Thomas Fetzer, a chap who sits on the Board of Governors at the University of North Carolina, gave a graduation speech at UNC Wilmington, reported WBTV, and playfully said he would allow men to borrow money to buy a diamond ring for women they wished to marry.
So you’re probably thinking “what’s the big deal,” right? A house is a big investment for men and women, continuing education, too — of course he’s going to promote that since he works for a university — and then a nice engagement ring. But those remarks Thomas made apparently deviated from the script UNC Wilmington had prepared for him.
Several faculty whined by email to an administrator, with one professor saying “I have heard from several students and parents who were both disappointed and offended by [Thomas’s] long and sexist speech….Much of his content was unnecessary, some of it entirely inappropriate. To advise students ‘Gentleman…you must invest in a diamond for your lady’ was something right out of 1965…to say it was insulting to women who have just received their degree is an understatement.”
Sexist and insulting to women who just got their degrees. What are you trying to suggest? That women who graduate from college are less marriageable? Well, you may actually have a point assuming they’ve become feminists. Anyways, another professor called the remarks “belittling and denigrating” and a third said the speech was “right out of 1865.”
Well, which one is it, right? Is it 1865 or 1965? I think race activists might have an issue with the year when the Civil War ended and Reconstruction began being used by gender activists. That’s cultural appropriation.
