This past year has been a lot of work, a lot of stress, and a lot of fun. Building XYG from the ground up was an amazing experience and I’m so glad I got the opportunity to work with Mica, Mike, Tim, Tony and Jill to build a safe, friendly environment to talk about the myriad of issues surrounding gender.
The genesis of XYG can be traced to Jill Ennis’ Gender and Communication class, where Emma and I, with the encouragement of Jill and several of our classmates, began to talk about a group where we could get a little bit deeper into and speak more candidly about some of the issues we touched on in class. We also saw the opportunity to address some issues that we had seen on the OCC campus.
Emma and I have both repeatedly suffered sexual harassment, objectification and general boorishness on campus (as I imagine all women have), and after an incident (unbelievably) in our Gender and Communication class – during the sexual harassment unit! – we decided there must be something we could do. While we were obviously angry and upset, we wondered why it had happened at all.
The question we were really asking is, “What about the way our society works allows you to impose these vulgar ideations on us, your classmates that you know personally?” Or, more generally: who says you can be so damn disgusting towards women?
But while this particular incident was the catalyst I do not mean to point the finger at men. Sexism is two sided. Men are in many ways required to make these comments just as much as women are required to ignore them. Men face pressure to perform these male rituals as much as women are expected to shave their legs and wear make up. Humans perform for each other, and in our current patriarchal society, these are the traditional roles. But perfect masculinity is just as hard to attain (and for many men, simply undesirable) as perfect femininity can be for women.
It is this duality that truly interested me – as an ardent feminist, I must not ignore the fact that many men feel displaced and uncomfortable by women gaining power and autonomy. I cannot ignore that changing the archetype of woman will also change that of man. There are not very many positive models for, for instance, the single father. The stay-at-home dad. The househusband. Even more importantly, there are hardly any models of functional partnerships in which the man and women participate equally in the house keeping, child-rearing and money making.
I believe that this societal displacement men are suffering is the source of a lot of the strident anti-woman rhetorical (and legislative!!) backlash. Feminism must begin to accept and work with men before it can move forward. We can become allies instead of enemies.
Although XYG does not call itself a feminist group, several of the members (male and female) do identify as feminist. We also have members that identify as men’s rights activists. Even in our meager beginnings, by the nature of our mission statement, we were able to include nearly every facet of race, gender, sexuality, etc. and that is what will, as we go forward, make a meaningful dialogue (amongst ourselves as a group and with the greater community as well) possible.
I am thrilled to turn over my post as President to Mica, whose enthusiasm and dedication will carry XYG into the coming years. Mike also continues as our Treasurer (Officer of Snacks), and we welcome Emma to her rightful place as VP (Community Engagement Officer). Tim and I will both be satellite members, and hope to contribute in a meaningful way as XYG blog correspondents.
When Emma and I first began talking about a gender studies club at OCC, we wanted it to be a place that we could learn more about the way gender affects both ourselves and society as a whole. We imagined a sort of reading and discussion group that would hold panels or host speakers to raise awareness and educate about gender related issues. I think it is safe to say we had no idea that our concept would become XYG and that XYG would become the vibrant, accessible and active group that it is proving itself to be!
-Lizzy
Lizzy
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XYG 