Last week, over 500 faculty and students wore FEMINIST shirts in a show of support for the Feminism is Equality movement. Lewis Robinson, Writer-in-Residence and one of the seven faculty members who organized the shirts, which were distributed for free, agreed to an interview over e-mail with The Phillipian staff.
What were the intentions of the organizers of the FEMINIST shirts? What were you all hoping to achieve? “Feminism” and “feminist” are words that have been used on campus this year in a variety of ways. Many times at school I’ve heard people say, “I’m not a feminist, but….” or “those feminists are trying to…” or “there’s nothing wrong.” As faculty members, and as male faculty members, we wanted to inspire broad discussion, to reassert the standard definition of the word “feminist,” and to give others in the community the opportunity to say, “this is what a feminist looks like.” The students in the group “feminism = equality” have been sticking their necks out all year, and we wanted to commend their activism and give others an opportunity to display a simple gesture of support for those students, and for equality in general.
Do you think it achieved these goals? Yes, and no. We knew it was a small gesture, and imperfect. I think the student leaders in “feminism=equality” felt supported, which is something we in the group wanted. All 500 shirts were “sold out” by the beginning of 4th period. The surprise arrival of the shirts was, for the community, at turns exciting, confusing, gratifying, annoying, unifying, and alienating. I’m sure some people wore the shirts ironically, which was okay with me, too. I think as a kind of “performance art,” the t-shirt surprise was successful. However, I think I didn’t immediately recognize that it would be seen by some as a recapitulation of the very power imbalance we believe should be rectified. We were, after all, a group of males using our power and credibility to assert an opinion. I think we should have probably gotten more faculty involved before unleashing the shirts.
What is the feminist movement as you understand it on campus? How does it relate to the aim of the shirts? The feminist movement on campus seems to be primarily concerned with raising awareness about cultural and institutional sexism. Sexism is insidious, and sometimes subtle, and to bring it to light in an attempt to rectify it requires a lot of hard work—work in the classroom, work among the students, and among the faculty and administration. The t-shirt gesture, on the other hand, was not particularly subtle, and it was extremely easy to do.
What are your concerns, if you have any, as a faculty member when making a public statement like this? I would be concerned if people didn’t talk about the issues in a substantive way.
What are your concerns, if you have any, when talking about feminism in class or using class time to discuss it? I occasionally bring up my personal political convictions in context, not to proselytize, but to be transparent, and to encourage others to be transparent. I think it would be disingenuous of me to do otherwise. It’s like a media source purporting to be wholly objective. It’s impossible.
