GenderYOUTH Network

IUSB: Blurr zine calls for submissions

Call for submissions... on gender.

Greetings!

Gender Project is well underway at Indiana University of South Bend. We are a new, student organized, gender advocacy group on campus associated with GenderPAC.

Last month we distributed our first issue of Blurr, a new zine with a focus on gender. It was a great success here at IUSB and soon we hope to be able to share the zine with a much larger audience by making the publication available online.

In the meantime, we are currently compiling works for the second issue. We hope to begin printing in just a few short weeks.

This zine is a focus on all aspects of gender and how it crosses lines of socioeconomic status, race and ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, and more.

A call for submissions... more info below.

With as much diversity as we have among our students and faculty here at IUSB (and the larger community), I know there is just as wide a range of creativity. I would like to use these creative voices in order to educate and advocate the versatility and complications of gender as they are portrayed and interpreted in our society.

We're looking for artists, poets, essayists, personal stories, etc. -anything that can be related to gender, be it positive or negative.

Can you help or do you know someone who would be interested? If you would like to send us a submission or if you have questions, please contact us via e-mail.

Karrie Blevins
Coordinator, The Gender Project
Indiana University at South Bend

For submissions:
E-mail: blurr@iusb.edu

For questions:
E-mail: kblevins@iusb.edu

For snail mail:

The Gender Project
Indiana University South Bend
1700 Mishawaka Ave
South Bend, IN 46634

X-posted to relevant online communities including the GenderYOUTH Network on Yahoo.

RSS feed available via Livejournal.

IUSB: The Gender Project

Hey all! Hope everyone is enjoying their summer. I know I am
especially enjoying the 14509345823049 degree heat. Yum. :/

Right. Well, back to business....

"The Gender Project" will be the name of our GenderYOUTH group here
at IUSB, at least to start off with. We're working on a couple
things before classes start in the Fall.

A website is being developed and we plan to have it up and running
by mid-August.

We're also hoping to get the G-Zine printed around the same time.

As mentioned in our last post, we are looking for submissions that
would be topic related - drawings, poems, OpEds, etc.

As for the website, we welcome suggestions for information,
materials, etc. to be included.

Looking forward to hearing from many of you before school starts.

X-posted

For equality & diversity,
Karee

Zine: IUSB chapter calls for submissions...

We are working on putting a zine together for the beginning of the Fall semester here at IU-South Bend. This first issue will be geared towards incoming freshmen students and student organizations getting back into the swing of things. This is a call for submissions (or suggestions)... So, if you have some artistic talent that you'd like to share... along the lines of gender, stereotypes, labels, etc., let us hear 'em! Interesting articles, poems, or other written works would be greatly appreciated too. (Plus, we can send you a copy once its ready to distribute.) *Feel free to pass this message along to any person(s) or group(s) you feel might be interested. Karee B. e-mail: karee23@hotmail.com

Cornell College (IA) Announces Gender-Blind Housing Project

Genderblind housing to have trial period in '05
Erik Jensen, Staff Writer, The Cornellian

The Women’s Resource Group (WRG) has been granted a one-year pilot program allowing gender-blind housing at Harlan House.  Men and transgendered students will be allowed to live in Harlan along with women who currently are housed at Harlan.

To be granted gender-blind housing, WRG had to go through an application process that included altering their charter to allow for gender-blind housing.  In addition, the group submitted a proposal detailing the change for approval by Director of Residence Life Matt Johnson.  The program will receive evaluation throughout the 2005-2006 academic year to determine if the program will be continued.

WRG member Jeanne Firth commented, “WRG decided to push for gender-blind housing status because WRG has… members who are not female and we wanted them to have the option of living in the house.  WRG’s ideals are very much in line with 3rd wave feminist thought, which is inclusive rather than exclusive and believes that all people should be welcomed to feminist thought and activism if they believe in equality, regardless or their gender, race, sexuality, etc.  Gender-blind status also provides a more comfortable option of housing for possible Cornell students who identify as transgendered.  WRG is thrilled at the approval of this housing option – it is a step towards equality and non-discrimination that the college community should be extremely proud of.”

