“A gathering of academicians drawn from a range of disciplines will meet on April 7 at Wagner College, Staten Island, New York, to examine the declining state of the male, stemming from cataclysmic changes in today’s culture, environment and global economy.”

No, this editorial isn’t sarcastic, and that quote wasn’t from “The Onion,” but rather from www.malestudies.org, a site that makes a compelling case for the creation of a male studies major.

Historically, the oppression of women was once so severe that their contributions were lost with the passage of time. As women’s studies programs sprouted during the feminist movement, these once discounted contributions were rightly appreciated, empowering women to continue breaking barriers and fighting oppression.

Oppression, as defined by Merriam Webster, is “the unjust or cruel exercise of authority or power.” It is an act of one person over another. It’s difficult to mention feminism and not mention the fight against oppression.

The women’s movement aims to eradicate oppression, and while it’s fair to say men did not and do not face oppression, every demographic — including men — faces obstacles. Every gender, age, race and culture has unique barriers inhibiting its success. In the near future, the obstacles facing men will enter uncharted territory.

According to a September article in USA Today, women may soon outnumber men in the workforce. For the first time ever.

Tom Mortenson, of “The BoysProject,” sifted through census data and calculated ratios comparing men to women. Some of the results are alarming:

“For every 100 women enrolled in college, there are 77 men enrolled.

“For every 100 girls expelled from public elementary and secondary schools, 335 boys are expelled.

“For every 100 women ages 18 to 21 in correctional facilities, there are 1,430 men behind bars.”

Black or white, gay or straight, rich or poor, men aren’t beating the odds. Are these statistics the product of a gross societal oversight? What are the factors leading to these drastic disparities?

This rampant evolution of half our society deserves a closer look. A male studies program would provide an appropriate avenue for discussing and studying the forces shaping the modern male. Do these obstacles differ between men of different backgrounds? Have historical transgressions made us sensitive to assertive males? Can systems currently failing men, like education and corrections, be revamped without degrading the progress made by women?

The creation of a male studies program would not mark the end of the feminist movement. Perfect parity of the genders will never exist, because some obstacles may never be eliminated. Men and women may someday be equal, but we will never be the same. Men of the past oppressed women, but that doesn’t mean we can ignore the quiet unrest brewing in the Y-chromosome.

In this time of intense budget cuts, a male studies program may not be the best idea. However, we would like to see the department of women’s studies add a few experimental classes focusing on emerging male issues. Inevitably, this would benefit men and women alike and fulfill the department’s mission of “forg[ing] new scholarship based on the centrality of gender as a category of analysis.”