Table Of ContentReclaiming Our Feminist Voices
orfigyns
Publication Team
Stephante Palmiert
Leigh Dugan
Christine Tucker
06 1g 9 4151 publication forthe voioes of feminists — un-
Geraraductes, raduate students, alumnae, facuty, staf, and
profestors emerit. Originolly published in commemoration of
Thirty Years of Women at Lehigh University (1971-200),
er ig ym ¢ now appears annuclly.
er Fg ¥ m6 bacdledion of exeys, poetry, articles and short
ori. Some ware specially written for this publication, others
‘were turiten for last or for personal expression. In addition to
(ritten works, @ 7 Fg 9 4 publishes orginal artuor, Many
thanks to al he contributors,
or fgg m # isfunded by the Women's Center. Many thanks
to kritin Handler and Heather Sterner.
epg ry fh ath itty
rote tr: epee te by eco,
rant ent bth eve aten curtey Meira ary
ait 00067210905
origyuns
reclaiming our feminist voices
Rebecea Reardsall 4 Midday Conversation
Nayla Read s No, Pm Not Oppressed, But
Stephanie Palmieri mn Reflection
‘Ashley Saunders 2 ‘A Worsan’s Worth in he Hindu
Religion: Propaganda vs. Reality
Rebecca Beardsall 15 Barren Landscape
Katherine Wegert ” eft Hand of Darkness Anempls 2
Gonderless Society, But Fails as
Readers Perceive Overtiding Masculinity
Rebeca Beardsall a Orange Beyond Orange
Christine Tucker 2 Details
Nayla Rad B United
Kathleen Gillen n All en Are Creates Eval
Chaistine Tucker 3 She's One of Thote
Rebecca Beardsall 35 mening to Her Red “The Disqing
‘Marjan Maghbouleh 36 ‘Whe Needs « Women’s Center?
“Halley Witt 8 Untitled
“Alexandra Milspaw 39 Sate: Readers Missed the Point
*Marjan Maghboulch 40 Face the F-Word
REBECCA BEARDSALL
Midday Conversation
Her perfectly tanned and manicured hand
Wraps the glass of Barossa Shiraz,
Her painted nails,
Blood drips,
Matching the rich liquid: Sie (ooks
Over her tortoise-shell horn-rims,
ell me, she starts, how does one truly juggle
Being a proper feminist anda devoted
Wife? I laugh, but see she is serious.
Pm too self-absorbed to answer
Such a question and say so. I'm a failure
Of a wife; continually forget to respect
The opinions of the someone I promised
To cherish. It’s not feminism
But instead a self-
Preservationist. She ogles me
Like 1d grown she-xevil horns.
‘ponder and shudder.
NAYLA RAAD 5
No, I'm Not Oppressed, But.
STOP.
STOP. Stop making excuses. Stop pretending that there is no invisible barrier be-
tween the men and the women on Lehigh University’s campus. Stop underestimating the
impact one litle comment or glance can have on a person. Stop assuming that women
‘want tobe treated a cartain way. Stop idolzing women who accomplish something that a
rman can. Stop making excuses for behaviors tha are inexcusable,
| must begin by saying that itis hard for me to write about this topic objectively and
in ecllected manner when on a daly, i not hourly, basis | am faced with decisons that
question my beliefs and values as a feminist and a human being on Lehigh’s campus. Any
activist on Lehigh’s campus end inthe world is regu faged wih a decision: do you
spark a discussion with someone abou the ignorant comment they just made, or do you
walk away? Most of us must choose to walk away ifwe intend on being sane forthe majo.
ity of our lives, especialy on Leigh's campus. Ths, in essence, is silencing the few voices
that have the courage to speak up at all
Oppression—i'sa scary word. Many people de not want to admit they are
oppressed’ that there may be this omrincus, overpowering force upon the individual
‘When we think of oppression, the mecia has taught us to tink of women wearing Habs in
the Middle East or those inthe sex slave industry. Oppression, we have been taught, could
nayer occur cose fo home. Oppression could not occur on our awn campus. Indeed, how-
ever, it does.
‘One should note that oppression is noliited to Lehigh’s campus. Oppression of
‘women is a problem that exists worldwide, Unfortunately, on Lehigh’s camous the probe
seems tobe further exacerbated than many areas ofthe nation and forthe progressive in-
siituton that Lehigh claims to be, this is unacceptable.
Based on the informal surveying of Lehigh students, both men and women from all
classes, | shall explore the idea of oppression on Lehigh’s campus and the forms in which
itmanfests itself, Please note that unless otherwise noted, the views expressed are my
coun but hey were most likely provoked by my discussions with my peers
Partying (aka Pimps and Hoes...)
