Transgender coeducation: Smith is more than just a women's college
Alexandra Bregman
Issue date: 10/8/09
http://www.smithsophian.com/media/storage/paper587/news/2009/10/08/Opinions/Transgender.Coeducation.Smith.Is.More.Than.Just.A.Womens.College-3795872.shtml (http://www.smithsophian.com/media/storage/paper587/news/2009/10/08/Opinions/Transgender.Coeducation.Smith.Is.More.Than.Just.A.Womens.College-3795872.shtml)
Smith is not a women's college. The confines of the gender binary are constantly blurred and redefined, as we educate one another on pronoun usage, testosterone injections and the day-to-day tribulations of what it means to be in transition. The transsexual, transgender and gender queer populations of Smith College are valid and flourishing, whether they make it onto the "I Am Smith" Web page or not. In an age where single-sex education is a niche market and a deep source of pride at Smith College, the transient population and all forms of masculinity on campus simply must be addressed.
To be questioning gender at Smith is dually more and less difficult than at other educational institutions. On the one hand, Smith will always be reputed as a prestigious women's college. A female-to-male transgender student - F to M, also called M to M to avoid association with feminine traits altogether - will always have to deal with a well-known women's college on his transcript and the questions and judgments that inevitably follow. No matter how accepting, "->-bleeped-<-s" fear that peers and potential employers will treat them differently.
As one who attended an all boys high school, I can appreciate the problems that arise when your gender is in conflict with a school's know single gender population. Most people never heard of my high school and it is closed now but at the college and university level, single gender schools are better known.
Just another factor that needs to be considered if stealth is important.
Julie