavioral problem and these kids are often branded problem students or even drugged up when in fact they simply require a different atmosphere and different teaching techniques than are being used. I also believe how society gives young boys more freedom is a problem. I don't know if the data would bear it out but I would bet that high school boys work far more hours in part time jobs than girls and spend a lot more time playing sports than girls. Parents I believe often give more leeway in terms of freedom to boys over girls so girls have a certain structure in which they're learning the importance of education and boys are out worried about what kind of car they can afford to impress friends or whatever other nonsense. Also though, I think the numbers might be a little inflated because there are prorbably a lot of men who stop going to college because they have work open to them that maybe doesn't need a degree, computer/technical work especially which is male dominated. Anyway, this is a huge problem and it's a shame that men and fathers more importantly do not take this seriously. You can see in this very thread how macho attitudes cause men not to take this issue seriously.
I mean seriously guys, in the advert business, who do they say has the most purchasing power? Women. And as they say, the power of the purse (I'm not being literal there) is the real power. I've got to agree with Timing on this one. When boys are energetic in school, they are drugged with that ritalin, which I was shocked to find out that there is an illicit trade in because when crushed and snorted, it gives you a cocaine-like high! And I would want to put my kids on that? Boys are more likely to be interested in sports (I know I was) than girls are. Boys are also less focused on their grades (I definitely was not focused academically; I only made good grades in the subjects I liked). Boys don't know what it means to be a man, because that is just so uncouth these days. As a "man" today, you must be able to cry, to tell your partner "yes ma'am" everytime she gives an order and do everything she tells you. We are losing an entire generation of future men and some of you resort to jokes. This is a serious problem. And yes, Overdone, there would be a LOT more young men in college if they approached life from the viewpoint I do: everyday there is something new to conquer.
I saw a piece on 60 Minutes about this and Timing kind of touched upon in his post. It was about how schools have been trying to structure the teaching process to be less competitive and more cooperative, for lack of a better term, and boys are used to working in competitive environments outside of the classroom. Schools have been doing this in order to benifit girls, and it has backfired into being a disadvantage for boys.
while bama might not be the ideal spokesman for man kind he actually has some points worth reading. As a liberal tree hugging cant everyone get along type. i agree with him. women do have the power. the beauty for now is that you have not fully realized it. some of you have, and more and more realize it every day. the power of the purse or whatever is true. even if a woman does not work, she spends the household money. she chooses the soccer camp, she chooses the food eaten. she likely chooses where to live, wich house to buy, how to decorate. sure men get an opinion, but in the end the wife generally runs the home. if the woman works, she unfortunately is still expected to run the home. this is not fair, but if she runs the home and the office her power is doubled. the mother has more influence on children. the majority of mothers spend more time with their kids than fathers. is this leading to the wussification of men. ehh maybe. we sure are a bit wussier these days, but its likely a good thing. sports are never going away, and infact women are becoming more like boys and men. girls are into sports now. girls are more competitive. women are more sexually aggresive, women more often then not KNOW they do not need a man. sadly most men, like homer simpson, need a woman. we would end up living in filth and act like animals without them. I think it sucks that we cant be men all the time, because it is so much fun being a man. at the same time when we hang out in packs we can be however we want. So I think we will never loose our man-ness. we just have to be respectfull around the woman folk. and respect is a wonderfull thing. most women respect us enough to let us have our sports, our poker night, our fast cars, our CC.NET. oh and slammer, there are conveniently dozens of magazines and tv shows to educate the youth into what a real man is. Maxim/FHM/Stuff/the man show/spike TV....... now back to my true tre hugging liberal ways. if those magazines and tv shows are what man-ness is all about, then i am fine with the Alan Aldization of our ranks. as long as the women continue to cater to our animal needs(as in skimpier and skimpier clothes over the years. loosened sexual notions, and actual intrest in watching the same sports game as you are) yes, the mental manization of the woman. she likes sports, and looks good and sexy at the same time. maybe out genders are just getting closer to a middle ground. i dunno, Im tired
You and Bama are way off on this. While I agree that this country has become a more open to female needs ( and I'm not saying that's a bad thing) that has nothing to do with why men are not doing well in the classroom. How does "boys not knowing how to be boys" equate to poor classroom performance. There is no logic to that argument. Bama argues that boys are more focused on sports, girls are more focused on school work, and boys are being taught to be more like girls. By that logic, if boys are being trained to be more like girls, and girls focus more on school work, wouldn't that lead to better grades for boys.
this never ceases to make me laugh, rimmy! i just don't understand it, i guess. i can think of a whole lot of smart (or whatever the opposite of stupid is) white dudes. making these kinds of generalizations about people based on their gender and skin color usually gets people in trouble on these boards.
I'm all in favor of affirmative action for males. Diversity is important for society. It even helps the bottom line. In some business situations men are able to relate to other men better than females can. On a different vein, I have a friend who taught composition at U of H. He said that he didn't see many of the guys catch up with the girls academically till around Sophmore or Junior year.
My point is that when there are no gender roles because your natural role is suppressed and women are encouraged to fulfill that role, you are going to have problems. I think one thing that helps people in life is that they know what their role is in society and boys today get too many conflicting messages. I also think the non-competitive type schooling hurts boys, because by nature most males are highly competitive, thus removing a major impetus for academic achievement: competing with one's peers.
I'm not so sure he's being serious, MadMax, but if he is, at least he just comes out and says it rather than beating around the bush like some other posters I won't name.
