H -°, L 6° | Tomorrow: 
H 18°, L 6°For all of the flowery, politically correct rhetoric of progressivism breezing through Madison these days, the University of Wisconsin still happily props up a living manifestation of one of the trends most delightfully laid to rest during the 20th century: sexism.
At a school where the student government, the two major political organizations and several other notable groups are chaired by brilliant women, it seems bizarre that at least 482 young ladies, every year, are ushered into a house of the sort of protectionism Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan worked feverishly to unmask.
To be sure, Elizabeth Waters Residential Hall, the last gender-specific, full service dormitory on campus, works to inherently promote a pre-suffrage argument that females somehow operate on a different plane than males, while at the same time subtly vilifying men as the predators who must be kept out between the hours of 2:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. in at least one wing of the dorm.
Not only does Elizabeth Waters fly in the face of the progress toward gender equality achieved in this country, it also serves as an outright bastion of discrimination. Title IX has helped provide equality in academics and athletics at schools like UW, but somehow the brass atop Bascom Hill hasn’t taken note on the inequality in undergraduate housing. For men wishing to avoid the fairer sex while in college, no such university residence exists. But for women seeking shelter from the dangerous and predatory male species a haven can be found on Observatory Drive and it even comes with an unparalleled view of the lake. (Try getting panoramic scenery like that if you have a penis!)
Sure, the argument can be made that Elizabeth Waters merely exists to facilitate feminine bonding, like the many sorority houses adorning Langdon Street. But then one must ask why men are not allowed to engage in such a bonding experience outside of fraternity houses closed to freshmen.
That one wing of the dormitory, housing no less than 49 women and banning the opposite sex from late-night visits, is a wanton insult to the notion of adult sexual consent. This is a rule that exists to only prohibit the sort of sexual sleepovers found elsewhere in UW housing, and essentially attempts to assign certain Elizabeth Waters residents a veritable chastity belt for their tenure in University Housing. Are these young adults not capable of consenting to promiscuous activities like the legions of students living elsewhere on campus?
The counter-argument is simple enough: the rule is a protection afforded to roommates wishing to avoid awkward late-night petting sessions. But why, then, is no such shield offered to male students so serious about their studies that they, too, do not wish to lose sleep over the soft sounds of dormitory orgasms?
The reality is that this particular rule, just like the entire existence of Elizabeth Waters, serves only to promote a notion of female inferiority and a suggestion that not all young women are capable of the sort of sexual consent afforded them by Wisconsin state law.
Now surely full integration of the sexes in school housing would be ill-advised. The inherently awkward situations presented by co-ed roommates could be too strange for freshmen randomly assigned to live together for a year. And multi-sex bathrooms — no matter what UW’s LGBT community says — are an inherently bad idea; procreation sessions in public showers would only serve to send countless shy students to their first classes of the day without a polite bathing.
But why can’t opposite sexes live side by side? Even the sort of gender-specific wings found in most school dorms allow social bonding while avoiding the violation of moments of elected privacy. And in this social bonding comes much of one’s exposure to the “real world,” a healthy education not otherwise found in most lecture halls.
The time has come for UW to end this wretched, backward invocation of sexism and mindless promotion of prudery. The fight for equality has come too far to support a ladies’ dorm on any forward thinking campus in America, and the strategic isolation of sexes only serves to greatly inhibit the range of extracurricular social educations afforded students at UW.
Besides, by 2:00 a.m., the damage has been done.
Mac VerStandig ([email protected]) is a junior majoring in rhetoric.
IP hash: cbe0936b
Um, as far as I know, no girls are forced to live in Liz Waters, and all of them probably know what they’re getting into. They chose to be treated in a “sexist” manner, right?
IP hash: 2aa47a0f
To the above poster, I think you are missing a big part of the article. There is a huge double standard here. The university is offering a service to women entering college that it does not offer men. If it was the other way around, it would never fly. This is just like the all-male gym under attack from yesterday. The difference here, which makes it worse than allowing curves but complaining about the male equivalent, is that this is state sponsored. If it was private…. do whatever you want.
