Football game serves as women’s rights arena
December 2, 2009
The philosophy of women class presented its Feminist in Action Project to raise awareness about gender inequality in today’s society at Villanova’s last home football game versus University of Delaware on Nov. 21.
The class of about 30 students, taught by Professor Katie Grosh, set up a throwing game at a booth in the west end zone. The game coincided with a a pledge poster encouraging people to be more conscientious about common sexist phrases, such as “You throw like a girl.” The poster was completely filled with signatures by the end of the football game.
Visitors to the booth, including students, families, alumni and faculty, were also informed that women make $0.77 for every dollar a man earns.
Students running the booth reeled people in with the question, “Would you like some money?”
They handed out fake money to demonstrate the disparity between men’s and women’s salaries. Half the money had the symbol of the male on it and was worth a dollar, while the other half of the bills had the female symbol on it and was worth $0.77.
The students at the booth stressed that nowhere in the world are women paid as equally as men. They also collected money to donate to a women’s shelter in Media, Pa.
Different committees were instated to help organize the event, including the Logistics Committee, the Crafting Committee and the Research Committee. Every student in the class was a part of at least one committee.
“It’s not that people are ignorant,” said junior Kat Mayers, a student in the philosophy of women class. “It’s that they just don’t know; it’s scary. Villanova students are educated but they don’t know about these existing inequalities.”
The introduction seminar to gender and women studies class’s Gender-Force, or G-Force for short, will be hosting the G-Spot, a spotlight on gender in Driscoll 240 today. It will be an open forum where four students will hold a discussion and answer questions.
“A lot of people are scared of the word ‘feminist,'” Mayers said. “But feminists are people who think that women should be equal to men, so shouldn’t we all be feminists?”