A SEXLESS WORLD?
Look-alikes, work-alikes invade colleges to help improve society
by MARY KAYE ROGERS
A,
iREwe headed for a sexless world? A place where everyone looks alike, wears the same clothes and hairstyles?
Many people feared the advent of a sexless society when they were accosted with bra-burning women's liberationists  women who demanded equal pay scales and opportunity and men who dared invade "female" professions were criticized as progenitors of a radical change in sex roles.
But students here proved a woman can enter a "man's world," and vice versa, without ruining it, but by improving it with their abilities.
Students choosing professions traditionally dominated by the opposite sex encountered some problems, however.
Female law and engineering students, or male nursing and home economics students, for example, were usually greatly outnumbered by their counterparts. They comprised anywhere from one to ten per cent of the total enrollment.
These minority students said the majority rarely exhibited prejudice against them, and when it did it did so subtly through remarks or gestures.
A female's ability was sometimes judged by her attractiveness; a male is termed "sissy" because of his field. Women were still considered on "either sexless working machines or workless sex machines," one male commented.
Generally, students who entered a field dominated by the opposite sex did so because they had a genuine interest in that field and weren't out to attract attention. They claimed that nevertheless they were expected to make better grades and work harder than their counterparts, as if expected to prove themselves.
A statement by a female counselor in a college dominated by women underscored the need for more open-mindedness at UK. When asked if her male students had any complaints about their treatment by female students, she smilingly replied, "No, because we are the majority." pJF*
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