Saint Anselm College
Sex and Gender at SAC
This section is for discussion of Issues relating to gender, feminism, and sexual identity.
- Questions to discuss might include:
- Is there still sexism at SAC? Have you encountered it? Do women require special treatment protect their rights or can they take care of themselves?
- How far have women come? Is Feminism still necessary to ensure equality of opportunity?
- How is your experience at SAC different because you are a woman or a man? Are there legitimate differences between men and women that should be reflected in how you are treated here?
- Should preference to men or women be given to ensure that there is a diversity of genders in the student body, faculty, and administration? Should there be roughly equal numbers of men and women in each group?
- How are women and men each restricted or empowered by the gender roles and sexual roles imposed upon them by our culture and our media. Is life at SAC pretty much governed by typical cultural gender roles or is there a living counter culture here?
- Do you have to to fit into typical gender roles to fit in at SAC? What happens if you don’t? Have you encountered intolerance for how you define yourself as a woman or man?
- How should gender and women’s issues be reflected in the curriculum? Are they now? How should it change? Do we need to specially reflect women’s point of view, or men’s point of view, in courses?
Feel free to respond to this or register for the site and post your own thread in this category.
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about 10 years ago
I have never experienced sexism at SAC and I do not think that women require special treatment to protect their rights, though my major is female-dominated and I would be interested in learning if women in different majors that are male-dominated experience sexism.
Although women have come very far, I think it is still necessary to study feminism, especially to break down stereotypes. I have been taught in college that a “feminist” at its most basic definition means that one believes men and women should have equal rights. However, because of the stereotypes associated with feminism, there are few men and women who would admit to being feminists, even if they agree whole heartedly in equal rights. I therefore think its important for all students to study figures like Virginia Woolf in order to fully understand such concepts and to demolish preconceived notions.
Aside from resistance to the term feminism, I do not think experience at the SAC depends on gender or that there are legitimate difference between how men and women are treated here. However, I will always be grateful to one professor who had a dress code during seminar our freshman year because it made me realize that women should not dress to impress their male classmates, but to look appropriate in a professional setting and to therefore be respected. I realized through her policy that the media brainwashes even intelligent women to value sex appeal, and that this can potentially harm a woman’s success.
I don’t think preferences should be given to ensure that there is a diversity of genders because I think the statistical gender representations that occur reflect our changing society. I think in some ways the feminist movement caused our culture to compensate for the opportunities women missed out on for centuries, and this has resulted in a rise in women’s performance in school / higher education, and a decline in men’s participation in higher learning.
Overall, I have not experienced that St. A’s represents degrading gender stereotypes. I find that people tend to be down to earth and not concerned with conforming to how the media typically portrays gender roles. I think the acceptance toward gay, lesbian and transgender people also conveys a widespread tolerance of sexual identity and individuality.
I don’t think gender issues need to be reflected in the curriculum because I do not think it is a problem on campus. I think the Woolf section of the Sophomore humanities program sufficed because it provided a brief history, the opportunity for discussion and debunking feminist stereotypes, but it did not overwhelm students with feminism/ gender sphere issues. I think overwhelming students can sometimes have the opposite effect and cause them to be resistant.
about 10 years ago
I agree and do not believe there is sexism at Saint A’s. I have never experienced it and do not believe that women require special treatment to protect their rights anymore. I believe we are, for the most part, out of those times where men look down on women in their profession because there are many women who are hold high job positions over men. Men and women should be treated the same at this school. We should all be given the same opportunities and the same amount of respect. I believe that it should not matter who holds what job position at this school. If the person is fit for the job, it should not matter if they are a man or a woman, as long as they are good at what they are doing. I do believe it is easy to find a group of friends here that do not make you fit into a specific gender role. For the most part, everyone is accepting of other’s backgrounds, how they act, and their gender role in the SAC community. I believe it is important that we do not dwell on gender roles. It is important to just move on and continue to acknowledge that times have changed and gender roles aren’t like they used to be. Saint Anselm students have not generally had a problem with gender roles and for the most part are respectful of eachother and the community we are in.