Male Student Explains Sexism to Female Classmate
On Monday, freshmen computer engineering hopeful Bethany Martinez asserted in her ENGR 216 group text that women in STEM can face discrimination. To support her claim, Martinez relayed instances of being interrupted or ignored by male classmates in both in-person and virtual settings, citing her concern that the recent transition to online-only group work could exacerbate the issue. Disturbed by this, freshmen engineering major Randy McGraw decided to educate his fellow group member.
“The moment she started talking, it became obvious that I knew more about the situation than her,” said McGraw, reflecting on the incident. “It just really felt like the male perspective was missing from the conversation.”
Drawing from his life experiences of being a man and listening to a podcast that once mentioned radical feminism, he was able to set her straight. “It was pretty clear that the only reason why her ENGR 102 team ignored her ideas was because she used PyCharm in light mode,” McGraw said. “If girls don’t know that real engineers only code in dark mode, then they really shouldn’t expect to be treated equally.”
Having never experienced sexism in the College of Engineering, McGraw further noted that it was unlikely to exist at all.
Fellow group member Davis Nguyen applauded McGraw for speaking up. “It was so brave of him to come forward like that and give men in STEM a voice,” Nguyen said. “I just really feel like our perspective has been marginalized lately.”
With female enrollment in engineering at Texas A&M University approaching an all time high of 22 percent, male students may lose their supermajority in the near future. Despite the growing number of women in STEM, men in the College of Engineering still reportedly have difficulty finding romantic partners.
Many male students at Texas A&M are reporting that there is a unique form of gender bias prevalent in STEM programs. “In a lot of classes, the girls will form groups without any guys in them,” Nguyen said. “To be honest, it feels really exclusive. I don’t understand how we’re supposed to date them if they’re not like… forced to work with us?”
When asked for his final thoughts on the situation, McGraw said, “While I recognize that I’m not a woman, I still feel like my perspective on this topic deserves equal weight. Anything less than that would be misandry.”
— Century Tree Hugger
Century Tree Hugger certainly puts the “mental” in environmental. Dedicated to rescuing the ever-declining tree population on campus, she won’t stop until Texas A&M is transformed from a barren brutalist wasteland into the leafy paradise of yore. We do wish it was easier to pry her arms away from the Century Tree when it comes time for our secret meetings, however.