Squaring impossibilities

Jul 17th, 2019 | By
Category: Notes and Comment Blog

Feminism 101: include men.

So, curious, I looked up the women’s department online. First sentence on the home page?

The Women’s Department exists to advocate for women and non-binary students on campus.

Bolding theirs. But…why? Why can’t a women’s department advocate for women and leave it at that? Why does it also have to advocate for “non-binary students”? What is this constant attack on women for not “including” people who aren’t women?

They have a Women’s Room. It starts well enough, even if the idea of it does make me a bit queasy.

The Women’s Room is a designated women’s safe space. Located on the first floor of Union House, the Women’s Room is an autonomous place where women can feel comfortable and safe to be themselves without having to share the space with men or undergo male scrutiny. It provides a space for women to relax, talk to each other, collaborate, organise, discuss issues or read literature/brochures without embarrassment or self-censorship. It is a non-competitive and supportive space, as well as a great place to meet and get to know amazing women!

Or not such amazing women, because just saying they’re amazing doesn’t actually mean they are. But never mind that – at least they managed to get through a whole paragraph without telling us that the Women’s Room is an autonomous place where women can feel comfortable and also they have to include male people who say they identify as female. That’s refreshing.

But of course it doesn’t last. Paragraph 2 is about the availability of a fridge, lube and condoms, and other essentials. 3 is a one sentence welcome. 4 is…

Please note: the Women’s Room is a safe space. To make sure all women are safe and comfortable in this room, please note that transphobia, racism, ableism, classism, fatphobia and misogyny are not acceptable in this space.

Interesting that “transphobia” is the first item while misogyny is the last. But also – do they mean spoken aloud transphobia? Or transphobia within. Are women who don’t agree that men become women by saying so expected to self-exclude from the Women’s Room? Is there some kind of radar that knows how to detect that particular non-agreement?

Then we get a Do Not Assume and a Do Assume. Under the latter:

1. That all women are welcomed and valued in this space, including trans women.
2. That sex workers use this space and are entitled to respect.
3. That we welcome women of faith to use this space for prayer. Please be considerate where prayer practice may require silence.
4. That we all come from different backgrounds and we all have an equal right to the freedom to be self-expressive without fear of being uncomfortable, unwelcome, or unsafe due to one’s gender assigned at birth, cultural background, age, mental/physical ability, sexual orientation, race/ethnicity, gender expression, class.
5. That every one in this room is entitled to respect on the basis of the respect they extend to other perspectives and experiences.

So, it’s an autonomous place where women can feel comfortable and safe to be themselves without having to share the space with men or undergo male scrutiny, but on the other hand trans women are welcomed in the space. Also, we all have a right to the freedom to be self-expressive without fear of being uncomfortable, unwelcome, or unsafe due to our gender assigned at birth or gender expression. So if a woman does feel uncomfortable and unsafe due to being a woman and noticing that there’s a man in the room designate for women? She has a right to the freedom to be self-expressive, but transphobia is not welcome. How, exactly, does that work?

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