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Volume CXXXIII, Number 8 |
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Bringing men to the table
If you recently checked your mail or purchased something at the C-Store without getting a female vibe, you were probably wearing a blindfold and earplugs.
The Bowdoin Women's Association and the V-Day Bowdoin College 2004 campaign were visible presences on campus this week. Both staffed tables in Smith Union to promote events-Red Shirt Day for V-Day, and an activist's lecture for BWA.
Female members comprise the majority of campus associations that address issues like sexual violence, pregnancy, and reproductive health. Jane Roberts, co-founder of the 34 Million Friends of UNFPA organization, spoke to a an almost entirely female audience in Kresge last night. Jennifer Finney Boylan, a transgendered Colby professor, delivered a talk two nights before. Again, most of the faces in the crowd were female.
Events and organizations like these have come to be known exclusively as "feminist" or "women's" issues because males typically do not take part. According to many males, the lack of participation stems from a feeling of alienation. It is common for men at Bowdoin to perceive "women's" issues as politically correct, oversensitive, and irrelevant.
Many women involved with feminism and activism believe that more men should participate. They are correct in that desire, because pregnancy and sexual violence, among many other topics addressed by "women's" groups, concern all-not half-of the population. Yet the fundamental differences in perception block true integration and cooperation between the sexes.
It is heartening to see men stand up and volunteer their time for BWA and V-Day. If these groups are to effectively change Bowdoin and the world beyond for the better, more men must come to the table.
In order for this to happen, "women's" organizations must decide whether they wish to empower females at the cost of male participation, or if they can incorporate a more inclusive atmosphere into the important work they already do.
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