A little over a year ago I was creating my first year university schedule. I was looking for another elective and thus was browsing the course catalogue when I saw that my school offered Women’s Studies. It sounded interesting and it fit my schedule so I registered. I didn’t know anybody who had taken Women’s Studies and the course description was vague so I really didn’t know what to expect. Within the first week I knew that it was my favourite course. I was in love with Women’s Studies. I would eagerly sit down each week to do my assigned reading because the articles were so interesting it didn’t even feel like school. When the semester finished I couldn’t bear the thought of not having Women’s Studies so I dropped a course I didn’t need so I could take another Women’s Studies course. I was hooked.
I had always been a feminist. I knew that a feminist was someone who believed in equality between men and women and I wasn’t afraid to identify as a feminist. And I wasn’t under any illusions that women had reached full equality. I was aware there was a wage gap, I knew that women were underrepresented in politics, and I knew that there was something wrong with the fact that my mom does 80% of the housework even though both my parents have full time jobs. I also knew deep down inside that my beloved Disney princesses were pretty crappy role models for girls. What I didn’t know was that what my mom was doing was called “The Second Shift” and that this is a widespread situation that was far more complicated (and sexist) than I had thought. I didn’t know why women were so underrepresented in politics. And it turns out that Disney princesses are even worse than I thought (I still secretly like them though. We just have a complicated relationship now). As for sexism in the English language? Gender stratification? Female Chauvinist Pigs? These were things I was surrounded by but had never even thought about before. That’s what happens when you take Women’s Studies. The whole world looks different to you. And while that sounds like a bad thing (because you’re suddenly seeing sexism that you used to just ignore) it’s really a good thing. Because once you identify a problem you can try to change it.
I loved a lot of the courses I took this year. I am super passionate about Ancient Rome. I could talk about the Romans for hours, really I could. The difference between the courses I found interesting and Women’s Studies is that Women’s Studies is applicable to my whole life. The things I learned there will affect how I vote in elections, the type of person I can date, and how I envision my future. It also leads to really awesome discussions between my friends and I (and not just female friends!). I’ve had so many great conversations with my mother about things I was studying in my Women’s Studies class. Like I mentioned earlier, I’ve always been a feminist. Now it’s a part of my identity in a way it never was before and it’s all because of Women’s Studies.
I know that by this time of year most students have already picked their courses for next year. I also know that there’s plenty of time to drop and add courses. So if you are a university student my words of advice to you would be get yourself into a Women’s Studies class ASAP. People are really hesitant about Women’s Studies courses (ex. my friends). I think there are some misconceptions about them which I will be thrilled to clear up for you all.
Myth #1: Women’s Studies courses are taken by crazy, butch, lesbians. People really do think this. My prime example being my father who frequently asked me questions like “have you bought some combat boots to wear to your Women’s Studies class?”. I feel like if you still have this stereotype of what a feminist looks like you probably aren’t reading this blog, but just for the record this is not true at all. Most people in intro Women’s Studies classes were just like me, they took it because it sounded intriguing and it conveniently fit their schedule. They came from various faculties (not just Arts) and I haven’t a clue what their sexual orientations were (nor do I care) but I would presume the percentage of lesbians isn’t any higher than the average course.
Myth #2: Only women can take Women’s Studies. I’m not going to lie, both my Women’s Studies classes were mostly girls. But neither class was all female. Men can and do take Women’s Studies. We had one guy in my 201 class who was from Engineering and didn’t even know what the word feminism meant when he got there. To quote bell hooks “Feminism is for Everybody”!
Myth #3: Women’s Studies only talks about women and feminism. I can’t speak for all programs but my courses also talked about constructions of masculinity, heterosexism, racism, and classicism. It was a lot more diverse in curriculum than I had anticipated.
Myth #4: It’s an “opinion course” and thus you can’t properly test the material. I can see how one might think Women’s Studies courses consist of your prof ranting about her personal opinions but it’s not like that (that would be this blog). Terminology is not opinion and feminist history is not opinion. As for the articles we read in class, we weren’t being tested on whether we agreed or not with the author. What was important was that we understood the author’s argument so we could explain it on a test.
Women’s Studies might sound obscure but in truth it’s offered at a lot of universities. I know for sure that it is offered at the University of Alberta, the University of Toronto (it’s called Women’s and Gender Studies) and Queens (it’s called Gender Studies). And yes, I just spent ten minutes looking at U of T and Queen’s websites just so I could say that. I personally am a U of A student so if you go there and have any questions about the difference between 101 and 201 or want prof recommendations I’d be happy to help you out. Just e-mail ThisIsaFeministIssue@gmail.com.
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