The F Word: What Does Feminism Mean to You?

Jordan Haiduk / The Bulletin

Student athlete Shelly Marsh, junior secondary education major, speaks on the feminist panel.

In honor of Women’s History Month, People Organizing for Women’s Equal Rights (POWER) presented “The F Word,” on Tuesday night.

A panel of ESU students discussed their opinions about feminism and their experiences. The backgrounds of the panel members varied to include a male feminist, a member of the Chi Omega sorority, the president of POWER, and an ESU women’s soccer player.

“We wanted to address current feminism and not just history,” said Rachel Reeves, senior political science major and president of POWER. “In a college, you need to address these issues to young women so they understand what’s affecting them today because this may be the first time they hear about feminism.”

One aspect that the panel discussed was the importance of having male allies in feminism. Several men attended the event and felt compelled to express their support of women’s rights.

“I feel that feminism is an issue that needs to be understood on campus and any event that brings notice to feminist issues is important for one to partake in,” said Chris Janssen, senior environmental biology major. “I would describe myself as a feminist… because equality for all shouldn’t be a gender issue. POWER is standing up for women’s rights for equality that I, as a man, have.”

Another topic of discussion was centered around Hillary Clinton’s campaign for the presidency in this year’s election.

“As a Hillary supporter, I think that Hillary has seen more attacks on both sides than any other candidate because she is a woman,” Reeves said. “She is pulled on both sides. She’s being too masculine, she’s being too feminine. She has to be so many different things to everybody…we hold a lot higher expectations of her than we do any other candidate.”

When asked about any inequality on campus, panelists talked about how the Women’s Center, which lost funding, is no longer available on campus. The center provided a place for women to talk to professionals about problems and to seek help in cases of abuse. Some of these services are still offered in the counseling center, but not to the same degree as before. The panel discussed the importance of men becoming a part of feminist discussions, especially because of the effects that men have on women in society.

“We see so much sexual abuse done by men and in order to address that, we need to have a conversation with men,” Reeves said. “They need to understand that it isn’t about women against men, it’s about having equal rights.”

Shelley Marsh, a junior secondary education and Spanish major, discussed the positive role that Title IX had in her life as a soccer player at ESU. Senior Ashley Mahoney, a member of Chi Omega, talked about the differences of sisterhood in sororities and feminism. Harrison George, a sophomore sociology and history major, discussed his background as a male feminist and the barriers between the sexes.

“Men have a really big problem with admitting that they don’t always have to have the upper-hand in a lot of situations,” George said. “Men are afraid that if they feed more power to women that they will quickly be dominated. I think one of the biggest barriers between men and women right now is the media. The media is trying to tell society what kind of people they need to be based on their gender.”

Approximately 20 students and faculty attended the event and many attendees were impressed with the diversity of the panel.

“I enjoyed the range of people that they had on the panel,” said Jillian Thien, sophomore English literature major from Kansas State. “They had a man, a sorority girl, a jock and a very self-proclaimed feminist. I think it’s really cool that they had so many people give so many different perspectives.”