A group of University of Wisconsin student organizations gathered Thursday to celebrate International Women’s Day, recognize the work feminists have been doing for years and plan the future of the movement.
A panel hosted by Students for Justice in Palestine, International Socialist Organization, Socialist Alternative, the Gender and Women’s Studies Club and Wunk Sheek focused on the topics of how feminism looks in today’s society and what the future of the feminist movement will be.
Sylvia Johnson, a member of ISO, said feminism doesn’t simply mean having a female police chief or representation in problematic systems. It focuses on a much larger problem of oppression.
“It’s not just anti-sexism — it’s opposing and toppling the regime that creates gendered violence and uses gender as a cudgel to implement social and economic inequality in this country and globally,” Johnson said.
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Johnson said the common enemy of all groups involved in the women’s rights movement is the oppression caused by the non-majority which holds the most power. They said this is vital to keep in mind in the fight for equality.
Collin Ludwig, a member of indigenous student organization Wunk Sheek, said the reason indigenous people are so passionate and supportive of the movement is because of the roles women play in their society.
“Women are spirit — women guide us and inspire us,” Ludwig said. “They are a part of who we are, yet they are the ones that are abused the most.”
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In addition to the panel, a march for International Women’s Day was held by the same groups outside of Union South in opposition to UWPD police chief Kristen Roman speaking for UW’s celebration of International Women’s Day. The attendees said Roman’s identity as a woman does not mean she advances the feminist movement, and believed she rather represents a symbol of oppression — the police.
Micah Dombrou, a member of ISO and a participant in the march, said that International Women’s Day has now become more about selling lingerie, in reference to the PINK pop-up store outside of Union South, than celebrating the actual history of the feminist movement.
“Just because the chief of police is a woman, people are somehow celebrating her saying this is the face of feminism, when historically the police have been the ones who have come in to oppress the strikers or the people who are fighting for their rights,” Dombrou said.
Dombrou said the coming together of so many student groups and members of the community gives the movement a fighting chance at achieving its goals.
The ISO will be holding a meeting Thursday at 7 p.m. in Sterling Hall about standing in solidarity with the teachers striking in West Virginia.
