Caitlin McLaughlin, a sophomore English major from Pottstown, Pa., serves as the meeting moderator for Drexel University’s Students Advocating Feminism and Equality (SAFE). As meeting moderator, Caitlin plans and leads the meetings for SAFE. She brings a lot to the organization, but has also taken away a great deal of knowledge about feminism and equality from her time with SAFE.
SAFE aims to educate Drexel’s campus about feminist issues, promote equality, and potentially remedy some of the problems they see on campus. SAFE hosts meetings that serve as a safe place for people of all genders on campus to talk about topics that pertain to feminism and equality. Some of the topics they’ve discussed at meetings include sl*t shaming, rape culture, relationships and feminism, masculinity and feminism, non-binary genders, and feminist history.
SAFE also hosts events across campus to try and reach out to the Drexel community. In the past, they’ve done an event to educate the community about practicing safe sex. Coming up, they’re pairing up with Her Campus Drexel to host an event to educate about self-confidence and personal care and offer a yoga class.
Caitlin became interested in feminism when she noticed, as a woman, the inequalities that she faces. She participated in her high school’s Gay-Straight Alliance, and she was looking for an organization at Drexel that focused on social justice, and she found SAFE at Activities Unlimited her freshman year. She started acting as the meeting moderator her sophomore year.
As meeting moderator, Caitlin is in charge of creating an outline of each SAFE meeting based on a topic that she and the rest of the organization decide together. Caitlin has to think of questions that can facilitate a discussion. Some of the past topics she’s lead at SAFE include masculinity and feminism, “is femininity feminist?”, nonbinary genders, an introduction to feminism and feminist history, and an introduction to feminism and “what made you a feminist?”
Caitlin says it can be hard trying to come up with discussions for the meetings because a lot of the topics are very difficult. She has trouble choosing the perfect questions that will encourage people to share their opinion, but leave the questions open-ended enough so there is a wide array of opinions and a lot of things to say.
Caitlin has grown a lot through her time with SAFE. She’s learned some practical skills, such as how to budget time in a meeting and stick to an agenda. She also learned how to lead a meeting that is based on the ideas that people have. “I like the dialogue that takes place,” she said, “and being able to guide that conversation.”
The position has also educated her even more about feminism and equality. Before Drexel and SAFE, her view of feminism was mainly focused on gay white women. “I was able to see that there were issues outside of my sphere and my experiences,” she said. Caitlin has started learning about feminism beyond what she sees on the Internet and has started reading books by authors such as Kate Bornstein and bell hooks.
When asked if SAFE affected her career path at all, Caitlin said, “it completely changed it.” When Caitlin first came to Drexel, she was a counseling major, but after being exposed to literary influences and feminist theory, she switched over to English. Now, she wants to get her PhD in English literature and become a professor and she is interested in concentrating on feminist writers.
Along with feminism and SAFE, Caitlin has a diverse set of hobbies, interests, and responsibilities. She loves comic books—her favorite is currently the Spider-Gwen series—and she blogs about Marvel-related news. She also watches a lot of Netflix, specifically Jessica Jones, Supernatural, and Dare Devil. Caitlin also works at the Drexel Writing Center, serves as an RA in North Hall, is a TA for a civic engagement class, and participates in the literary internship for 5027mac, a commentary site for news and culture affiliated with the Drexel Publishing Group.
Caitlin’s dedication to SAFE helps the meetings run smoothly to enlighten the Drexel community about feminism and equality. Her time with SAFE has changed her career plans and encouraged her to pursue her passions. In the future she’s going to continue spreading the knowledge of feminism.
If you’re interested in learning more about feminism, attend a SAFE meeting or come to our upcoming event!