IP hash: 1bd604f9
Here’s a better headline: “Male Virgins Demand Equal Access to Virgin Vault”
IP hash: e3160ad7
That headline would have been grossly inaccurate. The point of the article is the double standard, at a public intituttion on top of it all.
IP hash: b9a4b911
I many be dating myself as an alum with this post, but there used to be an all guys dorm on campus. It was Turner Hall in Kronsaghe and it got disbanded in 1998. That was because it was nothing but drugs and booze in there and as a disciplinary factor, the University decided to disband it. So until recently, guys could do exactly what the ladies get in Liz Waters. Except that they could have “sexual sleepovers.”
IP hash: 9eb7d99b
As a young UW fag, I wish there was an all men’s hall similar to Liz where no women were allowed. Yikes!
IP hash: 000b9ccf
The purpose of college dorms is to serve as an intermediary between home life and life on your own. Many girls from sheltered communities and sheltered homes simply wouldn’t know how to react when thrown into a crazy coed environment. Of course it is not healthy for these girls to be scared of men or of the real world, but by going to an intermediary like Liz Waters they are attempting to enter into a normal college life. If you have a problem with this set up your problem goes well beyond the university. It is pretty common knowledge that parents are far more protective of female children than of their male counterparts. Blame it on sexual reproduction roles or on a national level sexism that makes females victims. Whatever the case there is not only a market for a dorm like Liz, but many over protective parents would only let them come to such an evil, liberal campus like Madison if they lived entirely with girls. Many conservative families still shun the idea of coed living, just look at a university like BYU. If Liz can open the doors for close minded girls and turn them into matured females then I say what the hell is the problem with that?
IP hash: b8e7e6a8
Wow. Over up der in Tomah we have all girl houses, and they only cost a $1 a….oh wait thats a different house
IP hash: 1797ce17
7th poster basically debunked the whole article, good job!
And who is this dickhead with the cigar? Get over yourself.
IP hash: a911ee9b
“And who is this dickhead with the cigar?”
If you don’t know who Mac Verstandig is, you obviously haven’t gone to wisconsin for very long
IP hash: 06331827
Isn’t there anything else better to write editorials on than uni-sex dorms and work out facilities?
How about the fact that the UW fills the restrooms with worst single-ply toilet paper known to man?
IP hash: 06331827
“If you don’t know who Mac Verstandig is, you obviously haven’t gone to wisconsin for very long.”
Or you don’t give 2 sh*ts about some writer for the student newspaper.
IP hash: 1797ce17
Actually I WENT for 4 years, graduated 2 years ago, but still like to read the student papers to make sure its still full of the same bullshit as I remember.
I’m sure Mac thinks he’s well known, cool, and popular — thats why he’s chosen this photo of himself smoking a cigar. But unknownst to him, he looks like a pompous asshole.
IP hash: 1bd604f9
“Or you don’t give 2 sh*ts about some writer for the student newspaper.”
But at least you care enough to read and post!
IP hash: 5b1b94bc
If girls who came out of Liz Waters were man-haters or socially inept, then there would be a problem here. As a one year veteran of the Vault, I consider myself lucky to have lived there, if not simply “normal.” As to the point that this is unfair of the university to offer a single-sex dormitory to women only, why don’t you men who advocate a men’s dorm get working on that? I haven’t heard of any petitions lately or any push whatsoever…Don’t gripe about something unless you plan on changing it.
IP hash: 63be66d2
Who cares?
IP hash: 46f86eed
Liz Waters is actually attached to an endowment given to the University with the caveat that the dorm the money was used for had to be female only. If the U wanted it tto go coed, it would then have to fork over the money for the endowment.
IP hash: 677f5879
the last post is correct. legally, the university cannot make the dorm co-ed without financial consequences.
on the other hand, liz waters is far from at capacity, which raises the question of wasted resources, namely a gigantic dorm less than full at a time when housing is at a premium and the university is actually building a new dorm.
IP hash: b502de73
So if I gave the university 2 million dollars to build a gym on the water for white men only, they would be wrong to integrate it?