Cornell College (IA) plans to expand their college's non-discrimination policy

GenderYOUTH members have big plans for a Bigotry Week and for a gender-bending awareness campaign.  They've organized a drag ball with success and have had great success with their Drop the Labels campaign.  Cornell College is also in the midst of a campaign to expand their college's non-discrimination policy to include gender identity and gender expression.  They have publicized an open letter to their campus community and have gained the support of many stakeholders.  They also organized a gender/class/race workshop for first year students at their school, which they learned to facilitate at the Youth Leadership Track at the 4th National Conference on Gender.

Drop the Labels in the Des Moines Register

The Des Moines Register published an article about Drop the Labels at Cornell College & Iowa State University.

Did you want to bring Drop the Labels to your school but didn’t have time to pull it all together for this week? You can still participate – Drop the Labels has been extended!

Take action and raise awareness about bullying and harassment on your campus – look for your Action Kit in the mail & visit the Drop the Labels website for more information.

Students act against gender stereotyping: An effort begins at 24 campuses across the nation to end violence linked to labeling.

By NICOLE PASEKA REGISTER CORRESPONDENT September 23, 2004
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Sara Hoffman's shirt made more than a fashion statement Wednesday.

The Cornell College art student pinned to her clothes 120 sticky notes on which gender slurs such "goddess," "slut," "jock" and "girlie-man" were scrawled.

Hoffman asked students and faculty to write the words - which she said are often cast at students who don't live up to peers' gender expectations - on the notes.

Hoffman, 23, a senior at the Mount Vernon college, said she wants people to be more accepting.

She called the response positive. "Lots of people were really interested in why I was doing it and how I came up with it," she said.

Student groups at 24 campuses nationwide, including Cornell College and Iowa State University in the state, began a coordinated campaign this week to end bullying caused by gender stereotyping.

The campaign, called "Drop the Labels, Back to School," is sponsored by the Gender Public Advocacy Coalition, or GenderPAC, a nonprofit group based in Washington, D.C., working to end discrimination and violence linked to gender stereotyping.

Increased attention has been paid to bullying in Iowa in the past year. Gov. Tom Vilsack recently sent a letter to school districts asking officials to adopt policies to prohibit bullying based on "real or perceived race, sex, creed, color, national origin, religion, marital status, disability, sexual orientation, physical appearance, and/or personality characteristics."

Some at Cornell had trouble coming up with gender slurs, "unless it's something they're called frequently," Hoffman said.

A Cornell chemistry teacher, for example, added "girlie-man" to a sticky note, saying he's heard the term too much.

Hoffman said she also is asking students to sign postcards that will be sent to members of Congress, asking that they help protect students from bullying.

The campaign is the first of its kind to focus solely on gender as a cause of school bullying, said Riki Wilchins, GenderPAC's executive director.

Wilchins said that up to 80 percent of high school students will endure bullying or harassment at some point because of gender stereotyping, based on GenderPAC's research. "Those are terrible numbers, and they don't surprise anyone who's been in high school," she said.

The harassment doesn't just affect gay, lesbian and transgender students, Wilchins said. Males who aren't considered "manly" or females who aren't "ladylike" also face bullying from their peers.

"I think for the most part, ISU students are not aware of the importance of gender issues and the complexity of gender issues," said Patricia Coleman, an ISU graduate student.

Coleman said she would like to see more classes at ISU that educate students about sex and gender issues.

"The idea of feminism is still a very demonized idea on the ISU campus. I think that says a lot (about) students' understanding of the gender rights movements," Coleman said.

GenderPAC student activists' goals:

• Gather support for the Federal Anti-Bullying Bill (H.R. 4776), which would make school anti-bullying policies and training mandatory.

• Support colleges in adding gender identity and expression to Equal Employment Opportunity policies. Twenty-one colleges and universities have adopted such policies. Cornell College is in the final stages of adding the language to its policy; Iowa State University has not included gender identity and expression in its policy.

• Educate high school teachers, students and parents on how to recognize and prevent gender-based bullying and harassment.

