A very healthy dialogue has been struck up recently in the wake of the decision of Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis '68 to keep the term "freshmen" instead of making the necessary change to "first-year." Many enlightened students have written in to this newspaper, eloquently expressing their concerns. However they do not go far enough to drive the cleansing revisions to the core of the problem. We must further re-examine our linguistic sexual biases.
I hesitate to use the words "women" and "female" because they seem to define half our population solely in terms of the other half, as if they were not to be valued independently. The supposedly gender-neutral "person" and "human" are just a slightly hidden examples of the same kind of implicit sexism. Therefore, until a better alternative reveals itself, I shall refer in this letter to those with two X chromosomes as The People Formerly Known As Women.
I am wary about divulging my opinions to a publication as rife with the veiled sexism of the establishment that this one seems to be. Harking back to a time when only men were admitted to Harvard, the name of The Crimson seems to uphold the patriarchy implicit in the establishment. But friends assure me that the newspaper has no ill feelings, and with the hope that my words will change your minds and your name (The Harvard Crimchild has a nice ring to it), I present to you my womanifesto:
1. That all occurrences of the word "freshman" be replaced by "first-year."
2. That hymns no longer be sung in Memorial Church.
3. No mangos may be served by Harvard Dining Services; Harvard must recall all its funds from the Save the Manatee Fund; and Harvard must discontinue its graduate program in business management.
4. I call for a full girlcott of all the Harvard Square restaurants that insist on keeping their so-called "menus."
The language we are taught from the time we are children influences our thinking in strange and powerful ways. Girls must know that they can grow up to be powerful People Formerly Known As Women, without being intimidated by the grandeur of the Heralayas or the pursuit of womental excellence. --Adam B. Stein '99
Editor's Note: The Harvard Crimson has a longstanding policy of using gender-neutral terminology.
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