Let's face realy: Lehigh has been dubbed the third biggest party school in the na-
tion. This given, it seems more than fit that | would stat off discussing partying and the
party cuture on Lehigh's campus. Campus is divided into essentially two types of partes:
{hose off-campus and those on “te hil.” Parties off-campus are sub-divided into honors
‘rats partes, athletic team parties, frat partes, and miscellaneous house partes, Parties on
NO, I'M NOT OPPRESSED, BUT. 6
the hil are frat partes. Partying culture coud, quite definitly, merits own essay. How
ever forthe sake of efficiency and brevity, | shal explore only the pertios on th hill n this
sedlon.
‘All sororities must be dry based on their nafonal chapters'regulations. Fraternities,
‘on the other hand, do not heve tobe. This sets up a situation in which all of the partying
that oocurs onthe hil is at the fratemity houses. At fist glance, this seems to be a groat
deal forthe women—not only do they not have to buy the alootol, they also don't have to
‘wory about cleaning up the mess the next moming, However, when looked at in more
depth, this does not seem ike the deal of the century. The women on campus then must
rely 01 tre men fr parties and aleono’ which creates a oower dyramic that might not have
existed previously. When your fun is centered around wnether or nota certain fatemiy Is
throwing a perty this weekend then the fraterrity has power (be it social or influential) over
you.
“Pimps and Hoes! and other such themes are not uncommon on Lehigh's camous
‘where the women are dressed in very litle and ten worren tend to escort one man (wo is
quite fuly clothed, I feel incined to ade). These partis created situations in whicn, noe
again, wornen are subservient tothe men. The viomen are even labeled (yes, a label
which they wilingly embrace—but thats another story) as "hoes".
Partying cannot be discussed without a discussion of sexual assault. Alcohols the
number one drug used to facilitate @ sexual assault, Partying and alcohol come hand in
hand and are of major concern to the Lehigh population. Paying inoroasos tho liklinood
of a sexual assault occurring. In addition, partes are held in fraternity houses where the
‘women do not have control of he space. They are ina fraternity house wrere the brothers
have the greater infuence and control. Hence, if weman is intoxiceted, a brother does
not have a very fc time trying to find somewhere to go to take advantage of her. Also,
sinoe the brothers reguats the ariount of alcchol in drinks (women usualy get served
mixed drinks while men get beer, they can be certain that a woman is intoxicated.
By no means da I specifically attack the Greek system as this can and does occur
in many places, however this is one ofthe obvious examples o point out on our campus.
Female Presence on Campus
Below is a table ofthe cstrbuton of women and men in each ofthe colleges taken
‘rom the registrar's site tis apparent that women ti only make up forty percent ofthe
‘campus while men make up sixty percent. In ado, there is en overvhelmingly high con-
‘eriation of men in the engineering Schoo! reative tothe women.
NO, I'M NOT OPPRESSED, BUT... 1
(MHSBISGENCSSINNNNN 1081 23.74% 748 16.79% 1829
28 080% 45 095% 73
Bisiness@Economics | 426 9.00% 766 16.53% 1192 25.52%
9 0.25% 65 1.77% 74 _2.02%|
258 5.49% 1092 24.22% 1350 29.71%
13 035% 11 0.31% 56%
‘One might argue that ths is merely the number cf students and doesn't play a role
inthe oporession of women on campus. But, a8 a women on campus enc a former engi-
‘eer | can certainly say that being ina classroom with entirely men was, at ios, quite df=
flout got particulary annoying when I'd be out at a party on a Friday night and three or
‘our men (whom I'd never seen befere in my if) would approach me and say ‘Hey! Youre
the chick in my computer sciance class! and was usualy folowes by some sort of com-
‘ment about my appearance. While many people would find this flattering fl ike I was
receiving a greal deal of unwanted attention. Not only did I not want these men to point me
‘ut, I dd not want them fo feel comfortable making comments about my physical appear-
ance. Geting ofered free tutoring sessions by random men in my class was also quite
Unvented and iitting, Not ony dic itimply thatthe men thought was not ae good as
them, but also that | was in class to pick up men. Some might say Im overreacting, yet this
experience occurred time and time again tothe point where I transferred out of engineer-
3. (Although this was nat the sole reason, it played a huge ole). Yes, | got all From "1
‘speak four languages" followed by a ist of computer languages tothe awkward “Um, do
{YU need help with the homework?" Finally, | couldt take it anyrrore
Other students speak of similar experience. What's interesting is that this is a dou-
ble-sided phenomenon. While the majority of students wil reat you as | described above,
thers assume that because you're femele and in the engineering school you must be ab-
solutely brillant, So, instead of oferng to help with homework or ook over problems to-
etre, tese people make i their sole ob in fe to comete withthe female computer sci-
nist. I, as a female engineer, you fall through, then you are looked down upan and ex-
pectatons seam to not have been met. You realy cant win—either nothing is exoected of
you besides siting and bating your eyelids or everything is expected of you including a 4.0
Grade point average,
NO, IM NOT OPPRESSED, BUT... *
|What dogs this have to do with oppression of women? Simply put, when women are
viewed as less than worthy competition or are put ona pedestal, they are not being treated
‘8 equals. Equality eliminates the oppression of women and until 0 more pressure or an-
tagonism is put on female engineers, they will not fully be able fo trie in the field and
‘equalty cannot be established.
