ChaseYamamoto

Period5,10/23/14
ExpositoryWritingII
Mrs.Yuasa

Commentary#5:WhenWomenBecomeMenatWellesley:

PARTONE:
InRuthPadawersarticleWhenWomenBecomeMenatWellesley,Padawer
addressesthecontroversyinvolvingtransgenderstudentsenrollinginwomensuniversities
followingtheexperiencesoftransgenderstudents(suchasTimothyBoatwright).According
toPadawer,Aswomenscollegeschallengedtheconventionsofwomanhood,theydrewa
disproportionatenumberofstudentswhoidentifiedaslesbianorbisexual.Collegesare
havingtroublefiguringoutwhattodowiththesetransexualstudents,forasPadawerputsit,
transgenderstudentsundercuttheidentityofawomenscollege.Padawercomplicates
mattersevenfurtherbydiscussingthevariationofrulesbetweendifferentwomenscolleges.
Whilesomewomenscollegesconferdiplomasexclusivelytowomen,othersallowstudentsto
workouthowtransclassmatesfitintoawomenscollege.Thisisahighlycontroversialtopic
withmanydifferentperspectives.
Whilemanywouldarguethattransgenderstudentsshouldbeallowedtoactivelyurge
womenscollegestochangetheirinstitutionsandmindset,Iwouldhavetodisagree.Inmy
ownopinion,privateuniversities(suchasthevastmajorityofwomenscolleges)havethe
righttoupholdthestandardsanddesiredexperienceofthecollege,andshouldntbeforced
tochangeduetothewantsoftransgenderstudents.ThoughIconcedethatthisisatopicthat
shouldbehandledwithsensitivity,Istillinsistthattransgenderstudents(oranystudent)
shouldnotparticipateinchangingtheinstitutionsofanyprivateinstitution,especiallywhenit

isnotnecessary.Itisquiteobviousthatchangingthesecustomswouldaffecttheexperience
ofthecollegegreatly,andharmmanyofitsstudents.Accordingtoananonymousstudent
foundinPadawersarticle,Awomenscollegeisaplacetocelebratebeingawoman,
surroundedbywomen.Ifeltempoweredbythateveryday.Shefurthergoesontostate:
Butitsnolongertrue.Andifallthatisnolongertrue,theintrinsicvalueofawomenscollege
nolongerholds.ThisiswhyIarguethatwomenscollegesdeservetoremainaswomens
colleges.WhileIamnotagainsttransgenderpeoplewishingtofreelyexpressthemselves,I
donotthinkthatitshouldbeattheexpenseofinstitutionsthatwerecreatedprivatelyby
universitiesthatwishtoempowerwomenthroughsisterhood.

PARTTWO:
Padawer,Ruth."WhenWomenBecomeMenatWellesley."TheNewYorkTimes.TheNew
YorkTimes,18Oct.2014.Web.22Oct.2014.

PARTTHREE:
SCRUTINY(Noun):Criticalobservationorexamination.

Bythelate1960s,however,gendernormswereunderscrutiny.

(OriginalSentence):Aftertheaccusationprovedtobefalse,theinvestigatorlooked
throughhisfileswithscrutiny.

(OriginalSentence):Attheairport,thesecuritywillcheckyouwithmorescrutinyif
youappeartothemassuspicious.

CONFER(Verb):Tograntorbestow

HollinsUniversity,asmallwomenscollegeinVirginia,establishedapolicyseveral
yearsagostatingitwouldconferdiplomastoonlywomen.

(OriginalSentence):Thekingconferreduponhisknighthissword,avaluableand
pricelessgift.

(OriginalSentence):Thecompanydecidedtoconferscholarshipstohardworking
studentstoencouragethemtostriveforsuccess.