Theory to Praxis

Theory of Praxis Assignment

Posted on by Former Student

After taking GSS 101, a theme that stood out to me was understanding gender as a social construct. Growing up I had a very limited mindset about gender and sexuality and accepted many of the ideas as they were presented to me. However, over the years I have understood more about the complexities and many identities within gender and sexuality. With this in mind, it led to me thinking about how I can use these ideas to influence an art piece for campus to spread awareness and normalize identities that aren’t ‘cis-gender heterosexual’. While there are already many sculptures, especially of bodies, around campus I wanted to propose a new sculpture of a body that implements the ideas of the diversity of gender identities and sexual orientations. My piece is inspired by the metal sculpture on campus by Jaume Plensa, titled Waves III. This piece is made up of letters from all different languages to signify unity and diversity. It is based upon cultural identity and the way that one individual holds a connection to a greater culture.

  • Waves III, Jaume Plensa

My idea is to create a sculpture on Davidson’s campus that intersects the ideas of gender as socially constructed as well as show the variety of identities among individuals. The sculpture would be made out of glass and would depict a human form, without genitalia, to represent an individual not tied to a gender. The position of the body would be arranged so that the arms were extended outward to signify openness of the individual. The idea is to show the complexities of humans and the many identities, both genders and sexual orientations that exist. The form of the body would be composed of words carved into the glass form of sexual identities, such as: “queer, bisexual, lesbian” and words associated with gender identities: “she, they, him, non-binary, trans.” And instead of the exterior of the form being perfectly smooth, shards of glass would poke out in all different directions to create an ambiguous body shape.The words would be repeated all over and done in different fonts to completely cover the entire form. The sculpture would symbolize the many identities that don’t receive recognition in a heteronormative society. This sculpture would work towards normalizing those identities that are not cis-gender heterosexuals, but also serve as a reminder of the hardships of LGTBQ+ individuals. The title of this piece would be “Complexities of Intersectionality” and would capture the chaotic and diverse nature of the gender and sexuality spectrum. While this sculpture wouldn’t explicitly touch upon identities within class and race that also affect an individuals experience, this would be the starting point to begin examining identities and start the conversation about other impacts on an individuals’ experience.

References:

https://www.davidsoncollegeartgalleries.org/uncategorized/seen-on-campus-jaume-plensas-waves-iii/

Theory To Praxis: Reconstructing Bathroom Labels at Davidson College

Posted on by Former Student

Davidson College is dedicated to “improv[ing] the Davidson campus climate for our transgender, genderqueer, and gender-variant students, faculty, staff, community members, and alumni” (LGBTQIA + resources, Davidson). However, much work still needs to be done to provide basic needs, such as comfortable bathroom stall usage, to the increasingly diverse student body. 

A Gender Inclusive Restroom Map can be found on the school’s website showing the gender-inclusive restroom options for the members and community of Davidson. At first glance, it appears that the school provides a wide range of gender-inclusive restroom options. After analyzing the map, all options are single-occupant restrooms which single out people who do not identify as cisgender. A few single-occupant restrooms on campus are still designated as either “male” or “female”. Shockingly, many places on campus designed to be “safe” places for students like Residence Halls (Akers, Knox, etc) and Student Life Buildings (Wildcat Den, Summit Coffee on Campus, etc) include no options for people in the LGBTQIA community who do not identify themselves as male or female. Academic buildings at Davidson College that do have single-occupant stalls tend to have them on the basement floor level. Students who need bathrooms not labeling them as “male” or “female” have a hard time accessing stalls quickly. 

It is evident that Davidson has a long way to go in creating a community that “welcomes and fosters mutual respect among all campus members” (LGBTQIA + resources, Davidson). I believe the best way to achieve this goal is by reconstructing bathroom labeling in restrooms at Davidson College. However, it is important to note that creating a safe bathroom environment that nurtures everyone’s needs will be a challenge and a long-term plan. To start, Davidson College should redesign the bathroom signs outside the door. Rather than having your typical ‘male’ and ‘female’ doll symbol, there should be a mixture of both figures where half is wearing a skirt and half is wearing pants. The same symbol should be used in all bathroom signs on campus. Changing the picture on a sign seems like a minor change, but is a big step towards creating a positive climate and raising awareness about gender diversity on campus. Along with labeling, the single-use bathroom should be changed from its traditional “unisex bathroom” title to “community bathroom.” Doing this, single-use bathrooms are rooted to meet everyone’s needs and eliminate the pressure of having to identify as ‘one sex’ as the term ‘unisex’ emphasizes. Using the term ‘community’ accounts for everyone on campus and eliminates gender and identity labeling. 

In the long run, Davidson can create a plan to create multi and single-community bathrooms on every floor starting in academic and residential buildings to provide options for everyone at Davidson and make basic tasks, like using the bathroom, accessible to all. Reconstructing the bathroom signs and labels is only the beginning. 

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 LGBTQIA+ resources. Davidson. (n.d.). https://www.davidson.edu/offices-and-services/diversity-and-inclusion/lgbtqia-resources. 

Theory to Praxis: Queer Faith Dinner

Posted on by Former Student

Part of being a freshman at Davidson is looking for clubs for everything you’re interested in. Freshmen crave connection to people interested in the same things they are, much like anyone does. Last year, when I was a freshman, I fell into many clubs that I now hold leadership positions in, clubs where I found some of my closest friends. Some of the clubs I joined included Weekly College Worship (a multi-denominational Christian group that holds a worship service once a week), UKirk (the Presbyterian group on campus), and the clubs/affinity groups for LGBTQ+ people. I was looking for ways to engage with some of my identity communities: my faith, my sexuality, and my gender. By my engagement in these groups, I noticed a distinct lack of a space meant for queer people to interact with their faith. While the spaces I’m active in are affirming of LGBTQ+ Christians, they aren’t spaces designed with us in mind. This distinction is an important one to make.

