The decline and fall of the West. Brought to you by your local academic institution.
When you think of genius or brilliance, you might think of an academic institution such as Cambridge. But that would be sexist. Because only men can be geniuses.
Cambridge University examiners are told to avoid using words like “flair”, “brilliance” and “genius” when assessing students’ work because they are associated with men, an academic has revealed.
Lucy Delap, a lecturer in British history at Cambridge University, said that History tutors are discouraged from using these terms because they “carry assumptions of gender inequality”.
What does genius have to do with gender inequality?
"We want to use language that is transparent," Dr Delap said. "We’re rewriting our first two years of our History degree to create a wider set of paper choices, to make assessment criteria clearer, and to really try and root out the unhelpful and very vague talk of ‘genius’, of ‘brilliance’, of ‘flair’ which carries assumptions of gender inequality and also of class and ethnicity."
Because only men can be brilliant. And if you disagree, you're sexist. And probably racist.
So genius needs to be replaced with transparent terms. Preferably non-gender ones. Maybe Xenius. Or Xilliant.
Anyway the solution is lots and lots of condescension.
Cambridge University's History Faculty runs confidence building workshops in the run up to exams, as it is thought that one reason why male and privately educated students are more likely to get first class degree is due to increased self-assurance.
Yes, the real secret to knowing about history is self-assurance. You don't even need to know anything about history. All you need is self-assurance. And self-confidence.
Academics are told to stick closely to the mark scheme when marking History essays, which assesses students’ ability to answer the questions, analytic skills and breadth of knowledge.
As opposed to?
Earlier this week it emerged that Oxford University’s History Faculty is to allow students to sit exams at home in an attempt to close the gender gap.
The university was criticised for the “insulting” decision, with a leading academic warning that the decision implies women are the “weaker sex”.
Which is the whole goal. Keep the people you're trying to "help" down, cripple their abilities, and then promise to protect them.