Promoting feminism. Empowering women. Eliminating gender roles.
These are the goals of the Women’s Empowerment Club, a new club at USF St. Petersburg.
Sophomore and club president Katie Wagner said the club was vice president Kristina Sonstroem’s and her “brainchild.”
“We were passionate about feminism and wanted to bring that passion to campus,” Wagner said.
Both Wagner and Sonstroem make it clear that WE’s top priorities are to fix the negative connotations of the term “feminism” and to educate the student body on gender equality.
Feminism is still a controversial topic in society. Everyone seems to have their own definition of the word, which leads to confusion on what feminism is really all about. Oftentimes, feminism is associated with characteristics like “anti-men” and “extremists.”
Wagner defines feminism as “equality between men and women socially and economically,” in other words, total equality of the sexes. Sonstroem added that it is also about coming together and celebrating successful women in the community.
College campuses throughout the country have problems with issues regarding the empowerment of women and gender equality.
“It’s a global problem in the world in general, and USFSP is not an exception,” Sonstroem said.
Even though some of these issues are not necessarily widespread at USFSP, WE seeks to help not just USFSP, but the outside community, become more educated about such issues and give feminism a more positive meaning. WE does this through discussions where students can express their opinions and learn from other students’ opinions and presentations.
Some topics WE has discussed so far include healthy relationships, slut-shaming, women’s sexuality and trans-feminism. The discussions start out with an ice breaker. Then the topic is presented. The discussions work as an open forum for students to express opinions on the topic at hand. Many of WE’s topics so far came from suggestions from club members.
Besides discussions, WE host guest speakers throughout the semester. One week, USFSP professor Judithanne McLauchlan, who recently ran for Florida Senate, came and talked about the role of women in politics. Another week, WE collaborated with PEERS to co-sponsor an event in which a representative from St. Petersburg CASA (Community Action Stops Abuse) came and talked about domestic violence and local volunteer opportunities.
Wagner says the group hopes to get together and volunteer for CASA and other organizations in the future. They also plan to reach out to more guest speakers.
Next semester, WE plans to team up with the Office of Multicultural Affairs and organize events for Women’s ‘HERstory’ month in March.
All students are invited to club meetings, regardless of gender.
WE meets every other Monday evening. Visit the USFSP Women’s Empowerment Club on Facebook or through Petesync for more information on events and club meetings.