To start working on a solution to this problem, I propose a dinner event or series, maybe co-sponsored by the Chaplains’ Office and the Center for Diversity and Inclusion, focused on creating a space for queer people with a desire to explore their connection to religion. While my own experience lies with being a queer Christian, I would love for this to be an interfaith space that celebrates each person’s connection to both their queerness and their faith. My book report selection for this class, A House of Prayer for All by David K. Seitz, looked partially at how people in the LGBTQ+ community engage with faith when they’re in a space that they feel comfortable exploring the two together. Spaces for these connections to happen already exist in other places, and the Davidson community would be better by encouraging them. 

Areas and groups made intentionally for LGBTQ+ students at Davidson are lacking. The Lavender Lounge, while a good resource, is a tiny room near a study area and a laundry room in the basement of a freshman dorm. The Spencer-Weinstein Center, while a great space for all affinity groups on campus, is exactly that: one building meant to allow space for every affinity group on campus. For the queer community, there’s either YANASH or Queers & Allies. Both organizations are wonderful, I’m by no means trying to bash any of these places or groups. My only point is that I can count the spaces, both physical and relational, intended for queer students on one hand. For a group as diverse and with such incredibly varied experience as the queer community, surely we are deserving of more than this? A group for support, encouragement, and community among religious LGBTQ+ people at Davidson deserves a chance.

Dean Rusk Grant for Study Abroad in Sweden

Posted on by Jo (they/them)

My application for a Dean Rusk Travel Grant for the Summer of 2022 for a Gender Studies study abroad program in Stockholm, Sweden.

Introduction

The program “Gender, Equality, and Sexuality in Scandinavia” lasts for three weeks, two of them are spent studying in Stockholm, Sweden and one in Berlin, Germany. As an intended Gender and Sexuality Studies (GSS) major, this study abroad experience gives me the opportunity to see different perspectives and realities of gender and sexuality, outside of the westernised views of the United States. Moreover, Sweden and Germany are countries with rich but complex (and largely discriminatory and contradictory) LGBTQ+ histories that are worth studying and seeing as a GSS major and LGBTQ+ individual.

Project Description

As an intended Gender and Sexuality Studies major I want to gain insight into LGBTQ+ experiences and history in other parts of the world and the best way to do it is by actually being in those spaces. Sweden is the most gender equal country in the world but still struggles with discrimination based on race and gender since inclusive and accepting policies do not necessarily mean inclusive and accepting behaviours. This course explores how concepts of gender, bodies, sexuality, and race intersect in current debates about changing family structures, children’s rights, and new ethical dilemmas in Scandinavia (e.g. rising children with gender-neutral pronouns, a topic I have great interest in as someone who uses gender-neutral pronouns and wants kids). In Gender and Sexuality Studies 101 at Davidson (which I took this fall), we discussed this intersection but from a westernised and US-centric perspective. Therefore, this course would help me see how concepts I have already studied apply to people in a different society and culture. The program also includes a week-long study trip in Berlin, a city with a rich LGBTQ+ history. From student accounts of the Berlin study tour experience, that part of the program highlights the experiences of gay men in Nazi Germany, refugee perspectives, and historical LGBTQ+ art pieces and monuments (like “The Kiss” in Berlin’s East Side Gallery), which are all fascinating topics to study and discuss. This program poses a unique opportunity to study in and about two cities with old and strong connections to gender, equality, and sexuality. The course will act as an extension of my experience in Gender and Sexuality Studies 101 at Davidson by giving me an insight into the European experience and perspective, and its similarities, differences, and connections with the United States.

Presenting my project

The program includes field trips in Stockholm and a study tour in Berlin, therefore giving me a great opportunity to capture the beauty and history of these cities and create a video or photo essay about my summer abroad experience which I will submit to the VMC Symposium. I also plan to share my experience in the form of one or several blog posts which will most probably be shared on my Davidson domain website.

Theory to Praxis: Paper Campaign Exposing the Pervasiveness of Rape Culture on Davidson College’s Campus

Posted on by Former Student

Rape culture is pervasive everywhere and places like Davidson College are by no means exempt from this. Davidson College is not only known for its high academics, but as an environment that highly values trust and honor among its community members. With this in mind, many individuals assume that aspects of rape culture are not prevalent on campus, however, these practices and behaviors not only manifest themselves within the campus’s culture, but occurrences of them and their impacts are often silenced. In turn, keeping people’s stories and experiences quiet or “under the radar” only reinforces rape culture and feeds into upholding it. On Davidson’s campus, there have been a few attempts to bring these stories to light and expose how rape culture is much more prevalent than individuals initially assume. However, many of these efforts were not effective long-term or did not make a large enough impact to change the overall perception of Davidson College’s culture. 

