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Volume CXXXIII, Number 9 |
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Sticking to our primary mission
To the Editors:
We would like to thank you for bringing the issue of male involvement in feminist groups on campus to the forefront. It has spurred conversation both within our group and between our group's members and other people. We would like to address a few points made in the editorial and pose a few questions.
Firstly, you write, "Events and organizations like these [V-Day and BWA] have come to be known exclusively as 'feminist' or 'women's' issues because males typically do not take part." To clarify, feminist is not equivalent to woman. To describe someone or something as feminist in this day and age has a multiplicity of meanings, but it NEVER specifies female sex or gender.
Additionally, the editorial goes on to say that Bowdoin men "perceive 'women's' issues as politically correct, oversensitive, and irrelevant." This apparently is why Bowdoin men feel alienated from BWA. In recent years, BWA has, among other activities, sponsored speakers on eating disorders and had discussions on women's health and reproductive rights. It is hard for us to believe that there is a single man on this campus who does not know at least one person who has either dealt with an eating disorder, is on the pill, or uses condoms. Some might see these issues as politically correct and oversensitive, and they are entitled to that opinion, but to call them irrelevant is ludicrous.
The editor then writes, "If these groups are to effectively change Bowdoin and the world beyond for the better, more men must come to the table." BWA agrees with this statement wholeheartedly. Real social change requires many different kinds of people working together. Our group has both male and female active members of all different backgrounds who work to carry out the activities we organize and attain our goal of increasing campus awareness of gender issues on campus, in America, and around the world.
Our wholehearted agreement with that statement makes our disagreement with the sentence that followed even more vehement. The editor writes, "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." The editor seems to make a direct correlation between women's empowerment and lack of male participation. This is a common misconception about the way feminist movements work. It is not a logical argument when you actually know what feminist groups do. BWA is not, and has no intention of being, a group that empowers people through the disempowerment of others.
The only conclusion we can draw from the last part of the sentence quoted above is that the editor believes we should change the way we conduct our club's business. We have stated BWA's mission previously in this letter, but again we re-iterate, we are here to raise campus awareness of gender issues on campus, in America, and around the world. It is not our mission to increase male numbers in our club. We would love for that to happen, but with the time and money we do have, we are going to try to reach the goals set forth in our charter, just like every other club on campus.
Sincerely,
Bowdoin Women's Association
For information on sending a letter to the editor, please click here.
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