Vikings give their take on Feminism

Zoe Deno
Staff Writer

Feminism is sparking up conversation throughout the country, so students at Hudson Valley weigh in on the debate.

“Women are seen as fragile beings, and men are viewed as being tough. Men aren’t allowed to show emotion without being called pansies, and women aren’t allowed to act badass without being called butch,” said Sarah Davis, an individual studies student.

Davis believes that women should be viewed as people who can make their own informed choices and not as objects.

Student Senate President Emma Dillon believes feminism is all about equal rights. Dillon believes that in certain situations, women require a different type of assistance.

“Sometimes there are barriers put in place to stop us from getting where we want to go. Knocking down those barriers is what being a feminist means to me,” said Emma Dillon.

Dillon never had to deal with feminism in her day-to-day life before joining the Student Senate as president.

According to Dillon, at the end of last semester a student tweeted at her, “Wow my student body president blocked me because she wants me.”

Dillon was upset with the comment. Dillon said, “You’re put in a position where you are a public figure, but you’re sexualized because you’re a woman.”

Senior class president Jad El Khoury has taken a stance in support of the feminist movement.

El Khoury’s family is from the Middle East, so his family has had to deal with the notion that women are believed to be second class citizens.

“I don’t agree with that at all, and I think women are awesome. I love women, all kinds of women. Women empower the world. Without women there wouldn’t be men,” said El Khoury.

Despite students who speak out in favor of the feminist movement, others have expressed disappointment with the most recent third wave of feminism.

“I love that women took to the streets to fight for our rights, but now instead of being reasonable they are more like, ‘fuck men, they have penises,’ that’s what I’ve observed anyway,” said human services student Adelaide Montesano.

Montesano believes that the movement has an empowering cause, but she also believes that the people involved are not executing the movement in the right way.

“I think feminism is a great movement, and it has good qualities. However, in modern America, it’s a joke. It’s not striving for true equality; it’s people whining about how it’s not socially acceptable for them not to shave their armpits,” said marketing student Donald Van Patten.

Van Patten believes feminism is a problem in itself. He thinks that feminists believe they are oppressed, but he also supports the belief that legal equality has been achieved for females and males alike.

According to Van Patten, the wage gap does not exist for a couple of reasons. “The Equal Pay Act was finalized by JFK, which called for equal pay throughout the genders. That didn’t necessarily close the wage gap. There is a gap, but it’s not nearly as big as people say.”

Van Patten believes it has more to do with the fields that women choose to go into like nursing or teaching which are generally lower-paying jobs.

Van Patten believes that feminism is more needed in the Middle East, and he thinks that modern feminists should be putting out an effort to help the women in Middle Eastern countries.

Matthew Provest, a computer science student, was also skeptical of the wage dispute.

Provest studied a 50-page paper from Harvard Law to gain more knowledge of the topic. “The wage gap is technically nonexistent outside of anything that’s part time. Part-time jobs aren’t regulated closely, and the gap appears when women go on maternity leave.”

Provest has come to the conclusion that it has little to nothing to do with gender. He believes it is dependent on the jobs they choose, whether they are part-time or full-time and the certifications and degrees that the individual has received.

El Khoury disagreed with the argument against the existence of the wage gap.

“I know that women are paid less for doing the same job. I have a cousin who is a anesthesiologist. She has more schooling, a better education and a lot more experience, but she’s being paid less than her male counterparts,” said El Khoury.

“I feel like there’s a difference between a feminist and an egalitarian. A feminist believes in a matriarchal society, while an egalitarian thinks that everyone should just have equal rights. If feminism is about equal rights, then they should separate themselves from the man haters,” said Tony Vadney, an independent studies major.

Van Patten mentioned some of the inequalities facing men that feminists ignore, and that the word “egalitarian” might include. “The courts favor women in cases of rape. The law says that men cannot be raped by simply being groped like a women can. Legally, a male is only technically raped through penetration.”

Vadney has experienced the belief that courts favor women in custody battles. “My uncle’s ex-wife cheated on him twice, and then got full custody of the kids. I think that’s unfair because he really loved his two daughters, and now he hardly gets to see them,” said Vadney.

Vadney said, “I don’t want women to be subjected, but I also don’t want men to be targeted either. I think people need to get rid of the labels and look solely at the situation.”