WGS and UNE
What is Women’s and Gender Studies?- An interdisciplinary academic field devoted to topics concerning women, gender, and feminism. It focuses on gender arrangements (the ways society creates, patterns, and rewards our understanding of femininity and masculinity)
- What is your perception of women on the campus of UNE? What is the status of WGS?
- As an identified woman/man, have you noticed or experienced any societal patterns in the way you are treated or how others are treated?/Have you been affected by gender at UNE? They can be treated differently from peers or professors.
- Do you think there are issues missing on campus related to women? If so, explain? Could be through clubs or how people are treated
- Do you teachers ever speak about gender?
- First Person Interviewed: Identified Female, 22 years old, Second Semester senior at UNE
- First Q: I have a lot of women professors over the years, not a lot of men.
- Second Q: Me personally, no. I have never met a professor that’s been more favorable over someone’s gender/more favorable, race yes, but gender, no.
- Third Q: I don’t see any issues, no
- Fourth Q: Uhm, I’ve taken a gender studies class and we focused on how women were treated. I think a lot is spoken in English and History classes about gender because such a long time we were not equal to men so you know it’s a big part of our history
- Second Person Interviewed: Identified Female, 22 years old, Second Semester senior at UNE
- First Q: My perception of women is that the campus is primarily made up of women and when it comes to the status of WGS, I am honestly unsure where it stands. With that said, I guess I would say there needs to be more education on the topic
- Second Q: I personally have been treated differently by one of my professors who was also a female. She judged me based on where I grew up. She was my old advisor actually and I found it very unprofessional. She was basing my academic performance based on my location of where I lived my whole life. She described me as, “A rich female who can get away with anything she wants.” She knew nothing about me. Who is she to assume? But, other than myself, I do not think I’ve seen anyone else being treated differently because of their gender, but I stay quiet and keep to myself, so maybe I am just unaware.
- Third Q: I think there are issues missing on campus related to women. I even think for men too. I think there should be clubs or services available at all times for support. This could be with sexual health or body image. Those can be harmful and they definitely are not spoken about enough
- Fourth Q: So and so I would say. It’s mainly on health disparities and how we should treat our clients/patients with respect and we should educate ourselves on culture. So maybe not so much gender, but race.
- Third Person Interviewed: Identified Male, 22 years old, Second semester senior at UNE
- First Q: They are ignorant and uneducated to culture and backgrounds; society. Guys definitely look at and believe that they are superior to women on campus. They show this through actions, words, encounters, and behavior.
- Second Q: As a male and identified hispanic, I am looked upon differently because I am hispanic, while most of the campus identifies me as an African American. I have not been affected by my gender, however, “I believe I have been more affected by my race and my outside features more than being a male alone.” People might tend to make fun of people where English is not their first language, there is a lack of culture and just being ignorant.
- Third Q: I feel as if women or females on campus put themselves in situations where they can get taken advantage of by being intoxicated or seducing another intoxicated individual. There should be more education on sexual harassment and continued awareness where females should know how to handle situations now that they are in a college environment; should teach the student body about how to prevent sexual assault, harrassement, and other situation where one gets taken advantage of.
- Fourth Q: Yes they do, all the time, especially in my major.
- Fourth Person Interview: Identified Male, 22 years old, Second semester Graduate Student at UNE
- First Q: I think there are more women on campus than men. I think it’s weird, but other than that I am unsure. I do not think they are inferior, females are much smarter. I think females are less carefree than men and they make more logical decisions and think things through more. I do not know anything about WGS on campus.
- Second Q: I noticed with my professor that got fired, he was a creep, that’s why he got fired. He preferred women over men. Actually with housing, my freshman year the building I lived in, the second floor was all female. I have not been affected by my gender on campus.
- Third Q: No, I do not think so.
- Fourth Q: No they do not
After doing four interviews, through this small sample, you can tell that there needs to be more study and education on Women’s Gender Studies on campus. I, in particular, did not even know Women’s Studies existed until I was searching for an exploration class to take. I believe there should be more opportunities throughout a students four years on campus to be enlightened on such a crucial topic. I only interviewed four people, but image the answers that could be gained through a survey given to students? We can address Gender issues by having lectures in the First Year Experience Class. We need to circulate more discussion regarding the topic because I feel as if many do not know or understand the issues facing today. In our very first class, we learned about Feminism and the true definition.
Notes that I took were:
- WGS is an interdisciplinary academic field devoted to topics concerning women, gender, and feminism. It focuses on gender arrangements (the ways society creates, patterns, and rewards our understanding of femininity and masculinity) and examines these arrangements affect everyday life.
- WGS is concerned with gender as it intersects with multiple categories, such as race, ethnicity, social class, age and sexuality
- WGS focuses on the ways women and other feminized bodies experiences discrimination and oppression
- WGS involves the study of gender as a central aspect of human existence
- To provide advocacy and work toward social change
- Androcentrism → Maleness with humanity, putting men at the center and relegating women to outsiders in society
- How did WGS originate
- Was the emergence of women’s studies programs and departments in response to the absence, misrepresentation, and trivialization of women in the higher education curriculum, as well as the ways women were systematically excluded from many positions of power and authority as college faculty and administrators
- Especially true for women of color
Literature was full of men’s ideas about women – ideas that often continued to stereotype women and justify their subordination. History courses often taught only about men in wars and as leaders, and sociology courses primarily addressed women in the context of marriage and the family
- Feminism is a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression
- This definition does not imply that men are the enemy
- By naming sexism as the problem, it went directly to the heart of the matter → implies that all sexist thinking and action is the problem, whether those who perpetuate it are female or male, child or adult
- To understand feminism it implies one has to necessarily understand sexism
- Masses of people think that feminism is always about women seeking to be equal to men. A huge majority of these folks think feminism is anti-male
- Most people learn about feminism from patriarchal mass media
- Masses of people agree with the idea of gender equality in the workplace – equal pay for equal work
I believe even the simple definition of feminism people do not know because once they hear the word Feminism, they are immediately turned off and do not want to hear anything about it.
