Ditz

Issue date: 11/2/09 Section: On Campus

Media Credit: Google Images New Traditions

"I now pronounce you man and wife. Man--subject. Wife--attachment."

As Professor Caroline Heldman's lecture on "Challenging Social Scripts: Marriage, Last Names, and Motherhood" began last spring, people continued to creep noiselessly through the glass door into what once was the Stewie dorm lounge. The rows were already teeming with students and faculty crowded together on worn couches. At first glance, the diversity of the group was richly apparent. Wide-eyed first-years jotted down diagrams from the screen in rough blue pen strokes for later review while faculty members nodded with squinted eyes. Among them were also reverends, lesbians, married women, single men, and even Latina feminists who have been to Cuba in search of Che under layers of machismo. The new Center for Gender Equity (CGE), open as of October 2008, was full. And we were all there for very similar reasons: to know the box, and to see how high its walls have sprouted up around us. We wanted to know about these scripts that define us, these wife scripts, these name scripts, these mommy scripts. And for some of us, we wanted to know how to overcome them.

For a small, often "over-programmed" liberal arts college, the turnout was tremendous. I have been to many a lecture on Oxy's campus--from Elaine Brown's lecture on race and the Black Panther party to little-known authors sharing new prose, I've sat in many rooms whose empty chairs failed to creak before great words, great theory, and great leaders. So why has the CGE's Feminist Faculty Series garnered such a following? Perhaps gender is finally getting recognition among liberal arts students. Perhaps we are finally realizing that feminism does not necessarily mean something foreign, something militant, something with long-haired armpits and shaved heads. Perhaps students are looking to reclaim feminism from these stereotypes and make it their own.

With the passion of Naddia Palacios (Occidental Associate Director of Intercultural Affairs), Program Assistant Michelle Saldaña, and various students and faculty members, the CGE has begun to build a forum for dialogue on feminism, masculinity, and LGBT issues. The CGE, with the collaborative input of student advisory board members and Palacios, developed the idea to implement a Feminist Faculty Series, in which faculty members can present ideas in a forum dedicated to gender equity and dialogue. The one thing asked of all presenters: are you a feminist? So far, for Heldman as well as presenters Lisa Sousa and Lisa Wade, the answer has been one of affirmation and empowerment.

Media Credit: Ariel Owens Commitment Ceremony in San Francisco

When students and faculty crowded into the CGE on the first day of the series, bureaucracy and rigidity faded into fluid dialogue. Logistical transitions occurring on campus, like the change from Women's Center to Center for Gender Equity and from Women's Studies major to Critical Theory and Social Justice (CTSJ), were left outside the conversation. Heldman preempted her lecture by saying that it would be one of exploration, not condemnation, and with that the notions of judgment were left outside the door. It was merely a matter of identifying as a feminist. And the answer among the rows of open faces was a silent yes. The continuum of feminists was vast and varied, but we were all there. It was all yes.

"I called this lecture 'Challenging Scripts' with double sentiment in mind. It is because the scripts are challenging, yes. But it is also a call to challenge those scripts," declared Heldman as she began her presentation. Marriage, an "ever-changing institution," has, according to Heldman, developed various aspects, all having to do with who, when, why, and why not. "Limitations on marriage have changed over the years based on changes regarding race, religion, sex, age, class/caste, and opinions directed toward polygamy and incest." Indeed, the age of consent in the late 1800's was ten years old, as stated by Richard Wortley in his 2008 research on the prevention of child abuse. Marriage has been upholding patriarchy for centuries, yet women of all ages, races, and religions are still getting married. Statistically, only eight U.S. states allow men to legally assume their wives' last names and, on the other hand, only 11 percent of married women keep or hyphenate their last names. Are they feminists?

According to Naddia Palacios, the answer continues to be yes. "When I got married, I had to choose between continuing to honor my father--by keeping his last name--or honor my husband, someone who I respect and who has a great appreciation for feminism," she stated in response to these statistics. What's in a name? Fathers, husbands, patriarchy? Or choice?

"When young women come to me to plan their marriage ceremonies," stated Reverend Susan Young, "they often don't even think to ask about changing the process [to be less patriarchal.]" She continued, "I often am the one to even bring up the option." Whether we look at the notions of being given away by our fathers, or at those magical words "man (subject) and wife (attachment)," we can feel the weight of years of patriarchy. Can a woman be given away? And if she can, can she still be a feminist?

According to Margie Camarda, senior CTSJ major, the answer, again, is yes. "I would not feel comfortable making such a sweeping statement. I don't think you can say that if you do this one thing, you are not a feminist." From Camarda's perspective, feminism is a continuum. There is no absolute feminist. Not at Oxy. Not anywhere.

On the other hand, is self-proclamation enough? When asked to relay her impetus in beginning research on social scripts for women, Caroline Heldman recounted her experiences with feminist students here at Occidental. "Students have come in to my office, aware and self-proclaimed feminist students, who tell me that although [they] know about social scripts, [they] know that [they're] still going to follow them. They say that it doesn't matter that they know that the scripts support patriarchy."

So, are these students who want the wedding and the baby (despite research that promises us that 70 percent of the time we'll get divorced and that having children is more likely to make us depressed) still feminists?

Due to the theory of "compulsory procreation," according to Heldman, or the "joy that [children] bring into our lives," according to Palacios, women keep following the motherhood script. College-educated women keep getting married, keep taking their husband's last names, despite their acknowledgement of their participation in deeply-rooted social scripts that implicate power dynamics that disadvantage their gender and have tangible costs.

When it comes to the question of feminist labeling, is it to each her own? Is Occidental's campus becoming more or less feminist with its bureaucratic logistical transitions and the simultaneous support of new feminist institutions like the CGE and the Feminist Faculty Series? Is feminism a thing that can be defined by anyone but each individual feminist?

Media Credit: Emma Ceddia Hollywood Prop 8 Rally

Women can design non-traditional wedding ceremonies. We can change our last names to "Catling" or "Greenleaf" if we give the state a valid enough reason. We can deconstruct these social scripts embedded in our heads by too many Disney movies watched during our formative years. But does abandoning Snow White and saying "I don't" instead of "I do" render you exemplary on the feminist continuum? Perhaps it is not where we place ourselves on the continuum, but the fact that feminism indeed exists as a continuum, from wedded mommies to militant non-conformists with shaved heads and long-haired armpits.

When faculty members are asked to present with the Feminist Faculty Series, they are asked one thing: are you a feminist? Indeed, proclaiming oneself a feminist despite the horrible stereotypes plaguing the word is half the battle. But does being a feminist make you willing to challenge centuries of gender inequity? Is self-proclamation enough?

Are you a feminist? Is that enough?

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