One of my favorite college professors was my senior Seminar instructor.  He used a Mixx.com site to compile current events articles for our class to read each week.  They were articles that challenged our beliefs and encouraged debate.  Often he would choose articles that targeted me... challenging my feminism and environmentalism.  I read them religiously.  It was not a chore like homework was in other classes, and I still read them today.

The latest article I read is this one: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/04/opinion/04elsesser.html

It addresses the fact that the Oscars... and most award shows for that matter... pool awards based on gender.  Male actors/female actors, you get the idea.

I had never thought about this before.  And it made me wonder why.  We don't separate them based on race or anything else.  So why sex?  What do you think?

I just noticed this year on the "Memoriam" portion of the Oscars that females were referred to as actors and not actresses.  That is because the Screen Actors guild did away with the term actress many years ago.  Now the term is female actor.

Also, the Best Director catagory combines both sexes, and the first female, director of The Hurt Locker, won this year. 

It makes me think the catagories should be combined.  Separate is not equal.  Females continue to make great strides in this world and i think they deserve the chance to beat the men... and vice versa.

Not to mention, as the article says, the awards show would be shorter.  That's always a plus.

You can check out the other articles posted by my Northwest Missouri State Professor Fred Lamer.  I promise they will not disappoint.  http://www.mixx.com/users/fredlamer