Once upon a time (last week), in a land far away where sexism was totally still a thing (it's Perth), a student magazine at a leading Perth university published screenshots proving that a few students had created, and subsequently commented in, a private men's rights Facebook group. This group basically existed as a safe place for sexist comments and photographs to be shared. Some of these men were presidents of societies at said university, and some of them were running in the upcoming student elections. However, these screenshots were a little bit old - not old enough to be rendered redundant, but old enough that they, perhaps, should have been shared a little bit earlier, and not around the time of some elections. As per usual, I decided that something like this needed my comment on it, and so here we are.
Now, I've been biding my little blogging tongue because I didn't want to publish anything that could be accused of being for a political purpose. Enough accusations have been made around this issue and it's time we stop sidestepping around what really needs to be talked about. I'm not going to name names because that's been done. I don't need to point fingers, I don't need to throw [too much] shade. I want to talk about why this whole chain of events bothered me.
I often write about situations like this that I have come across, and while they always upset me, I have never been as rattled as I have been about this. Perhaps it's because, while I try to put myself in the shoes of other women when I write about particular issues of oppression, it has never been my peers who think rapes jokes are funny/ think safe spaces to share sexism are necessary/ pretend to be super for women while they are doing this. When I saw these screenshots, my heart broke a little. Suddenly, I don't feel quite as safe at university.
Firstly, to the ladies at this magazine: I want to say well done for providing an article that would have been very hard to write - you knew that you would be criticised, yet you wrote it anyway. When I write about how I am disappointed in who leaked the screenshots, it's not you I'm talking about - it's the anonymous source. It's not easy to share what you did, and I honestly believe that you did the right thing. You have done an absolute ripper of a job - you've remained impartial, you've let both sides speak, and I really admire your integrity. I only hope that soon, the article that started all of this will be visible. It's a shame that a university such as the one I am writing about values its image more than it does the issue of sexism on campus. Perhaps, instead of covering it up, this is an issue that needs to be discussed and shared around.
This entire issue has definitely been a little reminder for all of those avid social media users out there (myself included) - nothing you post on the internet is a secret. If it's there, it's there for all eyes to see. Completely beside the point, but still a notable heads up that in this age of everything being so public, literally everything can be seen, even if you think that it is secret.
And now, onto the big issues.
I am a female (surprise). And usually; in fact, far, far more often that not, this is not an issue. It shouldn't be, but, like we all know, it can be. After not liking university for years, I now love it; I go about my daily business and basically just do my thing. And then, sometimes, something like this happens to remind me that sexism on campus, while it may not be overt, is still showing its ugly face - quite often when we least expect it.
I was very, very disappointed that the screenshots were shared to the student magazine when they were - that is, around the time of the student elections, with (probably), the end aim of tarnishing the reputation of some students running for positions. Sexism at universities isn't something that should be used as political fodder. In my opinion, whoever shared these screenshots is a pretty damn average human. Perhaps not as average as the people who created and posted in the group, but still pretty average. This person knew that sharing these screenshots with The Pelican magazine would get tongues wagging.
My oppression is not your playing card. Your final slam down, your draw four, if you will (#throwback to when Uno would ruin families). To whoever released these screenshots when they did, I say this: be ashamed. Perhaps this sexist group made you super happy, maybe you thought "wow, I know exactly when this should be released".
Know this. Know that it's not a game to me, it's not a game to any of the women I know, and it's not a game at our university. Sexism is real, and these screenshots prove it. However, what also proves it is the fact that you used these screenshots as a trap to attempt to make a party in our student elections look bad. You've used sexism as a little bit of a political manoeuvre, and that's not cool.
Now, let's talk about who we're (probably) all here for - those who were members of that Facebook group. These are men who walk around my university as mature, responsible leaders. They are people who have been through high school, and had at least some tertiary education under their belts at the time these screenshots were produced. They were voted into positions of leadership by a variety of people, women falling into that category. And yet, they still found it to be appropriate to start a Facebook group to harbour sexism. If these educated men think that this is acceptable, then god, what hope is there for the rest of us?