“Just as aside note it should also be mentioned that athough | looked for data on
the numbers of female facully in the colleges, | could not locate any. Having professors
thal are the same gender as you play a huge role in your development, | think. Had | been
lucky enough to have a female professor as a computer science major, I fea thatit would
‘tuly have helped to see myself as en engineer. However, being surrounded by men dd not
provide me with the inspiring role model | wish | had. This, obviously, oppresses women
and keeps tham from advancing in society.
What Was She Thinking?
Nisa fact: wemen on Lehigh’s campus are constantly competing with one another
for attention from the men on this campus. One would assume that on a campus with a ra-
tio of 3:2 men to women, respectively, there would be no need fr this competition. Yeti
sill ensues. There are meny arenas in waich women compete but rather than in academ-
ios as most men at Lehigh do, they compete in appearance, primarily. Women want fo be
the most fashionable, picture perfect person.
‘When we, as women, constantly judge one another based on physical appearence,
\we ar in essence hurting one another. We need to slr: treating others with more respect
‘and join together to command the respect that we deserve on this campus. There have
been countless times that | have seen a group of women pass snother group and slere at
them from head to tee several imes without smiling or even saying hi. Ths is absolutely
absurd
Instead of questioning the decisions each of us makes, we should begin to embrace
‘he positive changes that each of us has made cn our community. Let's stop critiquing one
‘another and start complimenting one another. And, let's get past the superfcalties of judg
ing based on appearance. Rather, ve should get to know one another and work together to
create a safe and supportive environmert. If we are to compete, we can raise our grades
‘and level of education by competing academically. Next time when you are asked "What
\vas she thinking?" ty replying “I don'tknow, let's ind out. While were att how about we
talk alte bit about foreign policy and politics in general”
RE-S-P-E-CT?
This isa dificult secton to write on, Although the previous sections are biased, this
one is absolutely, without-a-doubt subjective, Personally, think that when a woman walks
into a room on Lehigh’s campus, she commands less respect than when a man does.
NO. IM NOT OPPRESSED, BUT °
Women need to work very hard to eam respect on this campus. And, should they decide to
bea ite strict orto raise ther voice a itt hey become itchy and overbearing, We
are expected to full the caring, nurturing role and if we don't, we are ostracized. While
men as leaders on campus may be frm and instantly command respect, womon must be
dainty and crarming in order to be listened to
. thsi entirely subjective. My one example, however, i that Steve McAlister,
the former Sexi Violence Prevertion Coordinator of the Women's Center on campus had
the ebiity to get a room to instantly quite down atthe beginning ofa program. Al the other
male sexual violence peer educators had no problem eer. Nevertheless, when the
‘women start program, they always need to spend afew minutes chating wt the aud
fence and convincing them to quiet down. Thi is consistent regardless of which men and
‘which women are presenting. This indicates to me that men are treated with and command
more respect tran women on Leigh's campus.
Angry?
"You might be wondering why | took the time to write an eight pago paper on the op-
pression of women on Leigh's campus. You might be wondering based on my wnting
‘whether fm angry about his or not. My answer is nota simple one (but then this is nota
simple issue): yes am angry. lam fustreted. | am tired of screaming into nathingness. |
‘am tred of being sienced. | am fred of not being listened to. | am hurt by the lack of a
community on Lehigh's campus. lam ngry about al ofthese tings too. lam angry that
$45,000 a yeer is being paid for me to attend Lehigh University and Ihave to constantly
face discrimination
‘The issues that l mentioned ere only a few ofthe examples of opprossion on Le-
high’s campus. The lst is quite endless. Should one add the issues of sexual orientation
‘and race into the equation, the level of oprassion increases terfold. This absolutely in-
‘excusable and I believe | have every right tobe angry Didnt someone once say “if you're
not outraged, you'e nol paying attention”? | am outraged camn it and 1am derranding that
the Lehigh community pay attention.
Lat’ forget talk of oppression and gender equality tit scares you. Let's tak about
basic respect both for you and the people you care about. When we tak about oppression
‘we are fundamentally talking about distespecting another person or group of people. I can't
be with the peopl that | care about every single dey but ! am trusting that if take care ot
the people that you care about, somecne wil take care of my family and close friends with
‘as much care. Let's respect one anther and work towards an environment and commurity
in which the word oporession does nat even exist to loom over us.
