Judge Recommends Dismissing Suit Against Columbia's Women's Studies Program

Crusading men's rights lawyer Roy Den Hollander has vowed to fight on in his battle to force Columbia University to drop its women’s studies program, after a magistrate judge’s recent recommendation to dismiss his case. You may recall Hollander from such previous hit lawsuits as the fight against ladies' nights and his suit against the federal government's Violence Against Women Act.

But what you might not know is that, according to the Columbia Spectator, Hollander's gender-based litigiousness began after he learned that the wife he brought to the U.S. from Russia was a prostitute connected with the Chechen mafia! A scuffle with her after this discovery is what ran him afoul of the Violence Against Women Act.

In August, Hollander filed his most recent lawsuit against Columbia University, arguing that feminism is a religion and that a women’s studies department inherently violates the First Amendment. He also maintains that the university is "in violation of the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment," and insists that Columbia ought to offer an equivalent men’s studies program if it's going to use government funding.

in a press release, Hollander says, "The Magistrate Judge’s recommendations go to Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, who will decide whether to accept, reject or modify them—bet he accepts them, and then there will be an appeal to the Second Circuit. It’s not the law, and I like to think I’m not that masochistic."

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By John Del Signore in News on April 21, 2009 11:29 AM

Comments [rss]

ides_of_march

women's studies = man-hating, lesbian bitchfest for college credit.

Papercutninja

I've taken womyn's(hahah, a y so there's no MEN in it) studies classes at my college, and the material is not man-bashing. Some (not all) of the more misguided students are though.

lushintransit

I don't recall talking about men much more than general in a general recognition sense in any of my past women's studies courses. I guess I missed that day. I guess by applying this logic African American studies do nothing more than talk about how much they hate white people, right?

ides_of_march

Probably.

valeriob

you forgot to mention the feminactivists and feminazis who do it for fun.

StinaLES

First of all, HOME EC and DANCING are no longer associated with one sex.

I also highly doubt that courses focused on female plight are man-bashing seminars.

Maybe we should get rid of Asian Studies, African American and Native American study programs? If I remember correctly, these groups were also suppressed by the dominant white male throughout American history. But maybe that's too religious an opinion for Hollander.

valeriob

Who let you out of the kitchen?

Kojak

Her chain must've been too loose. Us men can make mistakes too I guess...

hotstepper

"...these groups were also suppressed by the dominant white male throughout American history..."

thanks for proving my point.

lushintransit

So...white men have never been dominant over any other type of group and have never suppressed anyone? Her (I'm assuming gender here...) comment wasn't yellow--it was historical fact. Remember women not having the right to...anything in the US for awhile? Slavery based on color? Holocaust?

valeriob

How else are dudes at Columbia supposed to meet chicks?

They stop teaching home-ec in middle school, and dancing/learning an instrument is too difficult.

schizofriendly

Once the doctor-playing age hits, kids worldwide should be put in mandatory Gender Studies classes. They need to be told about how male people and female people are different. Not just on the outside, but on the inside as well! They are different chemically! And sometimes, these chemicals make people act like a pain in the heinie. But, still, we have to respect and tolerate both male people and female people. Because bad things happen we we don't.

Papercutninja

while i don't disagree that us men are now one of the few groups that can be openly discriminated against, this guy is a fucking DOUCHE. I've heard some interviews with him, and as it turns out, he was BURNED by a divorce and is now bent on ruining the lives of women everywhere. He isn't doing this because he believes that men and women are equal; he's doing it because he's angry at his ex-wife and therefore hates all women. The guy acts like a spoiled 13 year old dickhead who didn't get his way. I don't want shitstains like him representing us.

VanessaNYC

"while i don't disagree that us men are now one of the few groups that can be openly discriminated against"

Really? REALLY? Men are one of the few groups that can openly be discriminated against??! Do you ever read the comments on Gothamist? Many people are happy to openly bash women (aka: cunts, bitches, sluts and whores) gays and people of other cultures and skin colors.

Papercutninja

I agree with you that when anonymous ESPECIALLY on the internet, people tend to get racist/sexist/homophobic. BUT in public (ie mainstream media, at the office, etc) wherever people can be held accountable, men are the only ones that can be discriminated against.

For instance, pay attention to ANY tv commercial geared towards a family audience. 9 times out of 10, the father of the family is portrayed as a buffoon and the mother is the saving grace of the family. If it was reversed, women's groups would be carrying pitchforks and setting bonfires.

OR, a real-life situation (not one i am personally part of because i play by the "rules"). An office setting, a woman says "All men are whores". Everyone laughs. Conversely, a man says "All women are whores". Guess who gets hauled off to HR for a talking-to?

snickerdoodle

FTW.

hotstepper

this guy may or may not be a nut, but this will not be the last such lawsuit as men begin to stand up to man-bashing that occurs under the guise of political correctness. women's studies has long been a blanket term for teaching misandry. currently, a particular issue spearheading such a movement is "father's rights" which seeks to fight discrimination against men in family courts.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fathers%27_rights_movement

lushintransit

I genuinely don't think you know what a liberal arts Women's Studies curriculum looks like anymore. For the most part, you read novels by women's authors and trace women's rights and roles throughout the World. I'm sure some institutions do the whole "GRRR men are dumb women rulz let's burn bRAS!" thing but that's not the tangential drive behind most of them--much in the same way a major in African American studies isn't propagating hatred of the white man.

Politburo

This has nothing to do with father's rights, which is a legitimate issue.

hotstepper

good catch genius. it's almost like my whole comment was about father's rights and nothing else.

Politburo

You attempted to link father's rights with this lawsuit, or lawsuits of this type: "currently, a particular issue spearheading such a movement..."

They are completely distinct. Father's rights is not political correctness in reverse, which is what this lawsuit is.

hotstepper

the comment was about an uprising against misandry (in courts, higher education, what have you) not this particular lawsuit, as clearly prefaced when i wrote "this guy may or may not be a nut..."

moving on now.

hotstepper

the comment was about an uprising against misandry (in courts, higher education, what have you) not this particular lawsuit, as clearly prefaced when i wrote "this guy may or may not be a nut..."

moving on now.

Snoopy

Is this Xaviera's brother or first cousin? The name rings a bell.

Felix Hoenikker

Ah, memories.

Dirk

This guy sounds like a real moron.

Kojak

Even though I do disagree with his fight against ladies' nights, he has my full support against these classes teaching tripe such as female empowerment and the burning of bras.

If the class focused on baking & knitting perhaps they wouldn't have been sued.