Context: For about a year, there has been a group at McMaster University advocating for and working toward the establishment of a Centre for Women and Trans People. The centre, as envisioned by the founding committee, would be a safe space for women and trans people where they would feel supported as equal and valued members of the community. It would provide referrals and resources as well as free support and a gathering space. It would be available to all students (undergraduate and graduate) as well as faculty and staff of the university.
Recently, the undergraduate student union (MSU ) was presented with a petition asking for a referendum on the subject of an MSU -directed "Women's Centre." As a result, there will be a vote tomorrow. The Founding Committee has pointed out that trans people have now been removed from the name of the centre and there is no explanation of what the centre would look like or how it would function under MSU direction.
Now: The debate surrounding the centre has been minimal but problematic. Most upsetting is an editorial in the student newspaper against the establishment of any kind of women's centre. It was written by the executive editor of the paper and despite his beginning with claims of not being a "chauvinist," he quickly shows that he has no understanding of women's oppression on campus, let alone in the community at large.
Some choice quotes from the piece:
We are one group, and to cut us up, even along the perforated edges of years of injustice, makes us all smaller and weaker. In a way, allowing (encouraging, even) students to surround themselves with those who are like them feeds a banality that hurts us even more than the hegemony-mandated segregation of years past. Then, there was a clear victim and a clear oppressor. Now, there would be nothing more than a blank, gray abyss, devoid of discourse.
...
So you feel uncomfortable discussing having had an abortion to the point where you feel only safe discussing it with an isolated group. Are you not then, betraying every girl who will follow the same path, and will now feel only comfortable talking to the same shadows? Again, I realize this is easy for me to say, but I still want to know. How many rapes go unreported every year? I don’t know. I want to know, but the only way I ever will know is, unironically , if those rapes get reported, not in the isolation of a Women’s Centre, but in the public square.
...
I understand that it is hard, and also, that I have no ability to understand how hard it would be. I, however, feel that promoting isolation in the name of safety is an affront to the principles of the university itself.
Regardless of the outcome of the referendum, some of my classmates and I (who have nothing to do with the Founding Committee) plan on responding to this disgustingly misguided opinion about the situation for women on campus. The mere suggestion that a women's centre would decrease reports of sexual assault or discussion about abortion and other issues, is ridiculous. The idea that we should feel comfortable speaking about these things "in the public square" is ridiculous. A few years ago, two friends and I were assaulted in the middle of the student centre while trying to promote discussion about the intersections between feminism and reproductive choice. There were no cameras, no one came forward as a witness, security couldn't do anything for us. This hasn't stopped us from discussing issues "in the public square" but it certainly gave us pause. And, on that day, there was nowhere to go afterward to be encouraged to continue our activism or even to feel safe and supported while we cried.
The centre would be a safe space to find the support and encouragement that so many women need. Relating experiences to the experiences of others helps us to feel less alone, less isolated in our campus community. I can't imagine any situation where a woman who had experienced violence would be encouraged to keep it to herself and to the centre rather than reporting it to security and the police. Feeling isolated after a traumatic event is a serious problem for many women. A women's centre would provide them with a collective -- a way to find meaning in trauma and to find others with similar experiences. Traumas experienced collectively are easier to overcome than those experienced individually.
The editor of McMaster's newspaper is a very clear example of someone who could benefit from a workshop offered by a campus women's centre. The assertion that there is only a grey void where there used to exist clear oppressors and victims of oppression is incredibly problematic. This self-identified straight man has perhaps not experienced situations where gender or sexual privilege and oppression work against him. For those of us who have, and who have been subject to social sanctions as a result of our stepping outside our prescribed gender roles, a system of support is invaluable.
A women's centre would not promote isolation in the name of safety. It would promote actual safety and make it easier for women to feel less isolated. There can be not overstating of the importance of support and understanding in an educational environment. Far from "an affront," a women's centre would provide resources for the full participation of all women in all aspects of the university.
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We have a Centre for Women and Trans People at U of T, it's pretty cool. It's just a safe space where there's tons of events and speakers and free food.
I'm kind of surprised to hear that Mac doesn't yet have a Centre for Women and Trans People yet!!
We have the GLBTQ (gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans, and queer)club funded by the student union. It has since been renamed but I forget to what, sorry!
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