By Jeffery Gauthier, Guest Commentary
Last week the Feminist Discussion Group began its eighteenth year as a recognized student group at the University of Portland. Over the years, hundreds of university students have used the group to plan events that call attention to injustice, to support causes that benefit oppressed women in the community, and simply to join with others to discuss a variety of issues affecting women in a supportive environment.
For all that, however, perhaps a larger number of people at the university have wondered (some loudly) why such an organization should exist at all. After all, why is feminism necessary when women already achieved equality with, if not superiority to men? The charge that feminism is altogether unnecessary is often linked to the view that the only people who would call themselves "feminists" are irrational malcontents spurred on by their vile hatred of men.
Such a charge might have some merit had recent strides toward formal legal equality between women and men succeeded in dismantling all the social structures of male supremacy. Because this is not the case, however, feminism remains a critical movement for social justice, and people committed to gender equality still have plenty to do.
Last year, the Feminist Discussion Group sponsored a "pay scale bake sale," calling attention to the discrepancy between women's and men's wages and salaries. In preparing for that event, the group studied recent labor statistics on women's and men's pay in various industries and professions. In addition to simply discussing the facts, the group also considered the reasons for the discrepancy.
The economist Marilyn Waring has pointed out that the labor of women in all cultures is undervalued because the work that women do as women simply does not "count" economically. In the U.S. this means that women in the workplace are disadvantaged as they are also called upon to do the lion's share of household for no compensation. In the underdeveloped world, whole sectors of the agricultural economy are often effectively "under the radar" economically as they involve women's unpaid labor.
Of course, women's inequality is not only economic. The fact that women must approach a variety of social situations with the knowledge that they could be raped or sexually assaulted by men constitutes a form of terror entirely inconsistent with genuine equality. The issue of sexual violence, both on campus and in society at large, is a frequent topic of discussion in the group.
In 2009, group member Malori Maloney devoted her senior thesis to a study on experiences and perceptions of sexual violence at the University. Among other findings, her study revealed that experiences of sexual violence among University women were similar to those at other campuses, with 15.1 women per 100 per year experiencing rape or attempted rape.
As in society at large, most instances of campus sexual crime go unreported.
Strikingly, the 2009 campus safety crime report shows 0 sexual offenses on campus. Among other things, this is due to the obstacles faced by women in successfully prosecuting rape in criminal courts, where the rates both of prosecution and conviction are significantly less than that of other felonies. This demonstrates once again how far we have to go in translating formal to substantive equality under the law.
In its discussions, the Feminist Discussion Group strives to come to an informed understanding of the causes of gender inequality. In its activism, it seeks to educate the campus on the nature of this injustice and to work toward positive solutions.
The Feminist Discussion Group meets on Tuesdays from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. in Buckley Center 108.
Professor Jeffery Gauthier is an associate professor of philosophy and the advisor for the feminist discussion group.
