The other day, I wrote a post about the need for a Women’s Resource Center. A few fellow feminists (dig the alliteration?) brought up the very valid viewpoint (okay–that was the final bit of alliteration, I swear) that a Resource Center does not–and in fact should not–only cater to the interests of women. After all, men deal with sexual assault and harassment as well. (Statistically, the number of male victims is smaller; however, the emotional effects on a man are just as severe, and so men really should be given the same amount of consideration.) In addition, bisexual and homosexual students–both men and women–are victims not only of sexism, but of heterosexism as well. Thus, in the interest of equality, perhaps a “Gender Resource Center” would be more appropriate. Such a Center could provide the same services as a Women’s Resource Center, but with the added bonus of assisting men, and also assisting the LGBTQ community.At the same time, there might be something to be said for a place in which women feel safe. Would a safe place require that women’s needs are served specifically?This is a complicated issue, and so I think that this is something our readers should weigh in on:1) What would you like to see from a Resource Center?2) Should such a Center be specifically geared toward women, or should it deal with all gender/sexual issues?3) What would be a good title for such a place? Any ideas for a good acronym? (I love me some good acronyms . . .)
Filed under: Resource Center | Tagged: lgbtq, Women's Resource Center
![[8]](http://static.flickr.com/3566/3684030710_a3b5755453_t.jpg "[8]")
1) I’d like to see a resource center that served as a solid meeting place for collective action, education, and services geared toward ridding the Marquette campus and outside community (and nation, and globe, etc…) of sexism, sexual violence, sexual exploitation, gender inequity/discrimination, etc. This would include the housing of sexual violence prevention programming and awareness presentations, as well as various other types of resources–ranging from handouts to books (a library would be nice) to professionals that directly deal with the issue of sexual violence.
2) It’s near impossible to solve a relational problem such as sexism, sexual violence, and gender discrimination when you are only geared toward one side of the relational bond, yet people still tend to understand all these things as “women’s issues.” If 99% of perpetrators are men (*raises voice* this is NOT saying that 99% of men are perpetrators.), I would argue that this is much more of a “men’s issue” in terms of eradication of the problem. While labeling it a “men’s issue” offers us a unique lens, this understanding of the problem doesn’t go far enough either. I think what is most important in addressing this issue is the RELATION between our ideas of gender (masculinity and femininity) and how our current constructions of these two create an environment prone to sexism, heterosexism, sexual violence, etc. Ideally, this center should be geared towards gender/sex issues. It just so happens that most of the resources would probably be geared towards women, but ALSO a lot of the resources would be geared towards men and the community of individuals as well (men have a huge stake in ending sexual violence and sexism in general). We are powerful when we work together!
3)hmm a good title…well right now, I’m generally looking beyond the term “women’s center” and focusing my ideas on something having to do with “gender relations.” So maybe “Gender Relations Resource Lounge” (Grrl, for short