Breaking tradition

OXFORD, England -- Tradition is an intrinsic good at Oxford University. The reverence for tradition includes not only scholars wearing black gowns to and from exams and lectures, but also the tendency to demean women's role in academia. The notorious Old Boys network, the successful English men who strengthen their upper-class ties in secondary school and university, is still present on this campus. Many Oxford networks and traditions center around the male student population, leaving some women struggling to assert themselves in academic relationships and leadership positions. \nRecently in Cherwell, Oxford's independent student newspaper, Hannah Roe and Samir Deger Sen discussed "Oxford's subconscious sexism" as a tradition that extends deeper than blatantly discriminatory rules or policies. The article notes that student media portrays different versions of success for men and women. In a recent ranking of 50 prominent students, those few women who made the cut were described solely in terms of their physical appearances. If beauty alone is sufficient for female success, women uncomfortable with asserting their talents have little incentive to push their intellectual limits. \nThe recent experience of Oxford finalist Rebecca Lindhout further illustrates this problem. During an interview for a university telethon to commission donations from alumni, interviewers asked Lindhout what experiences she could emphasize to make alumni excited about giving. Lindhout began to enthusiastically describe her success in raising the standard of the netball team before the interviewer cut her off. "He told me: 'The alumni won't be interested in netball. Have you got anything else?'" Lindhout said. Netball is a women's sport. Lindhout is also president of the Corpus Christi College Boat Club and so will have plenty to talk about with Oxford's mostly-male alumni when the telethon starts next week. But boat club coxswain and finalist Katie Howe and finalist Bettina Reitz said that some alumni rowers visiting Corpus Christi have made offensive comments about women, suggesting that the college was better off without them. (Many other alumni, however, have been very kind and supportive of women's increasingly important role in the university.) \nIt's ironic that an institution so renowned for intellectual exploration still finds itself bound by sexism. IU became one of the first state institutions to accept women in 1867, 53 years before Oxford began conferring degrees to female undergraduates. IU was the first to establish a gender studies Ph.D., as well. At Oxford only nine out of 39 colleges have women Junior Common Room presidents (the rough equivalent of a student-body or dorm president). In contrast, two of the three top executives on the IU Union Board are women. \nAt the same time, many students, both male and female, do support equity between genders. To many others, feminism has become a dirty word, in many academic and social circles in and beyond Oxford. Women who highlight the importance of gender equity need only earn the label "feminist" before their ideas become fodder for jokes rather than worthy of serious consideration. Thinking about gender issues isn't merely a feminist activity; rather, it should be a human activity.