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It’s an interesting idea, but the system as proposed by the panelists ignores the systematic oppression of gay voices and/or the perspectives of the physically disabled. To which point; should a lesbian woman of colour get to speak first in the classroom? What about a trans woman in a wheelchair? And indeed, we’d need some sort of ranking system to determine which racialized communities are most oppressed, and thus, deserve first crack at the classroom discussion. Their voices are too often silenced in mainstream discussion, so the thinking goes; we must right this wrong in the university classroom, isolated from the cruel prejudices of the real world. Oh for Christ’s sake, Tommy, put down your hand.

The panelists at Dalhousie clearly recognize that special treatment is the bedrock of empowerment

It’s a step, sure, but why limit ourselves to merely controlling who gets to speak when? Perhaps we should explore the idea of restructuring lecture halls to reserve the front rows for women, facilitating a physical “head-start” to contradict the professional lag they will experience once they graduate. We should also consider male quotas for professional programs — even though women are currently earning two-thirds of medical degrees and a majority of law degrees — to skew the gender ratio in fields like engineering and sciences. McGill University, among others, used this sort of quota system to control the numbers of Jews in its professional programs up until the Second World War; who’s to say the same sort of thing wouldn’t work now? Someone should dig into the archives to see if there was a rule about who was allowed to speak first at McGill, too.

The panelists at Dalhousie clearly recognize that special treatment is the bedrock of empowerment. Their female students will surely be emboldened to take on the challenges of the real world only after growing accustomed to the preferential conditions in the confines of academia. And what does all this mean for the men? We’ll get to that eventually, after the ladies have finished having their say.

National Post

Robyn Urback • rurback@nationalpost.com | robynurback