There are many strategies used to fight against the normalization of rape culture everywhere that I believe would be just as successful if implemented on a smaller scale such as the Davidson College campus. For example, one of Aristotle’s epideictic forms of rhetoric, megethos, was and still is utilized as a central part of #MeToo’s movement in the arrangement of a feminist list, exposing a profuse amount of stories shared by survivors. This method, emphasized by Stephanie R. Larson in her book What It Feels Like, is meant to “‘not only to engage viewers, but also to overwhelm them’ … with feelings that encourage a level of belief in victims’ testimonies and a commonplace reality of rape culture” (Larson 138). Just from the sheer number of accounts, this tactic is very useful in the way that it represents how large-scale rape culture is and how many people, particularly women, it negatively effects. To implement this strategy on campus, I propose doing a paper campaign throughout campus displaying anonymous stories related to rape culture from survivors within the Davidson community. Realizing that these papers can be a trigger for some individuals, there would be an additional paper on top of these stores with a content warning. So, while these papers are sharing the stories of survivors and making the magnitude of rape culture’s impacts known, they are also enacting active consent. To fund this project, I want to apply for the Stories Yet To Be Told grant, which specifically focuses on sharing people’s stories and transforming sites into places of engagement. 

By initiating this paper campaign and using the rhetorical tactic of megethos, light can be shed on how rape culture is prevalent everywhere, even on Davidson College’s campus. The high number of papers with different stories on them will hopefully make the magnitude of stories alarmingly clear and expose the extent rape culture impacts those around us. In addition to this, it will also provide an opportunity for survivors to share their stories, even if it is anonymous, giving their stories the power to bring awareness to the community and inspire change. 

Larson, Stephanie L. What It Feels Like: Visceral Rhetoric and the Politics of Rape Culture. Pennsylvania State University Press, 2021. 

Theory to Praxis: PurpLE Clinic

Posted on by Former Student

Background:

            Last spring, I took the class called Graphic Med: Drawing Disability with Dr. Fox. Specifically, the readings that we completed in the transgender unit really struck me because they exposed the treatment of transgender people, and LGBTQ+ people, in the medical world. This year, I am in both GSS 101 with Dr. Gonzalez and Child Psychopathology with Dr. Stutts. Both classes have highlighted the struggle that transgender people go through, specifically when it comes to being treated and understood in the medical world. Studies have shown that transgender youth as well as other LGBTQ+ people often avoid seeking medical care because they feel that doctors are not fully equipped with the knowledge and ability to help them (Thu et al., 2020.) Additionally, there is a large distrust of the medical world because of outdated practices by older physicians (Hackman et al., 2020) and a need for increase funding and inclusion for procedures and support services that directly benefit LGBTQ+ patients. Similar to what we learned about women’s representation through the creation of the Committee on the Status of Women in India (1974) and its purpose, something similar needs to occur in the medical world for transgender youth.

Goal:

            Sexual violence and assault is experienced by the majority of LGBTQ+ members, but a staggering 64% of transgender people alone (DeKeserdy et al., 2017). The stress and risk of lifestyle judgment keeps transgender people away from medical offices (Hackman et al., 2020). Combining what I have learned in these impactful classes, and acknowledging that there is so much more to learn, I have drafted this proposal for the Layendecker Grant as a way to increase social justice of transgender youth through shadowing in the PurpLE clinic in NYC.

PurpLE Clinic:

            This grant would help me partner with the PurpLE Clinic that serves to create an environment where survivors of assault in a specialized clinic. The PurpLE Clinic is an acronym for Purpose: Listen & Engage to ensure sensitive medical care. By getting involved, we could increase awareness and even eventually make more of these clinics across the country. The clinic was created in response to feedback from anti-sexual violence community based organizations that experienced challenges in connecting survivors of sexual violence with trauma-informed and stigma-sensitive medical care.

Plan:

            With the help of this grant, I would able to travel to the clinic to work alongside the most influential physicians and nurses in the world. These workers are the future of medicine, and being involved by watching their interactions with patients would be life-changing. Each day, I could take notes of interactions and how to approach certain topics in a way that is the most comfortable and helpful for the clinics’ patients. From these notes, I would put together a “manual” for healthcare regarding LGBTQ+ populations, and specifically those who suffer from any sort of sexual violence or other traumatic history due to their identity.

Future Impact:

            I could speak with Dr. Stutts specifically to integrate these ideas into her class to be taught every year, as well as for her to bring to the clinical world. Dr. Stutts is also a licensed psychologist who serves those in the Charlotte area. By working with her, I could then ask her to incorporate these ideas into future conferences with her peers. On a smaller scale, there could be seminars each semester for future medical students at Davidson. On a larger scale with more funding, a PurpLE Clinic could be established in Charlotte, equipped with doctors, nurses, PAs, NPs, Psychologists, psychiatrics, etc. who are ready and knowledgeable about the imminent needs of the LGBTQ+ community. By spreading this manual, we can start shifting the ideas in the medical world to a more inclusive and welcoming environment for all.

Works Cited:

Do, T. T., & Nguyen, A. T. V. (2020). ‘They know better than we doctors do’: Providers’ preparedness for transgender healthcare in Vietnam. Health Sociology Review, 29(1), 92–107. https://doi-org.proxy048.nclive.org/10.1080/14461242.2020.1715814

DeKeseredy, W., Hall-Sanchez, A., Nolan, J., & Schwartz, M. (2017). A campus LGBTQ community’s sexual violence and stalking experiences: the contribution of pro-abuse peer support. Journal of gender-based violence, 1(2), 169-185.

Hackman, C. L., Bettergarcia, J. N., Wedell, E., & Simmons, A. (2020). Qualitative exploration of perceptions of sexual assault and associated consequences among LGBTQ+ college students. Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity. https://doi-org.proxy048.nclive.org/10.1037/sgd0000457.supp

India. Committee on the Status of Women in India, & Guha, P. (1975). Towards equality : report of the committee on the status of women in india. Govt. of India, Ministry of Education & Social Welfare, Dept. of Social Welfare.

