Why Just March?!
Brooke Auxier
Issue date: 3/8/10 Section: Features
Your mom. Susan B. Anthony. Geraldine Ferraro. Michelle Obama. Sarah Palin. Love or hate them, these women have all made significant contributions to the definition of womanhood as we know it today.
Whether they are fighting for a woman's right to vote, the first woman running as a vice presidential candidate, or a mother raising three kids and working a full-time or part-time job apart from that - the role of women in modern society is one that is not static and it is often criticized and scrutinized.
With March as Women's History Month, efforts of the college to promote diversified womanhood are more easily seen. With the implementation of a women's and gender studies minor, the college has made great strides to acknowledge this area of study as legitimate and worthy. It is also possible for a student to create their own major in order to better study women and gender. A group whose mission goes hand-in-hand with WAGS is the Women's Center, housed in the basement of Sensenbrenner Hall, the all-female dorm.
After attending the "Body Beautiful" program sponsored jointly by the Women's Center and the staff at Sensenbrenner Hall, the mission of the Center became clearer to me. The "Body Beautiful" program featured Dr. Heidi Bemowski, staff psychologist from the Counseling and Testing Center. The presentation focused on body image and the messages portrayed by the media and our individual upbringing. The program provided a safe environment to talk openly about body image issues, in a both personal and general sense.
The Women's Center "gives women opportunities - and a voice where they wouldn't have one before," according to Margaret Deneen '10, the student director of the center. Deneen considers the most powerful aspect of womanhood to be the ability to choose. A woman is able to decide whether or not to pursue motherhood or a career-oriented lifestyle - or a combination of the two. Deneen insists that there is no ideal woman. Also discussed was the idea of feminism and the stereotypes and inclinations that accompany the word. Many people may not understand that there are several different versions of feminism.
Whether they are fighting for a woman's right to vote, the first woman running as a vice presidential candidate, or a mother raising three kids and working a full-time or part-time job apart from that - the role of women in modern society is one that is not static and it is often criticized and scrutinized.
With March as Women's History Month, efforts of the college to promote diversified womanhood are more easily seen. With the implementation of a women's and gender studies minor, the college has made great strides to acknowledge this area of study as legitimate and worthy. It is also possible for a student to create their own major in order to better study women and gender. A group whose mission goes hand-in-hand with WAGS is the Women's Center, housed in the basement of Sensenbrenner Hall, the all-female dorm.
After attending the "Body Beautiful" program sponsored jointly by the Women's Center and the staff at Sensenbrenner Hall, the mission of the Center became clearer to me. The "Body Beautiful" program featured Dr. Heidi Bemowski, staff psychologist from the Counseling and Testing Center. The presentation focused on body image and the messages portrayed by the media and our individual upbringing. The program provided a safe environment to talk openly about body image issues, in a both personal and general sense.
The Women's Center "gives women opportunities - and a voice where they wouldn't have one before," according to Margaret Deneen '10, the student director of the center. Deneen considers the most powerful aspect of womanhood to be the ability to choose. A woman is able to decide whether or not to pursue motherhood or a career-oriented lifestyle - or a combination of the two. Deneen insists that there is no ideal woman. Also discussed was the idea of feminism and the stereotypes and inclinations that accompany the word. Many people may not understand that there are several different versions of feminism.
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