If you’re a girl, you’ve definitely heard the word feminism thrown around by females and males alike. It’s such a popular topic, yet no one really knows what it is even about. Your guy friends might not love the idea of feminism, but they don’t really know why. If you’ve ever felt like you wanted to know more, or if you care about the ways that you can make a change in your own life to take power back and feel more in charge, the answer is simple: take a women’s studies class.
There are lots of reasons to take a Women’s Studies class in college, here are just ten reasons why a class in diversity studies will dramatically improve your life:
10. Because it carries divisional credit. Depending on your college, you can use this as your elective. Trust me, if you look at a list of classes that you can take to fulfill your sophomore and freshman year requirements, many of those classes can be opted out for a Women’s Studies class. You’ll get to talk about something you can be passionate about and at the same time you can get credit for completing your requirements.
9. Because your homework is to read articles and books about porn, Barbie dolls, sex, hooking up, growing up, tampons, magazines, the media, and a variety of other absolutely fascinating topics. You’ll never enjoy homework as much as you will enjoy your Women’s Studies homework. There’s nothing better than sitting back after a long day of classes and reading some Gail Dines or Barbara Berg.
8. Because if you’re like me, you get tired of people telling you that you can’t do things because you’re a girl. You get tired of boys making rude and stupid comments about women and you know it’s wrong, but you don’t exactly know how to put just exactly why it’s wrong. You get tired of older people telling you that one day you’re going to want to settle down and get married and have a husband and a couple of kids, when all you really want to do is be the determiner of your own destiny. You get tired of guys making sexist comments and you surely get tired of seeing the same old skinny, beautiful women everywhere and feeling like you can’t measure up. Want a place to express all your anger and frustration in an open and inviting environment? Join a Women’s Studies class.
7. Because it will alert you to things you didn’t even realize you were doing that is actually hurting you. Do you ever sit on the T and have the man next to you taking up more than his fair share of space? Ever notice how men stand and command space? If you didn’t, you’re just like me, because I had absolutely no idea. But after I took a class in which I read an article on posture and eye contact, I completely changed the way I held myself. No longer do I allow myself to sit passively as I allow others to run the conversation. No longer will I avoid eye contact because it’s endearing. And no longer will I allow the man next to me on the T to take up my leg room.
6. Because things definitely still aren’t equal for men and women. With shocking statistics coming out every single day about the tiny percentage of women with decision making jobs in the media, in television, in magazines, and advertising agencies that dictate the way that we see ourselves and that dictate the bodies we see in advertisements every day, I realize that as a woman moving into the workplace, I need to know about the world I’m getting into. And with sinful numbers of talented, extraordinary women not being paid attention to, even though they are accomplishing incredible things, I needed to wake up and smell the daisies that unfortunately, women still have to push a little harder than men to receive the same recognition.
5. Because in your Women’s Studies classes, you will be more honest with yourself and more honest with others. You’ll want to be honest about how you’re feeling and the more educated you are about the issues, the better you’ll be able to communicate how you feel when sexist situations do occur. You’ll be able to address guys better if they say something sexist and you’ll definitely be able to educate your friends on all of the amazing insights you’ll have.
4. Because you should really know Mary Shelley, Sojourner Truth, Jane Addams, Francis Wright, Susan B. Anthony, Alice Stone Blackwell, Josephine Butler, Annie Cooper, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucy Stone, Harriet Tubman, Beatrice Webb, Ida B. Wells, Joan Beauchamp, Elisabeth Freeman, Betty Friedan, Alice Paul, Margaret Sanger, Gloria Steinem, Gloria Anzaldua, Rita Mae Brown, Judith Butler, Beatrix Campbell, Hillary Clinton, Angela Davis, Gail DInes, Joan Jett, and you should know what they did for your freedoms. Check out these women’s stories.
3. Because you’ll have some of the most interesting teachers you’ll ever have in your life. You’ll be taught by the same women who fought in the Women’s Lib movement for your rights in the 60s and 70s. It’s so exciting to hear their stories and be able to soak up their wisdom and knowledge.
2. Because you’ll be the queen of dinner parties. Just wait until your friends and family hear your insights on politics, on the stars of the feminist movement, and on all of the everyday problems that most women can be blind to. You’ll be fascinating, not that you already weren’t, you just didn’t know how fascinating you truly are.
1. Because you will make some of the best friends you will ever have. You will have to face so many things that you never realized before. You will cry and you will laugh and you will be so angry. But mostly, you will relate, you will form connections with the other girls in that room that feel the exact same way that you do. You all will learn to have so much respect for the other women in your class. As you get farther and farther along in the class often times women will share incredibly personal and inspiring stories about themselves and other women that they knew. You all will share a special connection that others outside your WS class will never understand.