Theory to Praxis Assignment

Posted on by Former Student

In today’s society kids are growing up with factors that are very different from what parents grew up with. Starting with technology. Kids’ actions and beliefs are influenced by what they see and hear, and less by what they are told. TV especially is a major influence on kids’ behavior and views on society. These factors include body image, diversity, and influence on societal beliefs. This last one is less obvious, for example in elementary school and high school I watched Jessie, Liv and Madi, and Wizards of Waverly Place. All of these shows have main characters in high school, these shows are what I based high school off on and how I expected high school to be like. TV can influence people’s expectations of real-life situations. Tv, especially Disney, (at least when I was a child) had very little diversity, and many of the main characters were skinny, pretty, straight, white women. This shows both a lack of diversity in race and sexuality. It can also create body image issues when little kids grow up with role models that look like actual models. Creating a stereotypical belief that all women are supposed to look that way when they are older. 

Although many tv programs including Disney are starting to work on becoming more diverse, there is still a long way to go to create shows that support and show all bodies and sexualities. Since our generation is the first to be influenced by tv and some of us will raise children in the next 15 ish years, I believe that we are the solution to help future generations understand and analyze what they see on technology. Learning how to analyze shows and media will not only help our generation understand factors that have influenced us without our knowledge but it will also help the next generations. This is a goal of many feminists, as seen in many of our texts including “You Say Nature, I Say Nurture… Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off” by Suzanna Danuta Walters. Whether it is a younger sibling, a kid being babysat, or our own children. If our generation gets educated on how we were and kids are being influenced by television then we can be more attentive to what we are watching and what the kids around us are watching. We have the ability to prevent kids from watching certain shows, although that method may not work because kids have access to their own phones and computers earlier. Rather than attempting to control our kids’ freedom, we need to equip them with the ability to understand and see what is wrong with shows. This limits parents from being super controlling while giving kids the tools they need to analyze what they see on television. 

Once you start to analyze television shows you begin to realize the number of issues that are ignored or looked past. These issues need to be understood and recognized. It will take time to completely fix this issue, although many television programs have already begun to recognize and fix this issue and expand their diversity. And even though there is change, our generation, including the students at Davidson, needs to recognize these issues so they can prevent future generations from perceiving these shows as reality. A class that analyzes televisions and technological physiological effects on kids and teens would benefit our generation and future generations.

A Plan to Bring Sonya Renee Taylor to Campus

Posted on by Former Student

I would like to plan an event on body empowerment and intersectionality in which Sonya Renee Taylor, the founder of The Body Is Not An Apology, comes to speak at Davidson. The Body Is Not An Apology is a worldwide movement and digital education platform that promotes “radical self-love and bodily empowerment”.1 Taylor believes her movement is radical because each individual needs extreme self-love to enhance relationships with themselves and others, and to take drastic societal measures to change how society views and talks about the body. As an author and activist who addresses the intersectionality of race, sexual orientation, class, and much more in terms of the body and body positivity, I believe that Taylor would reach a wide audience at Davidson. Intersectionality—the overlap of social classifications like race, class, and gender—contributes to the discrimination and oppression of multiple parts of one’s identity, specifically in marginalized groups.2 The Davidson community is comprised of students of many identities and backgrounds, so I believe the discussion of intersectionality within the of body empowerment movement would be engaging to Davidson students. Furthermore, Davidson students are passionate and hardworking but can often become critical of themselves due to the competitive college environment. I believe Davidson students would benefit from Taylor who teaches the value of unapologetic self-love and empowerment, as well as tools to build these values.

In her NYLON YouTube video on the difference between body positivity and fat activism, Virgie Tovar explains that the face of body positivity tends to be straight, thin, white women.3 These are not the women, however, that experience the most bodily discrimination. Through acknowledgement and celebration of bodies of different “age, race, size, gender, dis/ability, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, class, and other attributes,” Taylor teaches her audience to reject this false reality about body positivity.1 She also educates people on how society’s perceptions of the body and what is typically perceived as fat contributes greatly to the intersectionality of discrimination. On her website, Taylor writes that, “my big, Black, queer body was not supposed to be seen or sexy, but I posted it anyway”.1 Despite potential discrimination against her race, sexuality, and body size, Taylor embraced her body and highlighted its differences from the typical body that magazines portray – thin, white bodies. Her post resulted in the creation of The Body Is Not An Apology. Although Taylor lives in New Zealand, she travels globally to present lectures and workshops on radical self-love, body empowerment, social justice, and much more. Taylor can be reached for booking inquiries on her website.4 We would submit an inquiry for a lecture at a large event at Davidson College, such as a conference or commencement, and communicate the goals and audience for this lecture.5 The goals would be to teach students about The Body Is Not An Apology and Taylor’s background, the intersectionality of fat activism and body empowerment, and how to incorporate body empowerment into social justice and reform. Additionally, it would be beneficial for students to learn how to build tools to garner radical self-love. If Taylor were to present a lecture at Davidson College, this event would be publicized through posters, emails, and social media platforms. On Instagram, we could post on the Davidson College account, as well as other Davidson clubs related to this topic like Planned Parenthood Generation Action, the Health Advisers, Eating Houses, and many more. On Facebook, we could send out a post in the Davidson College 2020-2021 School Year group, or whatever year is active at the time of the event. Considering the large audience that Taylor’s topic would interest, I believe this event would best take place in a large room for a conference, such as the Wall Atrium or the 900 Room in Union. For commencement, it would take place on the Chamber’s Lawn. Taylor could present her lecture and take questions from the audience. Perhaps this event could be funded by the Union Board.