IP hash: ea5262a1
Yer missin the point, sauce for the goose is sauce for the goose and the gander can go pound sand.
IP hash: 384763d1
Kanye’s Workout Plan is the best song EVER. Unrelated… perhaps, but that track is awesome. It’s science.
IP hash: b943aec7
Shouldn’t you all be studying for a test?
IP hash: 000b9ccf
Although I hate to encourage pointless sidetracks, Workout Plan has to be the lowest point on all of College Dropout. The song is hip hop cliche at its worst, and it’s flaws are only accentuated by the brilliance of the rest of the album.
IP hash: 000b9ccf
Wow, it’s amazing how scared conservative white men get when they aren’t allowed in a room. The ethnics and the dames might be conspiring against us!!
IP hash: 63d5567a
“it’s amazing how scared conservative white men get when they aren’t allowed in a room”
Not scared, just angry they can’t have a room of their own.
IP hash: f7381797
Actually, the above posts about the endowment are all incorrect. As a two-year veteran (one year on staff) of Liz, I can assure any interested party Liz is single-sex because the need/desire for such a building still exists on campus, not because Elizabeth Waters left the money. And it seems that a lot of people are missing the point of the women’s movement: women’s choice. Other UW campuses have male dorms; however, as an above poster noted, it simply didn’t work out at UW. Maybe the 6 years have changed things since then, maybe not.
And for everyone out there, Liz girl or not, who wants to avoid walking in on a roomate and getting an eyeful (yes, it happens in liz too…) the ol’ sock on the doorknob trick can work wonders.
IP hash: 000b9ccf
“Not scared, just angry they can’t have a room of their own.”
Really? I thought the room just went by the name of The Rest of the Fucking World.
IP hash: 63d5567a
“I thought the room just went by the name of The Rest of the Fucking World.”
Maybe yer thinkin of Saudi Arabia or France, it sure ain’t that way in the US of A since the feminazis started runnin the show.
IP hash: 000b9ccf
Mac and all the other guys complaining are so full of shit. I’m sure you were all very crushed that you couldn’t go to an all male dorm here. It’s a simple case of supply and demand, which I thought you conservatives were in love with. Unless you honestly had your little heart broken that you couldn’t live in a male only environment shut the hell up.
IP hash: 000b9ccf
“Maybe yer thinkin of Saudi Arabia or France, it sure ain’t that way in the US of A since the feminazis started runnin the show.”
Oh you’re right, I forgot how many ultra liberal feminist took power after the recent elections. Conservatives just love playing the victim. Whoa is me, my country is run by France loving liberals, even though republicans swept the last elections.
IP hash: 000b9ccf
“Maybe yer thinkin of Saudi Arabia or France, it sure ain’t that way in the US of A since the feminazis started runnin the show.”
Umm…what? Exactly how many females are in congress? Or are govenors? You sound almost disappointed that we aren’t as segregated as Saudi Arabia.
IP hash: f915e934
“it sure ain’t that way in the US of A since the feminazis started runnin the show.”
Who are these feminazis? George Bush? Dick Cheney? Bill Frist? Dennis Hastert?
IP hash: d902eefb
Blast you and your estrogenical treachery! Damn this wretched gynocracy! I say, am I to spend the entire day wallowing around in my own feces?
IP hash: 53aa0fe8
“subtly vilifying men as the predators who must be kept out between the hours of 2:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. in at least one wing of the dorm. “
she wasn’t “subtly villifying” you, Mac. She didn’t want to sleep with you!
IP hash: 384763d1
Could it be that Kanye knows that it is a cliche? That would explain the insane “testimonials” during the middle of the song. I rode the plane! Rode the plane!
IP hash: 53aa0fe8
So only straight sex keeps you out of the bathroom? How about the early morning gay sex in the dorm bathrooms?
IP hash: 58d88f1a
FYI…as a UW alum (I graduated in 2003) and someone who worked for Housing for five years and in Liz for a better part of my fifth year, there is only one House where there is limited visitation…other that than House, there is open visitation, so it is not like men are not allowed at all in the building between 2am and 9am.