Final Web Event: Intervention against Stereotypes

            In my third web event, I had hoped to unbind the negative stereotype that is associated with being a feminist.  This particular type of stereotyping seemed to be very relevant for the culture of Bryn Mawr and the experiences that so many students have outside of our campus.  I wanted to examine the different aspects of the negativity surrounding feminism and deconstruct the gendered fear that has become inherent to the way society views feminists.  What I discovered was that there are so many different stigmas surrounding the feminist cause and it pressures people to avoid labeling themselves as feminists.  The most interesting article that I read for my third web event was titled “The F Word: College Student's Definitions of a Feminist,” authored by J. Scott Carter and Shannon Houvouras.  This article revealed that college students no longer feel comfortable identifying as feminists in a social or political realm because of all of the negative press that the feminist movement is saddled with.  I then tried to expand on the definition of post-modern feminism, specifically ecofeminism, as a means of demonstrating that feminism is no longer exclusive to gender.  Feminism has become a movement for all intersectional identities.  And yet, the stereotype of feminism still persists in every day life, in both trivial and significant scenarios.  The question then becomes how can people, or just me as an individual, slowly change the way that the world perceives feminism.

            For this final web event, I want to focus on the stereotypes surrounding all-women’s colleges, which could essentially be seen as feminism on a micro level, and what is and can be done to educate people about the inclusive and celebratory nature of feminism.  What I discovered as I was thinking about introducing way to intervene in the perpetuation of this stereotype, in a big picture way or a personal way, was that all of my web events could potentially be tied together to combat these generalizations made about feminists.  In accordance with my first web event, an initial step would be to remove the veil of silence about the stereotype in a way that is comfortable for the person speaking out.  This type of encouragement might sound a little hypocritical coming from a student who tends to act like a wallflower in classroom settings; however, I am in the process of learning to take my own advice.  Another step, correlating to my second web event, would be to educate people about the realities of being a feminist, including the past and present sectors and the varying degrees of feminism.  My second web event proposed the introduction of sex and gender classes in a high school setting so that students feel comfortable with exploring these personal subjects when they are exposed to college and ‘the real world.’  The final step would be to create a more active campaign that is relatable to both new, and hopefully open-minded, generations and generations that have preconceived notions about feminism.  These are the different ways that society, as a whole, and I, as an individual, can begin to take a stand against the continuance of these inaccurate and demeaning stereotypes.

            As I mentioned in my third web event and as we have recently discussed in class, many Bryn Mawr students have experienced the incredulous questions or scornful looks that many relatives and friends exchange when we explain our collegiate institution, the classes we are taking or the general environment that is inherent to our college.  Like the stereotypes that are associated with being a feminist, there are similar stereotypes for women’s college students including, but not limited to, being a lesbian, being a radical/liberal/experimental political supporter, being a hippie, being catty and dramatic, etc.  In the article “’I Am Not a Feminist, but...": College Women, Feminism, and Negative Experiences,” Joan K. Buschman and Silvo Lenart recognize that “group consciousness, gender roles, and label use have, or have had, an important impact on the support of feminism” (63).  Because of these stereotypes and labels, the pride that should be inherent to feminism and women’s colleges is dwindling under society’s misconceptions about the movement and the institutions that help it flourish. These stereotypes have surrounded women’s collegiate institutions for many years now and it is time to combat them and show the fallacies in the assumptions made about women’s colleges but also the pride that is taken in attending an institution like ours.  It seems that these stereotypes relating to feminists in general have extended to the context of all women’s colleges because society views these institutions as nexuses for the furthering of the feminist movement.  Because of these stereotypes, many high school students are hesitant to apply to or attend an all women’s college.  It then becomes the mission of these institutions educate the public on the reality of attending an all women’s college.  This step is taken by the institutions to intervene in a public sphere to educate potential student about the reality of an all women’s education.