Going into my second semester of senior year, I do not think I will have adequate time to plan and publicize this event. However, I will present this plan to the Vice President of Connor Eating House, the PCC organization I belong to, who plans educational events along with the other Eating Houses. I will also submit this plan to the leaders of Planned Parenthood, the Health Advisers, and Union Board in hopes that one of these organizations will take an interest in my recommendation. If they chose to move forward with my plan to invite Sonya Renee Taylor to campus, they will be able to decide when to host this event. I believe this lecture would equip Davidson College students to move forward into the world with an awareness of how bodies intersect with other aspects of identity and discrimination, as well as how to fight against such discrimination and heal from body shame and guilt.

1 Taylor, Sonya Renee. “Mission, Vision, & History.” The Body Is Not An Apology,

https://thebodyisnotanapology.com/about-tbinaa/history-mission-and-vision/.

2 “Methods -Intersectionality Theory.” Georgia Douglas Johnson: Rereading the Harlem

Renaissance, https://georgiadouglasjohnson.com/intersectionaltheory/

3 “Virgie Tovar Tells Us the Difference between Body Positivity And Fat Activism.” YouTube,

18 Sept. 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_OoS_hgXfQ.

4 “Contact – Booking Inquiries.” Sonya Renee Taylor, https://www.sonyareneetaylor.com/contact#booking-inquiries.

5 “Work – Speaking & Lectures.” Sonya Renee Taylor,

https://www.sonyareneetaylor.com/speaking-lectures

Theory to Praxis: Reimagining Greek Life at Davidson

Posted on by Former Student

As a school that was founded by white genteel slave owners and remained segregated until the 60s and all-male until the 70s, Davidson has a long history of elitism. Unfortunately, the college has done a poor job of repealing exclusive traditions and making the school as welcoming and safe as possible to people of all walks of life. One particularly glaring area of inequality is the social structure of Greek life on campus.

There are many things wrong with the status of Greek life at Davidson. Racial disparities are perhaps the most visible problem. My friend Michaela Gibbons is working on a project called Stories Yet To Be Told, conducting research on the history of Patterson Court Council (PCC) – the governing body of Greek life at Davidson. We have had many conversations about PCC this semester, and a lot of them have centered around PCC’s dominating whiteness. Kimberlé Crenshaw’s theory of intersectionality and Lorde’s “There are No Hierarchies of Oppression” (1983) emphasize that racial equality (and other equalities) are necessary to realize gender equality. All of the nine predominantly white PCC organizations have individual houses on campus, while the six PCC organizations for students of color must share space at the BSC (Black Student Coalition) house. This is clearly a problem for feminism, although solutions are somewhat difficult to propose. In this case, the simplest method to reduce white special power on campus may be to disband PCC or consolidate the predominantly white organizations.

Aside from racial inequality, another issue with Greek life at Davidson is its relationship to the gender binary. As a collection of organizations with membership based on male or female gender identification, PCC reinforces ideas that there are only two genders, which is clearly false when one understands Lorber’s perspective that gender is constructed. Since humans have made up the concept of gender, there is no reason to believe in all-or-nothing gender rules. And yet, PCC membership is exclusive to men and women. (Turner House, one of the eating houses, does allow anyone who is not a straight cis male to join, but this introduces the problematic circumstance of requiring people to out themselves). Furthermore, the predominance of “bristerhoods” (fraternity-eating house mixers) perpetuates heteronormativity. Requiring all PCC organizations to be open to all genders would be the easiest solution to make Davidson more feminist, although that would require converting some fraternal organizations to eating houses.

A final, and particularly glaring problem with PCC at Davidson is rape culture. We briefly talked in class about how society conditions males to violate and disrespect female bodies, and there is a prevailing willingness to let this slide. Society reinforces hegemonic sexual scripts, an orgasm gap, and poor understandings of consent, all of which lead to unequal sexual citizenship. This means that women have less power than men to make the choice to have sex. This is obviously problematic for feminism. At Davidson, PCC hopelessly perpetuates rape culture. For liability reasons, the school has strict rules about alcohol for parties at PCC houses. Because PCC organizations are too lazy or busy to plan detailed weekly parties and want to avoid strict scrutiny from the school, weekly parties are predominantly hosted at Armfield, the only residential space on campus where open consumption is permitted. Currently, Armfield apartments which host parties are exclusively rented by predominately white men with strong fraternity ties. This leads to constant sexual misconduct and a lack of safety at parties. Once again, it is not simple to find a solution to male ownership of party space at Davidson. However, some viable options would be disbanding PCC, creating more school-sponsored social events, and preventing Armfield apartments from having five male residents.

PCC is rife with inequalities, much of them a byproduct of Davidson’s elitist traditions. Thus, disbanding PCC and ending Greek life at Davidson is probably the most feminist solution. This would introduce a social vacuum for some time, but it couldn’t be any worse that the forced quarantine of the 2020-21 academic year.

Theory to Praxis: Love Yourself Program

Posted on by Former Student

As a child, I was always told that I was overweight, fat, chunky, or too big for my age. The constant pressure of my family telling me I needed to go for a walk and my physician saying “We need to change your diet and include some more physical activity in your life”. I am sure this is not uncommon because societal pressures influence people’s mind every day. This affected my life and happiness for so much of my life but this does not have to happen to other people too.  

Looking through clubs and organizations at Davidson, I was shocked that there wasn’t one regarding body positivity as much as it is being discussed and presented in our society today. Yes, there is Changing Minds which offers information and support regarding mental disorders on campus which can include eating disorders, however, this campus needs something more distinctive to help gain awareness for body positivity. Something to make people feel more confident in their own skin as they should be. 