It's ironic that the very Facebook group that belittled our Women's Collective showed exactly why it is necessary. The Collective is there to support women. Guys, there is nothing wrong with checking your privilege and admitting that, in this department, you have a leg up. I recognise that there is privilege associated with being white and straight, which is a shame, but there is. There is also privilege associated with being male, and that is why the Collective exists: to support women, draw attention to unfairness as a result of our gender, and give women a helping hand if they need it.
No one in this world needs a safe space to harbour anything sexist, racist, ableist, transphobic, or homophobic.
To those who are worried that those affected won't be able to get jobs after/ will get in trouble at university/ will have their lives implicated, I have a few things to say. Firstly, I don't feel bad because those people didn't feel bad when they were writing in that group. Secondly, these people hold/ held the attitudes that make it hard for women to get jobs. And finally, don't worry because the world is full of sexist leaders - and I think our university has made it pretty obvious who they will be protecting in all of this.
People can harp on about how those who created, joined and wrote in this group have changed, but think about this. These men didn't share their views with the world - they put them in a closed page. They knew that what they were saying was wrong. While the page description may have read 'invite whoever', this was a closed Facebook group, where only people who, I presume, shared the group's values, could be invited. This also includes whoever was able to screenshot these images, and then use them for political fodder later on.
They posted these things and then continued to walk around my university - a place where I come to learn, socialise, and be accepted as who I am - as accepting human beings who strove for equality. They supported women - to their faces. They were adults then, they are adults now. They were university students then, they're university students now. They were leaders then, they are leaders now. Do the maths, and don't be naive.
The only thing that has changed is that now we all know.
I know that there are bigger issues in the world than this. I know that there are bigger issues in feminism than this. But when a few, supposedly educated, privileged men seemingly mock my oppression, it takes away some of the hope that I have for the rest of the world.
Equality? Acceptance? Fairness? Pursing the impossibility of a society where your gender doesn't matter?
Please. Give me a break.
Monday, September 28, 2015
Sunday, September 20, 2015
An open letter to 720AM
To whom this may concern,
I'm going to kick things off by being completely honest: 720AM is not usually a show that I choose to put on. If I'm listening to the radio, I tend to be more of a 93.7 kind of girl, looking for a little bit of Taylor Swift and Beyonce to fuel my mornings. However, that said, my parents are definitely into their 720AM, and so it is often playing in our kitchen during the day.
On the morning of the 27th of August, I was driving my dad's car and he had previously been listening to 720AM, so I left it on for the short drive home. This was the day when the segment about the Manchester University Study on women becoming increasingly overweight now that we don't spend our days cleaning was aired, and, in all honesty, I was not too impressed with the discussion that followed, which I found sexist and unnecessary.
You know what? Perhaps the study is right. However, as an Arts student (who is absolutely rubbish at statistics/ mathematics/ numbers in general), I can still look at that study and get out what it was saying: people have put on weight because we do not exercise as much anymore, because cleaning in the home is increasingly done by machines such as dishwashers or hired cleaners. I really don't understand why the discussion then centred around the place of women as cleaners in the home.
These are not the kind of conversations we need to be having about women and their place in our society.
They're about how women often don't feel safe walking home at night or when they're with men who they don't know. They're about intersectional feminism - recognising experiences of trans women, queer women, women of colour and differently abled women. We need to talk about discrimination at universities, we need to talk about the underlying misogyny that is harboured by some of our leading males. The conversations that we need to be having about women are about women being powerful.
Conversations about women doing the housework are redundant: they're not needed, they're not relevant, and they're really not funny.
I called up the radio show and told you about how, when I was recently living by myself and cleaning for myself, I put on weight. There goes your argument. What I wished that I also could have told you is that it shouldn't be up to women doing the housework. As adults, the load of housework at home is shared, depending on who is home when, and so on. I'm disappointed that when I called up, the first thing that I was asked on air was whether or not I am a cleaner. I'm disappointed that the woman who called in straight after me was asked the same thing. Funnily enough, none of the men were asked these questions. Regardless, working as a cleaner is a noble profession. It's working for a small amount of money, completing hard, laborious tasks that are time consuming and that other people don't want to do. There is nothing wrong with working as a cleaner.
