Mehring: The Gender Trap
By Adam Mehring | November 7, 2013A toy store could help reduce gender constraints
A toy store could help reduce gender constraints
Another term, another unflattering portrait of Dartmouth splayed across national headlines.
Minor fixes could improve life on campus
Dartmouth alumni should learn to let go of their college days
With more than 1,400 undergraduate courses spread over 40 academic departments and interdisciplinary programs, Dartmouth provides access to an incredible wealth of learning opportunities.
Does Dartmouth have a problem? The fact that opinions vary so wildly on this issue surely constitutes a problem itself.
There is no question that the past year has been a historic one in our nation for LGBT rights. Last November, same-sex marriage was enacted in three states by a voter referendum, while a fourth voted down a proposed constitutional amendment that would have prohibited same-sex marriage.
The Supreme Court recently heard arguments in two cases pertaining to same-sex marriage. In one case, two same-sex couples seek to invalidate a successful voter referendum, Proposition 8, that limited marriage in California to opposite-sex couples.
Samantha Lindsay / The Dartmouth As the resident scientist of my friend group, I regularly field questions pertaining to the body and brain: "If I put my hand down my throat, can I touch my own heart?" (You can try.) "Will my brain come out of my nose if I blow too hard?" (I wouldn't risk it.) "Could The Walking Dead' happen in real life?" (Almost definitely.) But a more recent query gave me pause: a flummoxed companion faced with six hours to complete a 2,000 word assignment threw up her hands and asked, "Might this paper actually be the death of me?" In a way, it actually might. It is widely understood that prolonged, chronic stress is more or less catastrophic to the human condition, and it is exactly that sort of unmitigated, unrelenting stress that comprises a cornerstone of the Dartmouth experience. The Dartmouth Plan renders each term into a marathon of writing papers, completing projects, taking exams, attending lectures and endless studying, with the interspersion of extracurricular pursuits in between.
Tensions are high on Dartmouth's campus. It is a condition that applies very much to our present academic term.