By Madeline Molish
About 20 people attended “Use the F-word! A Forum on Feminism,” at 7 p.m. Wednesday night.
Sponsored by the Feminist Student Organization (FSO), it was the organization’s first event of the year. Rebecca Dufendach, president of the FSO, said the main purpose of the event was to dispel negative stereotypes potrayed about feminism.
“We [don’t] hate men, we aren’t bitches. I would hope that the forum creates a better idea of what feminism is to attendees and solicits new members,” she said.
The event lasted 40 minutes and included a few short statements of what feminism means to the women in FSO and what FSO stands for, and an open floor discussion between members. Other organizations including Northeastern Students For Choice and the Center Against Violence Against Women also participated in the discussion.
Julie Miller, a member of Students for Choice and a sophomore American Sign Language, human services and African-American studies major stressed the importance of collaboration.
“Students for Choice and FSO are big-time allies because I think in order for any of our groups to succeed, we have to work together to raise awareness on women’s issues,” she said.
At one point during the forum, FSO Vice President Casey Cahill shared information about three feminism topics: Third Wave Feminism (gender reform), gender resistance, and gender rebellion. She said gender reform focuses on the similarities between men and women as opposed to focusing on its differences. Gender resistance states that legal rights alone will not end gender inequality. Gender rebellion looks at the entwined relationships among inequalities of sex, race, ethnicity, social class and sexual orientation.
Before the event, Dufendach said she joined FSO two years ago she “felt a need to contribute to awareness on campus.”
“My mother has always been a strong advocate for women’s rights. I wanted to continue the legacy,” she said. “[Also], the women of the organization are always there for each other.”
Miller said that feminists face difficult challenges.
“I think it’s hard to be a feminist at any school or in any situation in this society. We as women have a lot of conflicting values and messages. We need to start to get to the root of why many young women don’t identify as feminists,” she said.