I ask you what you wanted to gain from starting this discussion: do you think women should always stay at home as housewives? Do you think that women shouldn't work outside of the home? No? Then why bother introducing the study anyway, especially in this way?
A caller who rang in made an inappropriate remark about women looking like cows (or something), and I thank you for immediately apologising for what he said. However, with that in mind, please look at the content of your program and realise that discussions about women doing the housework invite an audience such as him.
As a woman, I have more to offer than clean carpets. I am on my way to graduating with a degree from a good university, I am dedicated, organised, and hard working. I can't make anything special, but I can cook well enough to save myself and I know how to tidy up a house enough to please my parents (not that I often do that - sorry mum and dad). However, these are not skills that are unique to women. They are skills that every person should have.
So please, I implore you: do not litter your radio show with rubbish like that study in the future. There was no need to talk about women as cleaners in any other context aside from how women still face continued oppression and expectations when it comes to the housework. There was absolutely no point to the discussion, and there was no way it was going to go anywhere productive.
Sincerely,
Laura
I'm going to kick things off by being completely honest: 720AM is not usually a show that I choose to put on. If I'm listening to the radio, I tend to be more of a 93.7 kind of girl, looking for a little bit of Taylor Swift and Beyonce to fuel my mornings. However, that said, my parents are definitely into their 720AM, and so it is often playing in our kitchen during the day.
On the morning of the 27th of August, I was driving my dad's car and he had previously been listening to 720AM, so I left it on for the short drive home. This was the day when the segment about the Manchester University Study on women becoming increasingly overweight now that we don't spend our days cleaning was aired, and, in all honesty, I was not too impressed with the discussion that followed, which I found sexist and unnecessary.
You know what? Perhaps the study is right. However, as an Arts student (who is absolutely rubbish at statistics/ mathematics/ numbers in general), I can still look at that study and get out what it was saying: people have put on weight because we do not exercise as much anymore, because cleaning in the home is increasingly done by machines such as dishwashers or hired cleaners. I really don't understand why the discussion then centred around the place of women as cleaners in the home.
These are not the kind of conversations we need to be having about women and their place in our society.
They're about how women often don't feel safe walking home at night or when they're with men who they don't know. They're about intersectional feminism - recognising experiences of trans women, queer women, women of colour and differently abled women. We need to talk about discrimination at universities, we need to talk about the underlying misogyny that is harboured by some of our leading males. The conversations that we need to be having about women are about women being powerful.
Conversations about women doing the housework are redundant: they're not needed, they're not relevant, and they're really not funny.
I called up the radio show and told you about how, when I was recently living by myself and cleaning for myself, I put on weight. There goes your argument. What I wished that I also could have told you is that it shouldn't be up to women doing the housework. As adults, the load of housework at home is shared, depending on who is home when, and so on. I'm disappointed that when I called up, the first thing that I was asked on air was whether or not I am a cleaner. I'm disappointed that the woman who called in straight after me was asked the same thing. Funnily enough, none of the men were asked these questions. Regardless, working as a cleaner is a noble profession. It's working for a small amount of money, completing hard, laborious tasks that are time consuming and that other people don't want to do. There is nothing wrong with working as a cleaner.
I ask you what you wanted to gain from starting this discussion: do you think women should always stay at home as housewives? Do you think that women shouldn't work outside of the home? No? Then why bother introducing the study anyway, especially in this way?
A caller who rang in made an inappropriate remark about women looking like cows (or something), and I thank you for immediately apologising for what he said. However, with that in mind, please look at the content of your program and realise that discussions about women doing the housework invite an audience such as him.
As a woman, I have more to offer than clean carpets. I am on my way to graduating with a degree from a good university, I am dedicated, organised, and hard working. I can't make anything special, but I can cook well enough to save myself and I know how to tidy up a house enough to please my parents (not that I often do that - sorry mum and dad). However, these are not skills that are unique to women. They are skills that every person should have.
So please, I implore you: do not litter your radio show with rubbish like that study in the future. There was no need to talk about women as cleaners in any other context aside from how women still face continued oppression and expectations when it comes to the housework. There was absolutely no point to the discussion, and there was no way it was going to go anywhere productive.
Sincerely,
Laura
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