When he took office in 2021, Utah governor Spencer Cox, a Republican, made advancing "diversity, equity, and inclusion" a key priority. He appointed a high-level diversity officer to his administration. His senior leadership was put through a "21-Day Equity Challenge," which instructed them in microaggressions and antiracism.
The universities were on board. Utah State's annual diversity symposium featured talks such as "Decentering Whiteness." The university also required DEI statements from applicants to the faculty, explaining how they infused diversity and equity โ a focus on race, gender, sexual orientation, and other categories of "marginalization" โ into their work. Even for positions in fields such as insect ecology and lithospheric evolution.
Then, in December, Cox announced a different priority: reversing the excesses of DEI. At a press conference he said,
"We're using identitarianism to force people into boxes, and into victimhood, and I just don't think that's helpful at all. In fact, I think it's harmful." So harmful that he announced his intention to bar the use of diversity statements in faculty hiring, condemning the practice as "bordering on evil."
Comment: Crying generally triggers feelings of sympathy and concern so it's interesting to see that it has a physiological effect too. Some instinctively recognize this and cry to manipulate or control others. That's not to say all crying is manipulative, sometimes it can be due to despair or frustration. It would be interesting to see if the males in the study had the same response to tears from a child or another male.
As a side note, the study was conducted in Israel, one wonders if things would be any different if their male citizens could smell Palestinian women's tears...