With this in mind, I propose to create a program at Davidson that focuses on providing information and support to anyone who feels uncomfortable in their own body and skin. This program would be called Love Yourself and its goal is to create a safe space for people to discuss and support other people who feel the same way. In addition to this goal, Love Yourself would partner with Changing Minds to add additional support and awareness. 

The program, Love Yourself, is open to absolutely everyone with the intentions of finding confidence in their image as well as assisting others who have similar thoughts and ideas. With meetings once a week, the program will create an environment that stimulates personal growth and activism. Love Yourself will consist of workshops which can include reading pieces like Deb Burgard’s “What is Health at Every Size” as we discussed in our course this semester as well as experimenting with projects such as creating body positivity posters around campus to help gain awareness for it. Our mental capacity is so important, especially during these times in college, so it is vital that students have a space where they can unleash their frustrations or concerns with themselves as well as participate in fun activities and learnings regarding these issues.

Overall, the intentions of this program are to allow anyone to come and discuss their feelings about themselves with complete confidence that they are not alone as well as engaging in the progressive movement in body positivity. People will have a safe space and large support group that blocks out the judgements of society which hopefully grows the community of support for this topic. The discourse in this program will be vital to help change the harmful impacts of society on people all around campus and eventually the world.  

Theory to Praxis: An App to Save the Davidson Gays

Posted on by Former Student

By Chase Waldner

Davidson tries to be an inclusive school; at least on paper. We have resources like Lulabelle’s Market and the lavender lounge available for our students, but what is the experience of going to this school actually like? All I can comment on is my own experience, as a cis gay man, at Davidson, and how I think it could be improved.

I’d like to start with the acknowledgment that Davidson is a small, private, Christian, liberal arts school in the South. With all that comes some phobias and isms that are undesirable, and Davidson is not the only college with these flaws out there. That being said, I can count on my fingers how many other out, gay men I know who go here. And I would still have some fingers left over. My point is: there are very few of us. That feels isolating. I’ve found it difficult to feel like myself and connect with other gay men here.

Sure, we have YANASH and QSA, and other resources like the lavender lounge on campus, but with COVID none of the typical clubs or spaces have been up and running. YANASH and QSA hangouts are few and far between, and I’m not even sure if the lavender lounge is open or not. This begs the question, what can we do to improve the gay experience at Davidson? 

I would like to propose the creation of either an app or a website dedicated to all the LGBTQIA+ resources on campus and also serve as a platform to connect current and future queer Davidson students. With this program we could have a list of all the resources Davidson currently offers for LGBTQIA+ students and include descriptions and locations for them as well. I think if more people knew about what Davidson has to offer there would be increased participation across the board. Furthermore, I think it would be easier for closeted students to find safe spaces and friends if there was a platform built for queer students. You could take it as far as having anonymous chat rooms for those closted students to be able to express themselves without any risk or potential danger. 

Overall, I think the addition of either a website or an app with these features is paramount for the LGBTQIA+ population of Davidson. Currently, us Davidson gays have no real way of finding each other or connecting with the resources set up for us on campus, let’s change that! 

If there’s any comp sci gays out there reading this feel free to put this idea into reality!

Theory to Praxis: Proposing a Piece of Art for Davidson’s Permanent Collection

Posted on by Former Student
Watson, Kim Leutwyler, 2018, oil and acrylic on canvas

I’ve learned a lot this semester — about topics ranging from feminism to fat studies to queer theory. A topic that has really stuck with me and relates most to my experiences in the world is the idea of questioning and challenging gender norms and the social construct of gender itself. What would happen if we didn’t immediately place ourselves into one of two boxes from birth? What if our entire culture and society wasn’t organized into man and woman, male and female? This doesn’t mean that there’s no value in identifying with one gender over the other (or both or neither) — it’s one of the many ways we are able to understand ourselves. But there’s no reason that something as abstract as gender should define how and where we live, who we love, what we wear, what occupations are available to us, our role in the household, and even how we walk down the street. 

A major part of my Davidson experience has been interning with the Van Every/Smith Galleries in the Visual Arts Center for the past three years. Among many things, I’ve gotten an inside look into how powerful art can be in prompting conversations around various social issues. The exploration of identity has been a common theme among many of the artists and artworks I have encountered — both in my job with the galleries and in my Art History minor. Next semester, I’m taking ART 348: Buying and Collecting Art, co-taught by Dr. Rosaline Kyo in the Art History department and Lia Newman, the director and curator of the galleries. The major project of the class is that, by the end of the semester, we will have the opportunity to propose one or multiple artworks to be acquired by Davidson’s permanent collection. The focus of this search is on diversifying the collection and starting to chip away at systems of oppression that have existed for centuries within art collecting and buying practices at institutions worldwide. 

For my theory to praxis assignment, I want to get a jump start on this project for my final Art History course next semester. In tying together my longtime interest in art and my newfound curiosity about gender, I would like to hypothetically propose the piece Watson by Kim Leutwyler to be added to Davidson’s permanent collection (pictured above). Based in Sydney, Australia, Leutwyler is an American visual artist who is skilled in a range of mediums including painting, installation, ceramics, print media, and drawing. Her more recent work explores themes of beauty, gender, and queer identity. She uses painting as a medium for these works to subvert its masculinized history in the western canon. The piece I have chosen, Watson, comes from a series of colorful paintings of LGBTQ-identified and queer-allied women. In this series, Leutwyler paints realistic portraits of her close friends against bold abstract backgrounds in a celebration of diversity and identity (Leutwyler). 

