Feminism 101, one of  Elgin Community College’s Women History Month events, highlighted the principles and history of feminism and demonstrated the slow but ever-steady progression of gender equality.

The presentation,  put on by ECC History Teacher Antonio Ramirez and ECC’s  Marketing and Public Relations Specialist Ashley Zeman,  covered the history of feminism, from the first wave to the on-going third wave and the steps of each. The presentation included the focus points and tensions of the feminist movement on society, and how it also intersects with the oppressive beliefs of racism and homophobia.

For those unfamiliar with the concept of feminism, Merriam-Webster defines it as “the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities” and “organized activity in support of women’s rights and interests.”

“I’m very proud to call myself a feminist and it was a very nice history and overview of the ideals of feminism,” said Elaine Schroder, an ECC student who attended Feminism 101.

“This was for a part of our ethics class that I’m very fond of . As far as feminism goes, I think the recent focus on intersecionality is very important, especially in the current political climate.” Schroder said.

Feminism 101 also touched on how feminism is not just for women, but helps men as well by breaking down the idea of “toxic masculinity” in society. Ramirez spoke on how North American culture pushes men to be violent and to bottle up emotions to be a ‘real man’. Feminism helps unweave the idea that men must provide for women and must be strong for women, when women have the ability to support themselves. The presentation also touched on the popular misnomer of the ‘man-hating feminazi’, stating that true feminism is not only for women, but pushes for equality for all.

For the last part of the session, the attendees broke off into groups to talk about their own experiences with sexism, and how they responded to the situation. Many of the responses from each group showed that misogyny and sexism is still alive and kicking in our society, but also demonstrated how it was slowly improving. Many women spoke up about their own personal experiences with sexism, either in the workplace or just in the general public, and how they dealt with it. 

“They were tough questions and not everyone wants to share when someone has been homophobic to them or sexist to them.” said Ramirez.

“I think it was really brave that people decided to share and it’s totally understandable if people didn’t.  At the same time, when people hear other people’s experiences, we all have a lot of experiences in common and some of these ideas and types of discrimination are really deep within our culture.” 

Ramirez stated that they would like to do more presentations like Feminism 101, but maybe have more time for discussion or with an open forum setting.

” For me as a teacher, it was nice to hear students [and other attendees] talk, I like to hear what people’s personal experiences are like.” said Ramirez