I am a college freshman at a Liberal Arts College in New York and I am majoring in Film and Television. This year has taken a toll on our country and, as a female going through her first year of college during this time, it has taken its toll on me. I was here during the start of the “Me Too” movement, I was here during the allegations against many powerful men, and it was here that I decided to pursue an academic minor of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies.
I have always been curious about women’s history since it wasn’t really taught in my previous classes. I knew that women were different than men, but in my classes as a child I was made to believe that women were inferior to men (this was because women were not represented in any history classroom). I am here to tell you that this is WRONG. I knew that this was wrong at a young age because my brother and I were treated equally in my family. However, many young people do not understand that girls and boys have the same abilities. This is where my Introduction to Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies course comes in. This course should be offered at every single college, even male dominated ones, because the information taught is extremely helpful for every single human on the planet. Honestly, it should be taught in elementary, middle and, high schools because when taught at a young age it has more of an impact on the lives of those who learn about it. Young students will begin to be more aware of the injustices in our world and the right ways to go about changing those injustices. The course is still being modified because the course wasn’t even offered in the United States until about 1970, and now this course even covers topics within LGBTQ+ rights (hence the title Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies). The course teaches you new thoughts about feminism in the world and in The United States. For example, in my class we are reading a book called Feminism is For Everybody and in it, the author reminds us that feminism is not about being anti-male. Instead, it is about being anti-sexist. That is one of the biggest issues that I think our world has with feminism. Many believe that feminism is the fact that feminists hate all men and that is simply not true. Feminists are talking about the fact that men have oppressed and excluded women since the beginning of time and we are now trying to take back our basic rights. One must understand the oppression and sexism of the world in order to take it down.
Every single female should be represented in the classroom and until that happens in elementary, middle and, high schools every woman should take a women’s studies course. I am disappointed and frustrated by the fact that it is 2018 and I still need to remind girls, young and old, that women matter. You matter.