The individual featured in this portrait is Melbourne-based musician Shan Watson. They host workshops for trans/non-binary/gender questioning people who need a safe space to explore their identity. On her website, Leutwyler writes that Watson’s “own relationship to gender is in a constant state of fluctuation, as conveyed through layering color, abstraction and figurative realism in this work” (Leutwyler). I was drawn to this piece because it’s a wonderful example of how gender isn’t something that can be “seen.” Watson displays expected physical attributes of women — nose ring, nipple piercings, the appearance of breasts —  and of men — short hair, boxers, a “Mum” tattoo, and armpit hair. Watson’s fist is placed inside their boxers, alluding to the presence of male genitalia. The word “handsome” is written across the waistband of their boxers — a potential identification with masculinity and male standards of beauty. The point of this portrait is not to try and “figure out” what Watson’s gender is or how they identify. Rather, Leutwyler beautifully captures Watson’s confidence and pride in their body through the way they don’t try to cover themselves and even have their arm raised above their head to further reveal their body.

Beyond being acquired by the Van Every/Smith Galleries, I would like to propose that this piece be added to the galleries’ art in residence halls program, ArtMate, which is launching a pilot this spring. Bringing this piece into a residence hall — a shared living space where bodies are constantly on display — will spark important conversations about identity and the ways in which dorms are designed to exclude and ostracize individuals whose identities do not align with the male/female binary. Additionally, like Alok Menon explores in their Instagram book reports, contemporary westernized standards of male and female beauty are not the norm; in other parts of the world throughout history, there isn’t such a stark divide between what a man should look like and what a woman should look like. I’m looking forward to bringing the knowledge I have gained through GSS 101 to my art history seminar next semester, and having the opportunity to propose a piece like this to be added to the college collection, leaving something permanent behind when I graduate in May.

Works Cited

“Kim Leutwyler.” Artist’s website. Accessed 4 Dec 2021. https://kimleutwyler.com/page/1-BIO.html.

Theory to Praxis: A Program that Teaches GSS Concepts to Parents

Posted on by Former Student

Growing up, we are taught by society that gender dictates our roles in society. However, societal pressure is enforced by the people around us, our groups, and our cultures. Using the concepts taught in GSS, parents could raise their children in a healthy, judgment-free space. Also, occupations that work with children should employ the ideas taught in GSS as well. This includes teachers, child psychologists, counselors, pediatricians, coaches, and daycare workers. By employing GSS concepts, children will not be separated into boys and girls during gym class, children will not feel pressured to act a certain way to fit their societal role, and children will not be bullied for being fat if HAES is taught and the BMI index is reconstructed or removed.

I believe the most notable impact would come from parents teaching their children. Thus, I propose that a program or intervention should be created that teaches parents about GSS concepts; this way we can prepare parents to not enforce gender roles and allow their children to grow and to discover themselves and their identities without the influence of social constructs. Deconstructing Society would be a program that focuses on talking about GSS concepts to parents or future parents to provide them with information that will be helpful while they are raising a child. Deconstructing Society will create conversations around heteronormativity, gender roles, and sexuality. The purpose of this program would be to inform parents of the social construction of concepts and to help parents learn these concepts to properly educate their children on similar topics and to provide a healthy environment for their children to thrive.

However, Deconstructing Society could also be used to reach other audiences. Although aiding parents with GSS concepts would help parents provide a judgment-free zone for their children, Deconstructing Society could be used in colleges to discuss topics, such as rape culture, hookup culture, and similar topics discussed with parents. This program’s focus would be with parents. There are certain occupations available that could employ this program. For example, a family therapist could use this program to inform parents on how they can be supportive towards their gay child. Ultimately, Deconstructing Society would help parents create a safe and healthy environment for their children to thrive without being restricted by societal views due to heteronormativity and gender roles.

Theory to Praxis: Inclusivity at Davidson

Posted on by Former Student

Because of the intersectionality and applicability of GSS, there are many ways to apply these theories and ideas to different aspects of daily life. For example, one way is just in general interaction with others. By understanding the basic ideas about respecting pronouns or body size or race, it is easy to treat everyone with respect. Additionally, understanding these ideas in a position of influence is very helpful because not only are you able to spread the awareness of different ideas more effectively, but you can also apply the theories to your cause. For instance, at Davidson, we have many different clubs and organizations that could take advantage of their status and promote the intersectional ideas of inclusivity. Turner Eating House has done a good job of this by being the first Eating House to allow gender non-conforming members to join, adapting their service mission statement to highlight the importance of combatting white supremacy and police violence around Davidson, and making the house a safe space for all genders, races, body sizes, and sexualities. 

If other organizations around campus took action as Turner has, I believe that the campus would be a much more receptive place to change and a community working towards bettering itself as a whole. This could take place in multiple different ways, but even small steps would be helpful. To start, I think it would be a good idea to introduce the Disorienting Davidson tour to the orientation schedule as a way to highlight Davidson’s racist history and provide a forum for students to give their opinion on how to help the campus learn from its past. Disorienting Davidson is a tour of campus that highlights the impact of white supremacy and racism at different spots around campus, from race-based crimes on Chambers lawn to the blatant ties to slavery with cotton having been planted outside Commons. 

