White guys get a bad rap from women. They are seen as the all-oppressing force keeping women down. And we young white men are seen as the next in line to inherit this kingdom of ignorance and perpetuate the white man’s dominance in America.

Obviously, I’m not looking for sympathy. Nor am I looking for support from other white men. Judging by our history, nothing good comes from a bunch of white guys trying to form a brethren-type atmosphere: the KKK, NAMBLA, fraternities. What I am looking for is for women to recognize their current standing in society.

The tide is turning. There are more women than men attending universities throughout the nation and, at UW, these women are, in fact, doing better than men. Also, the number of women in medical and law schools in America are nearly even with men, which is a significant gain over the historical female admission figures of 3 to 7 percent.

The current trend shows there is soon going to be a large infusion of women in the workplace and, if the rates of women enrolling in higher education continue, a transfer of power.

Recently in the Wisconsin State Journal, an article commemorated the UW organization “Expanding Your Horizons” — a program that promotes women’s involvement in the scientific field — on its 50th anniversary.

Today, unlike in the past, the organization claims it is no longer a challenge to find female scientists to motivate and serve as role models for aspiring young female minds. This past Saturday, female scientists did exactly that at a conference for roughly 350 young women here at UW.

Many admit there is still room for improvement, as a sizeable gap still remains between the number of men in the scientific field compared to women, but that great strides have been made in those 50 years.

It’s hard work like this that, I feel, Jim Allard’s opinion column, “‘Inclusive Excellence’ a Flawed Idea” undercut on Friday. I agree with Allard, that the idea of equality among people is fundamentally true. All morality stems from such an idea. But, to me, it is evident that it has yet to be embraced throughout the world.

Unfortunately, these “differences of no difference” Allard speaks of created barriers. They shouldn’t be ignored simply because recognizing them enforces the very thing we’re trying to combat. Nor should they be ignored because they may diminish the standards of some abstract idea of excellence.

The people are equal but the playing field certainly is not and promoting diversity is the way to correct the human prejudices that created such an environment.

Still, if women themselves don’t recognize these changes, then the momentum in the push for change will be slowed.

Today’s young women were raised by parents who felt the pressures of intense sexism. The effects of that are, at times, seen in modern young women’s bleak outlook on their own future in the workplace. They may cite the long history of unequal pay or previous incidences of men discriminating against women in the business world. Allowing these things to negatively affect one’s outlook only augments its damaging influence.

Women of our generation, because of their current enrollment rates in undergraduate, graduate, law and medical programs, are just as likely, if not more so, to be the breadwinners in the family; reversing the traditional “stay-at-home-mom” archetype to “stay-at-home-dad.”

America may even be only a couple generations away from having women constitute the majority enabling them to discriminate against men. And what a world that would be, eh ladies? All I ask is, women, once you’ve made it to the top, don’t forget I was on your side and please, hire me.

It seems obvious that programs and organizations promoting diversity do make positive differences and should be commended for doing so. They shouldn’t be degraded for diminishing excellence or reinforcing differences. The differences are as real as their regrettable impacts and need to be addressed.

The world our parents grew up in was vastly different from the one we currently live in. Women aren’t as oppressed as they were in years past. Lifting the cloud of misconception that women are still the victims of the same intense oppression as past generations can only further empower women.

Our generation may not be completely out of the woods, but it shows promise. Women should be encouraged to continue what they’ve been working so hard to do: fight their way to the top.

Then again, I’m just a young white guy.

Finally, the opinions expressed in this article were not a vain attempt to make myself look more appealing to the opposite sex. I will be frank: I did not write this piece to get myself laid. Although, I will say, I do think power is sexy.

David Carter ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in forestry.