The oppression of men?

Affirmative action is often discussed in the context of minority races. Women are, for the most part, left out of the debate over affirmative action. Media sources disregard the aspect of the affects of affirmative action on women. Women too are included under the clause of affirmative action and should be regarded as such. Those in favor of affirmative action will argue that affirmative action is needed for women to prevent the glass ceiling effect. The glass ceiling refers to the idea that women are prevented from moving up in educational (or in general societal and career ) levels due to decades of discrimination and ideas related to gender. Affirmative action is claimed to allow women to gain equal access to opportunity and encourage the addition to women in higher education. However, the glass ceiling affect is not prevalent in higher institutions. It has been reported that 56% of undergraduate students nationwide are women. This evidence is clear that affirmative action has ran its course. It has done its job. Women are not only in, they're winning, so to speak. This statistic alone should be proof enough that this social policy is no longer needed.

To obtain this 56 %, I have to wonder that many male applicants may have been denied in the past simply because a lesser female applicant would create "gender diversity" for a campus. Though it is obvious males have historically dominated higher education, it is not fair to deny intelligent men the opportunity to explore the aspects of certain universities just because of their sex. Just because men discriminated against women at one point in time does not justify discriminating against men today. Higher education in this country is not only about individual gain but about societal gain in overall exploration and knowledge. Limiting the potential of our society by denying men creates a skewed reality of what educational advancement could be.