There is always an agent provocateur in every group dedicated to civil
rights, is my recollection from the 1960s; or a Charlie McCarthy, aptly
named puppet of the era in which Joe McCarthy struck terror into the
hearts of those with minds to speak, and who also spoke up. And on the
whole it isn't worth bothering with them, except as flagpoles on which
to run up one's own flag. Let's run up a flag, the federal law Title IX
of the Education Amendments of 1972, the law that forbids discrimination
in federally funded educational institutions.
Amber (if that is indeed her/hisname), who is about to lose her last
name because of the history of patriarchal dominance she/he is about to
espouse) said, inter much alia, "Using proportionality of result to
judge opportunity, if boys outnumber girls in participation, then boys
have to lose participation opportunities. It always comes down to making
things equal by subtraction, rather than addition."
This is simply untrue. And it is so thoroughly untrue, because most
cases make things better--not usually "right" even no--by addition, that
one wants to know what the agenda behind it is. What agenda would seek
to block equity as generally achieved by the (in my opinion)
molasses-slow progression toward equality for girls and boys?
Linda Purrington
Title IX Advocates
lpurring@earthlink.net
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