Feminism not just for women’s cause

With women constantly in the news, from Hillary Clinton to Angelina Jolie, modern feminism often hides behind big names. With a female Speaker of the House, female presidential candidates and female CEOs topping big corporations across the globe, many people view the feminist movement as a thing of the past. Yet even with the decline of feminism, the GCSU Feminist Club continues to grow in size and intensity with the new semester.

The feminist club provides a venue for discussion, debate and support to GCSU students, male and female alike. Kim O’Toole, club president, mentioned that as a young club they still spend time defining feminism.

“We realize that feminism means something different to each person,” O’Toole said. “The feminist club goal is to incorporate all aspects of feminism into our common goal of equality.”

The club also addresses the importance of modern feminism.
“I feel like the problems we encounter are a lot more subtle than in years past,” club secretary Meghan Fleming said. “People don’t think there’s a need for feminism anymore, when in fact there is a need for it more than ever.”

The subtle signs of female struggles still appear in the modern world, from women fighting for equal rights internationally to Hillary Clinton, who listened as male protesters shouted at her tour bus, “Iron my shirt!”

The GCSU feminist group wants to address these issues.
“This is a great group for people who might not know the facts,” Fleming said. “And for people who want a tolerant, open-minded discussion.”

At a recent Feminist Club meeting, members heatedly discussed the ways that people view the feminist movement.

“I think that after so many feminist movements there has been a backlash,” Feminist Club vice president Alexandra White said. “Even though people agree with equal rights for men and women, they have this negative association with the word ‘feminism.’”

After the meeting, members of the feminist club met with other campus organizations to hear guest speaker Dr. Cecily McDaniel, a graduate of Xavier University and Ohio State University. McDaniel gave an inspiring speech, addressing racism and feminism in the past and in the modern context of the current presidential election. McDaniel spoke passionately about the dual issues of race and gender and by the end of her narration, discussion bubbled through the room.

“[Feminism] is certainly something we need to be aware of,” McDaniel said. “We still need to keep it in our minds, what the struggle was and is about.”

McDaniel promoted awareness of every ‘ism,’ especially racism and feminism. She encouraged young men and women to vote in the upcoming election and reminded young feminists to remain active.

“These young women, both black and white, remind us that feminism is evolutionary,” McDaniel said. “The younger generation is defining what [feminism] means.”

In that spirit, the GCSU Feminist Club continues to define, discuss and debate political and social women’s issues. The group discusses all subjects. To the club, any concern affecting women counts as a feminist issue.

“We are not hairy, angry, sexist, bra-burning man-haters,” O’Toole said.

The feminist club meets every Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. in the Women’s Resource Center. They encourage all who are interested to attend.

“We are a diverse group of people,” Fleming said. “No one should feel like an outsider coming in.”

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Sep 26 2008. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry