Members of the Andover community donned navy blue shirts with the word “Feminist” printed in the front as part of an effort to eliminate the word’s social stigma on Tuesday.
Designed and ordered by a group of seven male faculty members, 500 shirts were available for faculty at the Monday evening faculty meeting and for students to pick up for free in the morning and during lunch.
Fernando Alonso, Director of Summer Session, Jeffrey Domina, Instructor and Chair in English, David Fox, Instructor in English and Art History, Christopher Jones, Instructor in History and Social Science, Thomas Kane, Instructor in English, Lewis Robinson, Writer in Residence, and Anthony Rotundo, Instructor in History and Social Science, organized the event in light of recent gender debate across campus.
According to an e-mail the organizers wrote to the faculty, they wanted to address recent use of the word “feminist” on campus and re-define it as a person who believes in equal rights for both genders.
“Everyone, women and men, can be feminists and support social, political and economic equality for women,” said the e-mail.
The purchase of the shirts was funded by an anonymous donation and private funds.