            I began investigating Bryn Mawr College’s and other all women’s college websites to see how they were relating to the public by deconstruction these stereotypes while promoting a sense of pride in the students who are already attending.  When navigating the Bryn Mawr website, I could not find a page that explicitly addressed the stereotypes associated with an all women’s college.  My failure to find a page debunking the myths of a women’s college could stem from my inability to be technologically savvy; however, future applicants could also struggle with their personal concerns about the environment of the college and not get any relief from the website.  Then this becomes an issue of accessibility; Bryn Mawr’s website could inadvertently be inhibiting future applicants from understanding the real environment of an all women’s college.  The Bryn Mawr website should investigate its ability to educate future applicants about the environment of an all women’s college because there is no direct message available to visitors of the website about the deconstruction of these stereotypes.  There are aspects of the website that discuss the empowerment that is inherent to our institution; however, the public will most likely look for a more direct method of communicating the reasons why high school students should not immediately rule out women’s colleges from their search.          

            On the other hand, there are many other women’s colleges that clearly advertize the deconstruction of the myths of their institutions.  I was first directed to the Simmons College website, which provided future applicants with short blurbs about the myths about the institution and why they are not applicable to the reality of the environment.  The undergraduates speak about their experiences with discovering the confident individuals that do not subscribe to a feminist label or a catty label or a lesbian label.  I was then directed to Smith College’s website.  Here the college explains why the institution is still single-sex and argues that at Smith “there are no stereotypes about what women should do” (Smith College Official Website).  These official college websites are trying to directly address the misconceptions that applicants have about the women’s college experience.  There are also blogs dedicated to the promotion of pride and exploration of sensitive topics pertaining to all women’s colleges.  In her blog post “Why I’m Proud to Go to Scripps College: Responding to Stereotypes Associated with Women’s Colleges,” Gretchen Allen presents a series of images that are meant to represent the variety of women that attend Scripps College.  These cartoon illustrations are meant to be relatable depictions of proud women with aspirations for their future at a women’s college (Allen, [IN]VISIBLE blog). What these institutions and students are trying to accomplish with their use of social media as a means of presenting the reality of an all women’s college is explaining to future students that there is no strict stereotype associated with the environment.

            The use of media is imperative to spreading the word about the myths of all women’s colleges; however, there is another step that could be proposed to intervene against the perpetuation of the feminist stereotype.  Introducing a class pertaining to the basics of feminism, both theory and application, earlier in the education system would allow for young students to have an open mind about the feminist movement and would encourage the instruction of intersectional identities in education.  In the article

“Theoretical, Political, and Pedagogical Challenges in the Feminist Classroom: Our Struggles to Walk the Walk,” Robbin D. Crabtree and David Alan Sapp define the feminist classroom as a place that “offers students ways to analyze practices such as sexism, racism and class exploitation that structure and mediate human encounters in everyday life” (132).  Operating under this definition of a feminist pedagogy, systems of secondary education could incorporate a class focusing on these topics into a curriculum so that students can understand these intersectional identities while learning how to combat the stereotyping or oppression of these identities.  While the aforementioned article speaks more to a college classroom setting, the same principles could be extrapolated to a high school setting.  The most important aspect of including an introductory class to feminism in a high school setting is to encourage students to be open-minded about feminism and all of the different components that are essential to the movement.  Introducing a classroom environment conducive to acceptance of the feminist movement and encouragement of questioning systems of hierarchy would promote the ability to be these theories into “spheres of action” (Crabtree and Sapp, 139).  This step towards intervention against the feminist stereotype is one that would have to be taken on by larger institutions and would require the agreement and cohesive planning of many educators.  That being said, the simpler way to combat this stereotype as an individual is to speak up when these generalizations are being voiced.