Even though the addition of different events to orientation or alumni engagement may be steps towards a more inclusive future, there are still many different perspectives that haven’t even begun to be seen, from disabled voices just starting to get a foothold to the problematic aspects of sorority/fraternity culture and therefore the allegations of rape and sexual assault becoming bigger topics of conversation. While students are making a huge effort to be heard, the administration is stuck in traditional ways and is hesitant to change, but with the help of GSS principles and theory of awareness, I believe that the campus community can change for the better and the future of Davidson can be much more open to inclusivity in all senses.

Theory to Praxis: Ending Child Abuse and Building Resilient Families

Posted on by Former Student

Written by Anna Newman

Overview:

I will be implementing my knowledge of gender and sexuality studies, specifically on women’s rights, feminism, and rape culture, to plan a civic engagement experience over the summer. Through a collaboration with SAFEchild in Raleigh, North Carolina and Strong Girls United, the goal of the project will be to educate children on noticing and responding to child abuse appropriately before it escalates, while also learning more about the implications that domestic violence has on parenting.  

About the Partners: 

SAFEchild is a non-profit advocacy center that ensures children have a safe living environment, free from abuse. SAFEchild empowers the children and their families by providing counseling services and childcare. One important aspect of SAFEchild is a program they run called “Funny Tummy Feelings” which is a program that educates first-graders about noticing and appropriately handling child abuse when they see it or are subject to it. Funny Tummy Feelings has been implemented in the Wake County public school curriculum for first graders; however, the goal of this project is to expand Funny Tummy Feelings to the Strong Girls United program. 

Strong Girls United is a mentorship program for young girls which pairs collegiate athletes with elementary school girls and the groups meet to discuss confidence building, mental health, and new sports skills. I believe that Funny Tummy Feelings could also be a beneficial addition to the Strong Girls United curriculum. Unfortunately, rape and sexual abuse are pervasive parts of society, but one way to combat this is to educate about rape culture and the ways you can stand up to it and notice it before it escalates.

Connections to GSS:

This project will be focusing on providing children and mothers the skills needed to build confidence in response to child abuse and domestic violence. Confidence and mental resiliency begin at a young age, and if we can empower elementary school girls, we can empower an entire generation to put an end to domestic violence and child abuse. My research would overlap with several articles that we studied in class about feminism. In the article titled Committee on the Status of Women in India, the author discusses how marriage can become a “hindrance for women seeking career advancement” which demonstrates that a marriage with power imbalances is the basis for domestic violence and abuse of power. Betty Friedan talks in the Feminine Mystique that in the 1970’s, rape was not considered a penalty. Friedan also discusses the topic of women not being fulfilled simply by staying in the house, making beds, washing dishes, and cooking for the family, which relates to the lack of liberties that the woman has within a marriage. These hindrances that married women face are the basis for domestic violence and patriarchy. One notable quote from the Feminine Mystique is “when she stopped conforming to the conventional picture of femininity, she finally began to enjoy being a woman” (279). When women stop allowing their husbands to control and abuse them, they enjoyed being women. Additionally, bell hooks’ work called Feminism is for Everybody encourages the notion that equality is the goal of feminism, and the goal is not to subvert men. In relation to my book review on the book titled Medical Bondage, white male physicians were abusing enslaved women’s bodies by taking advantage of their position of power and conducting unsolicited gynecological research and painful experiments. The consequences of these experiments were destructive, both physically and mentally, for these women. The enslaved women’s experiences with the gynecological experiments parallel the domestic violence that women today face in abusive relationships. Abuse within a relationship affects the way a mother can parent a child, which demonstrates the vicious cycle of domestic violence at a young age starting with a lack of self-confidence, then getting wrapped up in abusive relationships, and to then raise kids in an environment filled with abuse and neglect. So, my goal for this project is to confront and help children notice domestic violence at a young age so that they can grow up to be confident people in healthy relationships. After doing an analysis on the film Moonlight in my writing class, it was brought to my attention that some abusive family dynamics are avoidable, while others are out of one’s control. In Moonlight, a young boy by the name of Chiron was being raised in an abusive and neglectful household because his mother was involved with dangerous drugs and did not have time for her child; however, the opportunities available for the mother to parent her child were lacking. While I’m doing my research, l will be sure to look at the context of the situation (what resources are available to the family?) versus judging the situation and the parenting choices. 

Limitations:

The limitation of this project is that Strong Girls United does not mention anything about transgender children, non-binary children, or gender-nonconforming children. This is a research question that l will be asking the SGU executive board in hopes that something is done to make the organization more inclusive of children of all gender identities. Part of feminism is creating equity across the genders, so this feminist project is aimed at creating equity for boys, girls, and gender non-conforming children. Overall, the goal of this project is to provide a form of mentorship for children seeking assistance with confidence, mental health training, and skills needed to confront abuse if they ever need to use them. 

Implementation of Plan: 

A few summers ago, my mom and l volunteered at SAFEchild and we babysat the children while their mothers were in a counseling meeting. I am hoping to resume my volunteering with SAFEchild by babysitting the children and then shadowing one of the leaders during the counseling meetings. I feel like I would gain another dimension of appreciation for the struggles that these families deal with by listening to the mothers speak. Also, it would be impactful to listen to the women’s stories of domestic abuse within their marriages and how this abuse impacts their ability to mother their children. 

After shadowing a counselor, l would ask one of the leaders/counselors at SAFEchild to be a guest speaker at one of the meetings with Strong Girls United. The counselor can focus on teaching a Funny Tummy Feelings course for the SGU children. The plan is to empower young girls by giving them to skills to notice and respond to child abuse in a confident way. One possibility of furthering my research experience would be to shadow a pediatric physiatrist to learn about the impacts of child abuse, neglect, and domestic violence on youth’s mental health.