Rowan University is a school dedicated to promoting a positive and equal environment in which all students can safely, and freely express their opinions, feelings and ideas, regardless of their race, sexuality, religion, or gender.
Last semester the office of Social Justice Inclusion and Conflict Resolution (room 118 in Robinson Hall), started “Patchwork: A Feminist Conversation Series.” According to the recent Facebook event page for the most recent Conversation, this program invites “Students who self-identify as women… to a women’s consciousness raising dialogue geared at making meaning of and stitching together women’s multiple intersecting identities.” The goal of the conversation was for attendees to learn how to talk about their experiences and engage in a community building process to connect women to Rowan University. Each generation of women has a different perspective on what it is like to be a woman in the society in which they live, and these conversations will show that even within one generation, perspectives are all different.
This week, I attended. The Conversation was the 2nd for the semester, and certainly not the last.
Though the number of attendees was small (5 students including myself, and 2 leaders; 1 faculty member and 1 graduate intern), the conversation was large.
Instead of giving you an agenda of what happened, I thought I would list some memorable quotes. No names are associated with these quotes, for two reason. First of all, each was said multiple times by several people, and everyone was able to relate to each of them on some level. Second, as a disclaimer, I told the attendees that I would respect their privacy and abstain from naming them. I hope that these quotes resonate with you on some level, and make you think about how the women you know are affected by something that you may see as questionably small. If you are a woman, I hope this gives you the courage to speak out and learn something new about the women with whom you share a generation.
A few quotes that led the discussion were:
“Every time we liberate a woman, we liberate a man” – Margaret Mead.
“I just love bossy women. I could be around them all day. To me, bossy is not a pejorative term at all. It means somebody’s passionate and engaged and ambitious and doesn’t mind leading” – Amy Poehler.
The conversations varied from experiences women had regarding their place in society, to how women are portrayed by, and to, others.
“We are afraid of change, we don’t know what will happen.”
“We say sorry because we feel like a bother.”
“It’s hard to challenge the way things are without being made fun of or not taken seriously enough.”
“When men cry in public, people say ‘aww,’ and give standing ovations. They see it as powerful. But when women cry, we’re weak?”
“Men face double standards too, but women are not always open to seeing them.”
“A bossy woman is a bitch… A bossy man is a leader.”
“I’m NOT sorry.”
If you are intersted in attending, please contact the SJICR office at socialjustice@rowan.edu