            It might seem strange that someone who is so quite in class is about to suggest that the best way to intervene against these stereotypes is remove personal silence from the equation.  However, I am aware of how important it is for individuals to speak their mind in a public setting.  Personally, I am still learning how to do so but I can recognize that I want it to be a part of my intervention against the feminist stereotype.  In her essay “The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action,” Audrey Lorde asserts that “what is most important to [her] must be spoken, made verbal and shared, even at the risk of having it bruised or misunderstood” (40).  Encouraging the individual to speak for themselves, to speak what they know and what they want others to know, Lorde’s text is the epitome of an intervention against stereotypes, generalizations and misconceptions made by society.  This step as a method of intervention could be the one that is most accessible to the individual.  With this in mind, I know that I can go home for the holidays in be able to speak up when cursory comments are made by my relatives or high school friends about Bryn Mawr.  I know that I cannot be silent in that context; it is too important to act as an individual to prevent the spreading of these feminist and women’s college stereotypes.  Lorde believes that “it is necessary to teach by living and speaking those truths which we believe and know beyond understanding” (43).  This is what I have taken to heart about silence.  I know that I can speak about my feminism and that I can speak about my environment at Bryn Mawr.  I know those aspects of my life unconditionally because I live them every day.  I know that as an individual it is my responsibility to share my reality of feminism and women’s collegiate institutions.

            This is my charge: to act as an individual to speak out against these stereotypes by sharing what I know about feminism and Bryn Mawr.  That being said, it is imperative that all individual act in the same way so that we can each fight against the negativity surrounding feminism and women’s colleges.  As a means of spreading the word about the truth of my feminism and my women’s college experience, I wrote a short song.  My hope is that a song like this could act as the beginning of a campaign against the negative stereotypes discussed in this final paper; that music could act as a unifier so that people will understand the dangers of generalizing the feminist movement and women’s colleges in such a negative way.  This song is my voice, my attempt at removing silence from my vocabulary.  It is meant to be a representation of the inclusiveness of the feminism and how society needs to be more open-minded when viewing a political movement or institution with strong feminist practices.  As an individual, I understand that I must take the steps to deconstruct the stereotype.  Simply exploring where it came from will not change the fact that it still exists and giving examples of intersectional sectors of feminism will not radically shift people’s misconceptions. I have to break my silence.  There is no guaranteeing how soon that will happen but I know that if I want to see a change in people’s perceptions then I have to speak about what I know, about what I love. Individuals must intervene against these stereotypes so that eventually the community will recognize the truth about feminism as a whole and feel as though they are a part of an inclusive movement.                          

A Feminist Ballad:

Verse 1:

Break free from this

Outside they’re wrong

We stand together

As we sing this song

Chorus:

This is a movement for all

A chance to throw out your voice

We wont all think the same things

But we will all have a choice

Don’t think we’re crazy

Don’t think we’re mean

Hold off your judgment

Wipe your slate clean

Verse 2:

Come together

Work hand in hand

We ask for your help

So we can take a stand

Chorus:

This is a movement for all

A chance to throw out your voice

We wont all think the same things

But we will all have a choice

Don’t think we’re crazy

Don’t think we’re mean

Hold off your judgment

Wipe your slate clean

Work Cited

Buschman, Joan K., and Silvo Lenart. ""I Am Not a Feminist, but...": College Women,

Feminism, and Negative Experiences." Political Psychology. 17.1 (1996): 59-75.

Print.                                                        

Crabtree, Robbin D., and David Alan Sapp. "Theoretical, Political, and Pedagogical

Challenges in the Feminist Classroom: Our Struggles to Walk the Walk." College Teaching. 51.4 (2003): 131-140. Print.

Houvouras, Shannon, and J. Scott Carter. "The F Word: College Student's Definitions

of a Feminist." Sociology Forum. 23.2 (2008): 234-256. Print.

Lorde, Audrey. "Transformation of Silence into Language and Action." Trans. Array

Sister Outsider. Berkeley: Crossing Press, 1984. 40-44. Print.

"Why Choose an All Women's College?." Simmons Undergraduate College. Simmons

Undergraduate College. Web. 19 Dec 2013. <http://www.simmons.edu/undergraduate/admission/womenscollege/>.

"Why I'm Proud to go to Scripps College: Responding to Stereotypes Associated with

Women's Colleges." [IN]VISIBLE. Scripps College Magazine, n. d. Web. 19 Dec.

2013. <http://community.scrippscollege.edu/invisible/2013/05/26/why-im-proud-to-go-to-scripps-college-responding-to-stereotypes-associated-with-womens-colleges/>.

"Why is Smith a Women's College?." Smith College. Smith College. Web. 19 Dec 2013.

<http://www.smith.edu/about-smith/why-a-womens-college>.