No Apology Necessary

In a recent mathNEWS a list called "Top 10 Rejected Froshweek Themes With Potential Team Names" was published. At the time of this writing it could be found at http://www.mathnews.uwaterloo.ca/Issues/mn9002/froshtheme.php. One of the themes listed was "Derogatory Terms for Women". Early last week, the writer was approached by members of women's groups on campus demanding a written and public apology to the women on campus for the content of the article, which they found offensive.

We would like to say, as females (and Mathies to boot), that we found the article amusing rather than offensive. The author did not call the list "Acceptable" or "Deserving" names for women; in no way did the author imply that women were sluts, hos, or the other names given. This was not a joke demeaning women, it was a joke about bad things to call people. We have never been met with anything less than respect from our male Mathie counterparts and we realize that the article was not meant to degrade us or call us names.

We resent the demanding of an apology. It labels us as a gender to be ridiculously sensitive and insecure henpeckers. If the list had been made for men instead of women, would anyone have batted an eyelash? We're not against women's rights and agree that there are still battles to be fought, but this shouldn't be one of them.

We don't need the apology.

Leanne Bradley (3B Applied Math)
Diana Chisholm (2A Actuarial Science)
Gina Jackson (3B Applied Math)
Liz Wong (3B Applied Math)
Leslie Finlay (3B Applied Math)