2008 Woodie Awards
Students, faculty share in feminist day
By Bridget Yodens
Rocket Contributor
Issue date: 3/30/07 Section: News
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Both male and female students as well as faculty members read aloud selected speeches by women like Gloria Steinem, Jane Fonda, Eleanor Roosevelt, Margaret Sanger and Hilary Clinton. The speeches included topics like the Vietnam War, birth control, suffrage and labor strikes.
Susan Kelley-Stamerra, a senior creative writing major and founder of the newly formed FMLA, chose a variety of topics to be read.
"I wanted people to feel comfortable with what they chose to speak. Not every feminist is a raging radical, and they're entitled to be so," she said.
Sharon Sykora, a political science associate professor, said she chose to read Red Stockings Manifesto, which was written by a group of women in 1969.
"It's a pretty radical statement and was pretty interesting when it was written when I was nine years old," Sykora said. "Feminism isn't dead, it's alive and well on Slippery Rock campus."
The purpose of the Feminist Free Speech Day is two-fold. The first reason for holding the event is to celebrate women's history month and build feminist awareness on campus.
"Feminists don't need to be women; there are feminists of all kinds," Kelley-Stamerra said.
She said there isn't a very strong base of feminism on campus, yet many people support and enjoy women's rights-fueled events such as The Vagina Monologues.
"Part of what we'd like to do is debunk the myth that we're all a bunch of radicals," Kelley-Stamerra said.
Viewing Comments 1 - 4 of 5
Tim Nagy
posted 3/30/07 @ 8:57 AM EST
The use of the bull horn caused distractions a number of times during my 11:00 Public Speaking class in ECB. Students have a hard enough tim egetting up in front of the class to speak without the bull horn's siren. (Continued…)
TC
posted 3/30/07 @ 10:48 AM EST
I think the FMLA is a great idea. And I say this as one of two men to have graduated from SRU with a minor in Women's Studies.
GnosticGardener
TC
posted 3/30/07 @ 10:55 AM EST
I think FMLA is a great idea and I hope it soars. I say this as only one of two men to graduate from SRU with a minor in Women's Studies.
I'd like to recommend two books while I'm here: "Are Men Necessary?" by Maureen Dowd, and "Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture" by Ariel Levy. (Continued…)
Bob
posted 3/30/07 @ 11:09 PM EST
In the article Kelley-Stamerra said that she is not a radical yet she was screaming through a bullhorn like one. This goes to show you how this woman is indeed a radical. (Continued…)
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