Slogan Disclaimer

Sharon Davie

Cavalier Daily

Cavalier Daily

1985-11-21

Slogan Disclaimer
We in Women's Studies were happy to co-sponsor Gloria Steinem's visit with Focus and the Speaker's Committee of University Union. But we'd like to make it clear that the Women’s Studies Program had nothing to do with the advertisements for Steinem’s talk, displayed in student dining areas, which read "Gloria Steinem: The Woman Men Love to Hate."
Obviously, the slogan was meant to be a joke. The slogan also aimed at drawing an audience to Steinem's talk who are antagonistic to her in a “good-natured" way. University Union's intention was not malicious; but we object to the underlying implication that men can’t be feminists. Feminism is not a dogma, but an approach to living; so there are many different visions of what it is to be a feminist. But basic to feminism is an active struggIe — private or public — to insure that neither women nor men cut down the size of the self they can be, because of gender. Men can be – and some are – engaged in those day-to-day acts which move us all away from hatred, toward living fuller lives.
Sharon Davie
Director of Women’s Studies