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Misandry abounds in academia, for as I show in my New English Review essay “Feminism’s Doctrinal Justice,” feminism has become a masochism industry, whereby middling academics endeavor to cash in. And of course, as with everything else, there is a double standard in regard to allegations of sexual misconduct. Take for example Avital Ronell. A professor of German and comparative literature at NYU, she is currently the object of a Title IX complaint. Instead of allowing it to be handled by the proper authorities (not that there necessarily are any, this being academia), Ronell’s many supporters have signed a letter asserting her innocence. Said to be written by the sham philosopher Judith Butler, the letter is full of strange non sequiturs. Brian Leiter, professor of law and philosophy at the University of Chicago, remarks cogently:

Imagine that such a letter had been sent on behalf of Peter Ludlow, Colin McGinn, John Searle, Thomas Pogge or anyone other than a feminist literary theorist: there would be howls of protest and indignation at such a public assault on a complainant in a Title IX case. The signatories collectively malign the complainant as motivated by “malice” (i.e., a liar), even though they admit to knowing nothing about the findings of the Title IX proceedings—and despite that they also demand that their friend be acquitted, given her past “mentorship of students.”

In short, academia is a hypocritical world in which women can hardly do wrong. It is this biased perspective, so ubiquitous that few even perceive it, that allows universities all over the country to try to remake men in the image of women. Thus, at Princeton’s “Healthy Masculinity” website, young men are told “to be their true selves, instead of being confined to stereotypes.” That means:

(1) Asking for help when needed
(2) Showing vulnerability
(3) Expressing a wide range of emotions (sadness, fear, shame, kindness, tenderness)
(4) Developing healthy relationship skills (active listening, communication, nonjudgmental support, asking for and giving consent)
(5) Feeling comfortable in emotionally nurturing roles
(6) Calling out/in other men who engage in behaviors that are disrespectful or aggressive

While this aims to produce a more balanced and indeed healthy conception of masculinity, the primary effect will be to make men tame and docile animals who submit to women as a matter of course. Traditional masculinity subordinated feeling to truth. However it made them “feel,” men did what had to be done. Nor is it the case that “the patriarchy” got together and collectively decided to behave in that way. Rather, such wisdom evolved organically, in keeping with the very nature of this world, in which, as Schopenhauer put it, “evil gets the upper hand, and folly makes the most noise.”

The general message of academia’s matriarchy—which includes the spineless men who go along with and abet it—is: “Men, do whatever women want. Conform to their demands. They have long been oppressed, so you owe them compliance.” As applied to the sexual marketplace, nothing could be more foolish for men or more destructive. Nor is there any surer way for men to render themselves contemptible to women, who, like foreign nations, respect nothing so much as superior power.

It is clear, then, that something must be done. I will not go so far as to say that all colleges and universities should be segregated by gender, although if we continue on the present course, that will be desirable. As it is, there is no doubt that we need a movement of male-only institutions of higher learning. If feminists would allow the sexes to be different, this would not be so. If feminists, in their status envy, did not insist that all male dominance at the highest level necessarily signifies discrimination, this would not be so. If feminists understood, as G.K. Chesterton long ago argued, that the workplace is not superior to the domestic sphere but rather the opposite, this would not be so. But unhappily, things are what they are, and the only solution is all-male colleges and universities, taught by male professors. After all, it has become increasingly evident that boys are poorly served from kindergarten up through high school, and it won’t be long before people realize academia is no better toward men.

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