Picture this for a moment; it’s the 21st century and women and other marginalized minority groups are still not receiving the equality that is well deserved. Oh wait, that’s exactly what is still happening to this day. (I had to have a little fun with some sarcasm before diving into a serious topic).
I joined Her Campus last semester because I’m a huge advocate for women’s rights and for women achieving equality. This is my second semester in the organization and I recently have noticed a huge issue. While Her Campus is advocating for female empowerment, who’s advocating for the LGBTQ community and marginalized minority group’s empowerment? My name is Emma Muirhead and I think it is time for Her Campus to make the shift to ‘Our’ Campus.
Her Campus was launched in 2009 as a collegiate-focused magazine and as an online magazine as well. Her Campus focuses on female empowerment as well as surviving life as a female, college student. I’m a huge advocate for women’s rights and have been since I could understand the inequality that women have been facing and the inequality that we are still facing. I wasn’t sure what steps I could take when I was younger to actively advocate for women. Now that I am a student at SUNY Oneonta, I have access to start taking those steps and the first step for me was by joining Her Campus. Since I’ve joined last semester, I have actively written articles for our Chapter. I have always had a passion for writing, and now I can write about topics that I am also passionate about.
I am also a firm believer in equality for all. Yes, Her Campus discusses female oppression and inequalities, but there isn’t so much talk about the oppression that the LGBTQ community and marginalized minority groups face. At my school, I have been brainstorming events that can be held on campus to encompass equality and empowerment for females, minority groups, and the LGBTQ community. As a result, I have decided on a panel event that will be called Empowerment Speaks. At this event, five chosen faculty and staff will be the focus. These faculty and staff are in the Africana and Latinos Department, the Gender Resources Department, and are professors who teach Gender and Communication classes as well as Intercultural Communication classes. It is important for people to understand where inequality stems from and for how long it’s been happening. Her Campus has the right mindset when advocating for female empowerment, I just think that it needs to be more inclusive of the LGBTQ community and marginalized minority groups. Unfortunately, inequality and oppression are too common among these three groups. Some people may think that there aren’t similarities between these groups, yet there’s too many to count. It is time for these groups to come together to discard the ongoing inequality and to challenge themselves into achieving success in their everyday lives no matter their race, ethnicity, gender, or sex. So what will it be, Her Campus or Our Campus?
HCXO, Emma