**TW: Sexual Assault**
**THIS IS A PERSONAL ENDORSEMENT**
“What does feminism mean to you?” is a loaded question. Growing up, I never understood why identifying as a woman would ever deter me from successes or opportunities. I loved the color pink, One Direction, shopping for clothes with my mom, getting my nails done, and ordering drinks off the Starbucks secret menu. At the same time, I competed with the boys in my class for higher test scores and faster mile times in PE. And you know what? Oftentimes, I won. My femininity has never been my weakness, it has always been my strength. That is, until I hit the real world.
The real world is your advisor asking “Well, aren’t you going to have a husband?” when discussing career paths in office hours. The real world is noticing that all of your political science professors have been men. The real world is observing your classes and realizing that the voices most eager and comfortable to share their opinions are, oftentimes, those of males. The real world is that only 397 women have ever served in Congress, 5 on the Supreme Court, 1 as Vice President, and 0 as President (Keep in mind that I am writing this article as a white woman. Governmental representation is even lower for women of color, women of lower socio-economic classes, and LGBTQ+ women). The real world is a man’s world.
Given this, you could imagine my excitement when I heard Anna and Erin were running for SGA co-presidents for the 2022-2023 academic year. Last week, I sat with them and discussed their campaign and goals for the Holy Cross community:
“What does feminism mean to you?”
Anna: For me, feminism means power in yourself and power in people around you. It means supporting everyone and prioritizing those who haven’t been prioritized before, like women and people of color. Above all, it is making sure that everyone has a voice.
Erin: Feminism is agency. It is the freedom to do what you want and to live your life according to your own rules. Even in semi-recent history, women couldn’t have credit cards in their names. Today, a lot of women still don’t have the agency to get the jobs they want, be paid the same, or be accepted in society. We always need to think about our place in society and how we can interact with people who are less privileged than us. We need to work to help others. Lifting up the women around you will lift up yourself, as well.
“Why is it important to have two female co-presidents?”
Both: The idea of electing two female presidents being important may seem silly in 2022, but the very notion that it is something to be considered shows the power it holds. In the almost 50 years (yes, it hasn’t even been 50 years, yet!!) since women were first admitted to Holy Cross, there has only been one set of female co-presidents. We make up over half of the school population. There has never been a female president of the college. So, except for on one occasion, at least two-thirds, if not all, of the leadership of Holy Cross has been male dominated. And this is not to say men shouldn’t be included in the leadership of Holy Cross. Instead, we believe it is time for women to occupy important leadership roles at Holy Cross at the same rate as men.
“Why does having two female co-presidents matter?”
Both: To be honest, being a woman in college is terrifying. The statistics are stacked against you. At a school like Holy Cross, where I think many women – and men – would agree the culture is often male dominated, you feel the discomfort of being a woman on a college campus almost everywhere you go. Whether it’s in class, where your professors inform you that they know of the problems the college faces but has no plans to fix them or tell anyone or when you are walking at night and realize you can’t find a trusted male friend to walk you home or when you overhear ‘locker room talk’ in Kimball and Dinand. Regardless of where it is, all women at Holy Cross have experienced these moments. And yet nothing is done to protect over half of our student body. That is what we plan to change.
For first years, having a guiding light of women as presidents to look up to (through Red Zone) would be very meaningful, and it doesn’t always have to come from people in positions of power. We believe that it is important to have a female’s perspective, especially in regards to Title IX. As something that often gets brushed under the rug, we really want to prioritize sexual assault prevention and support for survivors. At Holy Cross, sexual assault tends to be a more female-dominated experience. We hear people say that it “happens everywhere,” but the truth is that it doesn’t have to. You should feel comfortable on campus in such an especially small, close-knit community.
We understand the fear of being a woman in college and we know that college is meant to be a time of growth and empowerment. As co-presidents, this will be our goal. We will bring our experiences as women in college to each decision we make and prioritize the safety and comfort of all students. As we said, men have been a part of every single student government leadership role in HC history. Except one. It is important that women occupy leadership positions at a school where we make up half the population. All people, especially all those who identify as female, deserve to see themselves represented just as men always have.
Despite the results of the election, we must applaud Anna and Erin and women like Vice President Kamala Harris and Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson for highlighting an important (though often forgotten) belief upon which our country was built: representation matters. Thank you, Anna and Erin, for showing us that two women can be SGA co-presidents, even at a previously all-male institution. I am rooting for you!!
REMINDER TO VOTE IN MYHC FROM MARCH 28-30TH!