ISU plans

WHAT : "Drop the Labels, Back to School," sponsored by the Gender Public Advocacy Coalition.
WHEN: 5 p.m. Saturday Sept 25 at Sloss House on the Iowa State University campus in Ames. Film clips addressing gender issues will be shown; conference call at 6 p.m. with other groups across the country.
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SOURCE: http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2004409230371

Mentoring at the University of North Carolina

Students at the University of North Carolina plan to start a mentor program with local high school students during the 2004-2005 school year. They will have a lot of support available to them from adults including administrators and community activists.

Action ideas at Tufts

Event ideas and issue brainstorming notes:
-Choice: How can we challenge ideas of choice and how various choices are valued? For example, consider the choice to get breast implants compared with the removal of a second breast after one has been removed for cancer. Ads for penis enlargement are common, yet imagine possible reaction if someone asked for a penis reduction.
-Institutional culture: We'd like to encourage our school and other institutions to make a commitment to prevent incidences that could cause someone to feel uncomfortable in expressing their gender. These institutions should also be proactive in creating a space that is safe. This proactivity would avoid forcing students to out themselves to ensure there are some safe spaces available to them.
-Bathrooms: An idea emerged to take an inventory of all the single-gender restrooms and ask for these to be undesignated in an effort to increase safe space.

Thoughts on transgenderism from Tufts

In their March 2004 training, GenderROOTS members focused on the relationship between gender rights for men, women and transgender people. Some thoughts: If gender stereotypes affect all of us by attempting to place us all into restrictive boxes and creating narrow gender ideals, then they also hurt trans people. While the restrictive gender norms we (as non-tran men and women) experience may not cause us to seek to take steps to live as a gender that doesn't correspond with the sex into which we were born, we can look to our own personal understanding of the ways in which gender roles are narrowly conceived. Through this process, we may better understand why transgtender students might seek institutional commitment to treating them as fully human member of the student body who deserve full access to safe housing and facilities.

Chatham College Event Brainstorming

Members of Chatham College's GPAC chapter came up with lots of great ideas for campaigns and activities in a brainstorming session. Some ideas:
-Ask professors if you can be involved in curriculum development. For example, in psychology the discussion of depression, suicide, various "disorders" including GID, and histrionics can all be examined through a gendered lens.
-Survey curriculums and ask if you can be a part of adding gender to the curriculum for the next semester (maybe you can TA).
-Plan an event around a popular TV show. Meet (weekly/monthly) during that TV show and talk gender during the commercials and afterwards.
-Place an event around a popular movie and address the gender-related issues in an open form. Invite other group to give their critical perspectives too (i.e. race, heterosexism, etc).
-GenderDIALOGUES: Have everyone give an example of how a gender stereotype has affected them. People love to talk about themselves and tell their stories. If people do not want to tell personal stories, they can tell how they think gender stereotypes cause discrimination and violence. End the session by telling people what they can do to bring an end to discrimination and violence caused by gender stereotypes.
-Ask teachers if they will give extra credit for GenderPAC events.
-See if you can fulfill a service learning requirement for starting a GenderROOTS Mentoring Program at a local high school or work with children who may already be on campus for other service projects. For example, if local grade school children already meet with college students to organize plays once a week, you could piggyback off this effort and participate every week or plan a one-time workshop about preventing school bullying.
-Direct your campaigns at students who are studying to be psychologists, teachers, social workers, medical school students, lawyers, etc. Many of these students have multicultural requirements or you may be able to convince some of their professors to give you some air time since when these teachers-to-be learn will translate into how they deal with bullying when it occurs in their classroom or when they need to address the needs of their clients.
-In your initial meetings with your groups, you can have everyone identify what their areas of interest are, so that you can identify campaigns that are shaped by members' interests but still related to gender stereotyping. If someone is passionate about Abstinence Only until Marriage Sex Education, outline some of the ways in which this issue is influenced by gender stereotypes.
-Piggyback on other events. For example, Take Back the Night is often a big event and they are often looking for many speakers. Someone from your group could talk about gender stereotypes and could even explain how gender stereotyping affects perceptions of violence and as a result makes violence against men and same-sex violence (between men and especially between women) nearly invisible.
Hopefully these ideas will help out others! Any additional suggestions?