By Timothy James Davis

“The barrier is broken, the egg is cracked and there is no way to unscramble it.”

This very confused analogy was offered by John Bonzhof, law professor at George Washington University regarding Shannon Faulkner’s successful entrance into The Citadel, and her recent departure.

Yes, the barrier is broken. But if the gleeful, cheering cadets at The Citadel are any indication, it is a barrier that may undergo some repairs and reconstruction.

While many within the Citadel are citing Faulkner’s withdrawal from the all-male military academy as a victory for tradition, others are regarding the 20-year old woman’s acceptance into the state-sponsored school a victory for equal rights.

Faulkner, citing stress and fatigue, withdrew from the academy after a 2-1/2 year long court battle to allow her to attend the school. The legal fight still continues, but will do so without Faulkner.

And while Faulkner will be able to step out of the political hotseat, the issues and questions raised by her situation will, and should, remain for the rest of us to debate. Questions such as:

1) Will legislation and judicial process ever be enough to change the mindset of prejudiced peoples? While the courts may have said Faulkner had a right to attend The Citadel, the joyful cadets prancing and skipping for the cameras after hearing the news of her departure showed The Citadel to be of another school of thought.

This display was a sickening illustration of sexism at its basest, wrapped in comfy and unfatigueable words like tradition and “honor.” Anyone thinking otherwise need only think of the 30 other cadets who bowed out of The Citadel for similar physical ailments (and without the psychological problems Faulkner experienced) without the illustrious send off Faulkner received.

2) When will people be judged on merely their talents and abilities regardless of sex, race, creed or sexual preference?

While Faulkner may not have been able to handle the physical rigors of academy life, this doesn’t lead to a blanket generalization regarding women. Let’s see the cadets tell the American Gladiator women or Gabrielle Reece that they’re physically unsuitable for rigorous training.

3) When will this infamous “society” I keep hearing about take responsibility for a conception that allows people to find validation in their bigotry and prejudices?

I was watching a television news channel during which a “man on the street” said that Faulkner should have expected the treatment she received from other cadets. Okay, so sexism in America is a reality; you can’t argue with that. But simply because it exists doesn’t mean we have to accept prejudice, or put up with it, or let it continue.

Does anyone think Reginald Denny was saying to himself as his head was bouncing off the Los Angeles concrete by a couple of black men, “Well, there’s racial tension in L.A., so I guess I should just accept this severe beating as one of life’s little lessons?”

4) When will we recognize that when we applaud successful women, we are not only praising them for their determination and perseverance in an often sexist society, but should be criticizing a culture that makes their success so noteworthy?

I would submit that when someone battles against the odds and succeeds, we should spend less time patting them on the back and more time analyzing the odds against which they were battling.

To go off on a little tangent here, I was discussing the rather odd issue of RuPaul with an amateur drag queen. Our point of contention was RuPaul’s tendency to refer to himself as a “she” when he clearly was a male. He argued that this was America and RuPaul had a right to call himself whatever he wanted.

My feeling is that in our society, it takes a lot more than throwing on a dress and a wig to be a woman.

The struggles they must endure, the prejudices they must face, the often institutionalized sexism like that found at The Citadel are testament to the fact that perhaps our nation has not come as far as we had thought in the 75 years since women won a voice in the social arena.

Yes, Dr. Bonzhof, the barrier is broken. But it will be a great day when the barrier is only a bad memory, long ago torn down, a grim reminder of an age when we regarded people as less than equal.

Timothy James Davis is a junior from Carlisle. He is the Iowa State Daily’s Opinion Page Editor.