Thought reform in disguise

After Harvard President Lawrence Summers opened his mouth about the differences between men and women,many on colleges campuses want retribution.Harvey Silvergate reports on the task force which wants to stamp out inequality.

The task force on women faculty also recommends that faculty and staff undergo mandatory sexual harassment training. It is revealing that Harvard refers to these programs as ''training" rather than dress them up as ''education" as some universities do (and as the report does elsewhere). Orwellian language games can't conceal the true nature of these programs, which attempt to coerce participants into identifying themselves as either victims or oppressors. Like ''implicit bias training," sexual harassment training is a species of thought-reform intended to amplify hostility towards ideas or attitudes deemed offensive. And as President Summers is doubtless acutely aware, even the most innocuous comment can be interpreted as offensive when everyone on both left and right seems on hair-trigger alert for offense.

How evil is the white,male,capitalist,American,patriarchial system in which a majority of college graduates are women?Boston Globe