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Bethany Zelent
Gateway Writer
Sep 20, 2013
I took my first Women's and Gender Studies course in the second semester of my first year. Like many first-year students, I was overwhelmed and confused with the direction I wanted my life to take. I was taking a variety of courses, none that really had anything to do with each other, just to get a taste of what was out there.
I'll be honest, before the first class, I had no idea what to expect. I was anticipating a braless prof with wacky hair and man-bashing ideas. I wanted to take a WGS class to see if this all was true, but also to see the merits of feminist theory and to see what the basis of their argument was. But I was lucky enough to have the sweet and wonderful Mebbie Bell as my professor for WST 201, who wore a bra and transformed my image of what a feminist looks like. For me, that class was a safe space to explore ideas of feminism, and I never felt intimidated or idiotic if I didn't understand a concept. Mebbie was always open to questions and explained everything thoroughly.
For example, I was confused about a sexual assault case we studied where the survivor was a prostitute and was assaulted by a client. Mebbie took the time to explain to me in great length how consent can be revoked during a sexual tryst, how consent to one act one time does not equal consent for another time or any other act - whether or not there's a payment at the end.
Since my intro course, I've fallen in love with every single WGS class I've taken thereafter, and I'm glad I'm at a school that values this department. I've looked into other schools - UBCO, Grant MacEwan and even U of A Augustana - and their selection of WGS courses doesn't usually span past an intro course, maybe a course on media and feminism if they're especially daring.
The U of A's WGS program, on the other hand, offers a wide variety of courses each semester, such as Feminism and Food, Law and Feminism, Feminism and Sexualities, Feminism in Pop Culture and Feminist Perspectives of Sexual Assault. This array of courses allows students from all faculties to learn about feminist theory in specific subjects they are passionate about. Additionally, many WGS courses also have a Community Service Learning (CSL) component for students to apply their knowledge of feminist theory in an applicable and tangible venue that also benefits the community. Until you've felt the community space, open discussion area and genuine critical thinking for issues that are meaningful and relevant, you don't know what you're missing from WGS courses.
In the department's 25 years on campus, it's seen unbelievable improvements for gender equality on campus. For example, with support from WGS professors and students and the Student's Union, the Gender-Based Violence Prevention Project was born. Funded by Status of Women Canada, this project strives to eradicate gender-based violence on campus through awareness and education programs. Last year, they hosted a feminist self-defence course and are currently striving to install gender-neutral washrooms on campus.
The WGS department hosts events such as "Why I Need Feminism" photo promotions, feminist research speakers series and an undergraduate conference in feminist, gender and sexuality studies. Through things like this, WGS has become an instrumental addition to the university, providing students with a safe space to challenge societal norms and the status quo, fostering growth both personally and intellectually.
Want to learn more about WGS? Visit the department's website. If you want to get a taste of what WGS is all about, check out the Dean of Native Studies, Brendan Hokowhitu's, lecture on indigenous masculinities on Friday, Sept. 20 from 3 p.m. - 4:20 p.m. in CAB 269, followed by a celebratory reception of the WGS department's 25th anniversary at Alumni House. His lecture "Indigenous Masculinities: Patriarch or Pawn?" analyzes the common conceptions of indigenous masculinities. Through a narrative of his own life as an indigenous man and scholar raised by a feminist Pākehā (white New Zealander) mother and a sports fanatic Māori father, Hokowhitu looks at the complexities and ambiguities surrounding indigenous masculinities as postcolonial cultural formations.