The West Texas A&M University Gender Studies Certificate Program hosted their second Faces of Feminism discussion of the year. The panel discussion was held on Thursday, April 23, in the Recital Hall of the Sybil B. Fine Arts Complex.
The featured panelists were Dr. Sarah Vartabedian, assistant professor of Communication; Dr. Amy Von Lintel, assistant professor of Art, Theatre and Dance; and Dr. Matthew Reardon, assistant professor of History.
The event was part of an ongoing initiative to highlight women’s and gender studies at WT. The faculty members featured on the panel incorporate these concepts into their courses.
Alice Miller-MacPhee moderated the discussion, during which the panel discussed their background with feminism and how feminism came to affect their lives. Miller-MacPhee believes it is important to discuss feminism to establish more of a sense of equality on campus and to break down some of the common misconceptions about feminism.
“I think [feminism] has become such a polarizing term, and having a very frank and honest discussion about what feminism is and what it means to faculty, students and staff is really important for understanding how we can have a more equitable campus,” Miller-MacPhee said. “How do we create greater equality both in our personal lives and on campus as a general campus community?”
She said the goal and importance of the discussion was creating open and honest dialogue that will ultimately create a culture of equality.
Miller-MacPhee discussed some of the common misconceptions about feminism and what it is. She said that perhaps the most common is the idea that you have to be anti-male and bash men.
“All of the panelists on this panel and on the panel in November talked about this idea of equality,” Miller-MacPhee said. “So it’s not anti-any person or any group. It’s advocating equality for everyone.”
During the discussion, Reardon talked about feminism from the male perspective. He said it is important for men to talk about these issues because they need to be aware of why men historically have dominated women.
“[We need to know] why, as men, we feel like dominating women is part of what it means to be man,” Reardon said. “Until we have those discussions,
I don’t think anything fundamental is going to change.”
Reardon said men cannot be on the outside looking in, but they must be part of the change. He touched on some of the objections he thinks men currently have against the concept of feminism.
“Some people have said, ‘Oh, we’re already there. Women have reached a sense of equality in society,’” he said. “A lot of men just want to go, ‘It’s done. We’ve reached it. [Women] have gotten the right to vote, and [women] have gotten the right to work. Why are we still having this discussion?’ I think a lot of it is men just feel threatened because they’ve been taught to not be dominated by anyone, much less a woman.”
Reardon said objections to feminism are often about power, and anytime the power dynamic seems to have skewed in favor of women over men, men feel threatened. He said it is common for men to think their role is to rule the family, and until that mentality is effaced, men will continue to feel threatened every time a woman is in a position of authority.
An audience member presented the panelist with a question about compliance with feminist concepts and values in a group setting. The question asked how to get others to comply with the feminist values.
Reardon gave the advice of asking those who are not compliant why they are not. He said without discussion, nothing will change.
Vartabedian said people often aren’t compliant because they have been able to get by with an uncritical stance in their life and they haven’t questioned it.
“You may not gain compliance,” Vartabedian responded. “If they can’t articulate why it is they are unwilling to have this conversation, they need to figure out where that comes from. They haven’t questioned it because that’s the whole point of privilege, right? Why question the status quo?”
For more information about the Certificate in Gender Studies at WT, visit www.wtamu. edu/genderstudies.
