It has been one of those days. Even at Oxford I guess you're bound to have them.
It was just so fucking frustrating to hear that even at Oxford--especially at Oxford--this place that is supposed to be (or at least, I have fashioned it to be) this liberal, intellectual, spirited haven--even here, they have all the same problems Sarah Lawrence did/does, and maybe more. Listening to the girls at WomCam talk today (Women's Campaign--Oxford's feminist society) it was all I could do not to burst into tears. I spent two years fighting that battle. Yes, I learned how to do it--how you do (and don't) navigate administration, how you get information out, what information there is to get out. I know how to fight that battle. But do I even want to? Again? I was honestly aghast to hear they have absolutely no services for survivors of sexual assault; that the only place you can go is a rape crisis center, which is run by barely trained volunteers with no counseling experience and limited hours, and is itself always on the verge of collapse. Sarah Lawrence's excuse was monetary. They just never had the money, for a variety of reasons. And after two years, we finally reached some sort of compromise. It wasn't entirely adequate, but it was better than before. Take Back the Night last year was, for me, the culmination of that particular struggle. Standing there with Erin, watching the writings of all those girls burn, both of us silent, somber, invested in it for entirely different, equally important reasons--I will never forget that moment. I knew even then it would be a memory that even years later, would define Sarah Lawrence for me. But what's Oxford's excuse? The University is endowed with billions; the town itself is more than well off. It's not like they don't have the money. They just funnel it elsewhere. "Into more leather couches"--wryly declared by the American graduate student who's been living in the UK for years and was the instigator of this particular conversation in the first place.
It was just beyond frustrating to hear these girls talk of how they're unable to speak up in front of their male peers; how "feminist is a dirty word;" how the latest bop theme is "Spartans and Sluts" and how that's widely considered respectable. How they run assertiveness training workshops and study skills workshops for women because Oxbridge is notorious for having a finals gap between women and men. How this is still considered in many ways an "old boys school," and as an American, who's spent the entirety of her undergraduate career thus far at an especially liberal, predominately female campus, I am just having a hard time understanding--or rather, accepting--all of this.
Yes, I could--and maybe should--fight that battle again. But walking back in the rain, it was all I could do not to cry.
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This is loosely related to what you are fighting for, but I think it is a great example of breaking down ridiculous administration. You might of heard it before, but I thought it was pretty cool and interesting:
"Brigham Young University admonished women not to walk alone on campus at night, thus effectively putting a curfew on women [after an on-campus attack of a female student]. Women students claimed that violence against women would stop immediately if men, not women, had such a curfew. They hung flyers all over campus that said, 'Due to the increase in violence against women on BYU campus, a new curfew has been instated. Men will no longer be allowed to walk alone or in all-male groups from 10PM to 6AM. Those men who must travel on or through campus during curfew hours must be accompanied by two women in order to demonstrate that they are not threatening.' "
:) I think that cleverly got the point across. Unfortunately, SLC and a few other universities and organizations are a small pocket of liberal that barely extends beyond those fighting for it. For me, it's nice to sit in something like a women's studies class and feel like our voice against corrupt patriarchy is heard, but it just makes the blow harder when you walk out in the real world and realizing nobody else thinks that way.
viva la revolución
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