Spring Break
Letter to the Editor: Stop bickering about whose issues are more pressing and work together
Issue date: 5/1/09 Section: Commentary
In his piece, "Look on the bright side, Women's Center," (April 30) columnist Bryan Murphy displayed his utmost ignorance in addressing the Women's, Center, Take Back the Night and most importantly, the Women's Movement. He made it painfully obvious by his opinion piece that he has neither visited the Women's Center to discuss its mission, nor attended Take Back the Night, nor is well versed in the goal of feminism.
He calls for a Men's Center to solve the "crisis of masculinity." There is in fact a crisis of masculinity in our culture, but it is not, by using terms such as oppression and the wage gap, "reinforcing the conception that men are mere bread-winners." It is a product of a society that pushes men to always be "strong," unemotional, and to have no empathy for other human beings. This crisis is indeed addressed at the Women's Center through the Men's Project, which Murphy would have known if he had simply asked.
Furthermore, had Murphy attended Take Back the Night, he would have known that the goal of the event was not to simply scream and shout; this night addressed complex societal issues that included many men and the crisis of masculinity. Murphy presents the misleading argument that while women suffer from sexualized crimes, men are more likely to suffer from violent crime. While this may be statistically true, violent crime against men is not used as a system of oppression as sexual crime is used to strip women of their power.
There are many more points I could address, but the fact of the matter is that Murphy should not be arguing that men's issues are more pressing in today's society, but that all of us, men and women, must face the pressures of our media and of our cultural stereotypes. Murphy asks if "American women really want to achieve equality with men," and it is exactly that. As advocates for equality, we need men as our allies standing together to fight both the crises of masculinity and female oppression.
Only in this way can we truly be equal.
-Michelle Farber
5th-semester anthropology major
He calls for a Men's Center to solve the "crisis of masculinity." There is in fact a crisis of masculinity in our culture, but it is not, by using terms such as oppression and the wage gap, "reinforcing the conception that men are mere bread-winners." It is a product of a society that pushes men to always be "strong," unemotional, and to have no empathy for other human beings. This crisis is indeed addressed at the Women's Center through the Men's Project, which Murphy would have known if he had simply asked.
Furthermore, had Murphy attended Take Back the Night, he would have known that the goal of the event was not to simply scream and shout; this night addressed complex societal issues that included many men and the crisis of masculinity. Murphy presents the misleading argument that while women suffer from sexualized crimes, men are more likely to suffer from violent crime. While this may be statistically true, violent crime against men is not used as a system of oppression as sexual crime is used to strip women of their power.
There are many more points I could address, but the fact of the matter is that Murphy should not be arguing that men's issues are more pressing in today's society, but that all of us, men and women, must face the pressures of our media and of our cultural stereotypes. Murphy asks if "American women really want to achieve equality with men," and it is exactly that. As advocates for equality, we need men as our allies standing together to fight both the crises of masculinity and female oppression.
Only in this way can we truly be equal.
-Michelle Farber
5th-semester anthropology major
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