OPINION: SPEAK FOR YOURSELF: Women's Center: Valuable Resource or PC Token?

Don't be Afraid To Call yourself A Feminist In her 1991 bestseller, Backlash, Susan Faludi discusses the New Right's strategy for attacking the feminist agenda. She writes: "In time-honored fashion, antifeminist male leaders had enlisted women to handle the heavy lifting in the campaign against their own rights." I did not want to write this column. I did not want to allow the media to continue to frame the debate over the Women's Center's move to Locust Walk as one between opposing groups of women. It's difficult for me to address the assertions of people who have never been to the Penn Women's Center. I'm sorry that they believe that if they went to the PWC, they'd be unwelcome. I'm sorry that the antifeminists on this campus have convinced them that if they opened the door to 119 Houston Hall, they'd be assaulted by the 50 militant radicals who are holed up there. Perhaps they feel that the PWC is a feminist organization and they have no use for feminism. Perhaps they've never felt unsafe on this campus at night and never known anyone who was sexually assaulted. Perhaps they plan on living their lives without learning the phrases "sexual harassment" or "pay gap." In their world, feminism must seem pretty outdated. Or perhaps they think they'll be safer if they don't identify themselves with "radicals", that the misogynist backlash on this campus will only hurt them if they call themselves "feminists." So, they're willing to give up using the Women's Center as a resource because other people have led them to believe that it addresses issues only from the "radical" point of view of the 50 scary women we've heard so much about in the press. I have no idea where this magic number came from. Clearly, it did not come from the PWC's annual report, since that report documents that 178 people were served by the PWC's one-on-one counseling and advocacy service alone, last year. Clearly, it did not come from the number of undergraduate women, 250, who actively participate in "feminist" organizations. If they chose never to walk into the Women's Center, that's fine with me. But if the time comes that they need counseling, advocacy, or support on any issue, the PWC will be there for them. And they will be welcomed. The counseling and advocacy that is the day to day work of the PWC is not the kind of activity that makes headlines. The Women's Center respects the privacy of the groups and individuals with which it deals and does not attempt to promote itself in the media. This has allowed those in the antifeminist backlash to define what the PWC is and what it does. In moving to 3643 Locust Walk, the PWC moves from a closet-sized space in Houston Hall to the center of campus. In many ways, bringing women to the center of campus is what the PWC has always been about. That is why its relocation is so frightening to those who would keep women "in their place". That is why those very same people want women to believe that the Women's Center has not adequately represented our interests. If you have been convinced of this, I would urge you to make your feelings known, not just through the voices of DP reporters, but directly to the Women's Center staff. You will not be asked for your religion or your political affiliation when you walk in the door. You do not have to call yourself a feminist to have your voice heard. I urge you to put aside what campus antifeminists have told you and come and judge for yourself. Here are the PWC's issues of concern, listed alphabetically (These are listed in the informational brochure, available on the coffee table next to the entrance door of the Women's Center, in case you are brave enough to venture there.): Acquaintance rape, AIDS, Assertiveness, Child Care, Disability rights, Economics, Educational equity, Health, International Women's issues, Lesbian and bisexual concerns/homophobia, Racial harassment/racism, Relationships, Reproductive health, Safety and security, Sexual harassment/sexism, Tenure, Violence against women, Women and athletics, and Worker rights and responsibilities. Campus antifeminists didn't want you to see this list. They wanted to scare you away from even walking in to pick it up. Debra Pickett is a junior English major from Franklin Township, New Jersey. She is a former DP columnist and member of the Penn Women's Alliance leadership team.

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