Morehead State University
Fighting the “‘F’ Word” Organizing and Recruiting for a Feminist Group
Institution
Morehead State University
Faculty Advisor/ Mentor
Bernadette Barton; Constance Hardesty
Abstract
Continuing efforts to develop feminist conscious raising groups on college campuses today remain as imperative as during the Second Wave of the Women’s Movement. The combination of backlash against women’s improved status and opportunities, raunch culture, an increasingly androsexist media, and an absence of gender equality curriculum in education means that most students are, at best, uninformed about feminism, and at worst, perceive feminism negatively. Drawing on ethnographic observations and interviews with other student leaders, this study explores the challenges of organizing and recruiting for the feminist group SAGE (Student Association for Gender Equality) at Morehead State University. In particular, this study explores how female and male leaders experience leading a feminist student group, challenges with organizing and recruitment, and overall dilemmas faced by social feminist activist groups.
Fighting the “‘F’ Word” Organizing and Recruiting for a Feminist Group
Continuing efforts to develop feminist conscious raising groups on college campuses today remain as imperative as during the Second Wave of the Women’s Movement. The combination of backlash against women’s improved status and opportunities, raunch culture, an increasingly androsexist media, and an absence of gender equality curriculum in education means that most students are, at best, uninformed about feminism, and at worst, perceive feminism negatively. Drawing on ethnographic observations and interviews with other student leaders, this study explores the challenges of organizing and recruiting for the feminist group SAGE (Student Association for Gender Equality) at Morehead State University. In particular, this study explores how female and male leaders experience leading a feminist student group, challenges with organizing and recruitment, and overall dilemmas faced by social feminist activist groups.