Opinion
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4A — Monday, April 1, 2019
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MEGHAN BRODY | OP-ED
Build coalitions for social justice through student orgs
I
n the fall of 2016 at the
University of Michigan,
a chapter of HeForShe,
a gender equality solidarity
movement, was formed. Over
this past summer, a HeForShe
member was venting their
frustrations
about
the
University
of
Michigan’s
response to Richard Spencer’s
visit to a University employee.
The
employee
told
them
something
that
HeForShe
believes
should
frame
our
approach to activism work
on campus: “Students can be
frantic and the University can
be hesitant.”
As
we
have
seen,
the
University’s
student
body
has been increasingly at odds
with University officials and
the administration. Protests
have
shut
down
the
bus
systems and filled the Fleming
Administration
Building,
teach-outs are highly attended
and student activists across
campus are at a loss for how
to get the University to listen
to them and understand their
needs.
HeForShe
also
attributes
the
University’s
reluctant
responses
to
a
lack
of
cohesion among social justice
activism groups on campus.
There are more than 1,500
student
organizations
on
Maize Pages. Filtered down
by the “activism” category,
365 organizations still show
up. The point being: There
are a lot of student activists
and activism groups at the
University of Michigan.
This is a great thing and
it
proves
that
there
are
thousands of us on campus who
are willing to fight for what
we believe in. What HeForShe
wonders is how can we work
together to achieve our goals.
Social
justice
orgs
seem
to compete for attendance
at events, attention of the
administration and campus
resources
like
rooms
and
funding. How can we reach
social justice on our campus
when individual organizations
seem to be yelling into a void,
drowned out by the sheer
volume of clubs?
When we fight for social
justice, we are not doing so
to beat down other social
justice organizations. There
should not be any competition
when we are fighting for the
same goals. As an activism
organization, HeForShe hopes
to build a coalition of student
activists and student activism
organizations
because
so
much more can happen if we
pool our ideas and resources
together. We all strive for
similar goals: equality and
justice.
There are measures being
taken. The Central Student
Government liaison program
is a new initiative designed “to
provide a platform for students
and their organizations to
externally
address
possible
issues within their groups. It
also aims to foster a greater
connection between campus
organizations.” HeForShe was
one of the first social justice
organizations to be a part of
the program and we highly
encourage other organizations
to get involved.
In
order
to
build
this
coalition
for
social
justice
on our campus, HeForShe is
taking the first step: reaching
out. We are embarking on a
listening tour and we want
to meet all gender equality-
related student organizations
to form a relationship. We
want to know who is on their
executive board, what their
mission statement is, what
events they are are hosting and
how we can work together to
achieve gender equality on our
campus.
To do this, we ask that
student
organizations
that
deal
with
gender
equality
(even tangentially) attend the
first ever student organization
summit dedicated to coalition
building. The event is called
“The State of Gender Equality
Orgs at U-M: Student Org
Summit” and it will be held
Tuesday,
April
2
from
7
p.m. to 9 p.m. in the Harlan
Hatcher
Graduate
Library
Gallery (Room 100). For more
information, find the event on
Facebook.
As students cycle in and out
of the University at the close
of the winter 2019 semester,
HeForShe invites you to think
about the future. What can we
be doing now for the students
who will come after us?
I
n a new Emerson poll,
former Vice President
Joe
Biden
and
Sen.
Bernie Sanders, D-Vt., at
25 and 24 percent
respectively,
lead
the
Democratic
field
among
Iowa voters. And
moreover,
Mayor
Pete
Buttigieg
of
South
Bend,
Indiana
(11
percent)
surged
ahead
to
third
place
followed
by
Sen.
Kamala
Harris, D-Calif., (10 percent)
and Sen. Elizabeth Warren,
D-Mass. (9 percent).
These
results
are
unsurprising for two reasons.
The first is Buttigieg has
absolutely shined recently,
especially
in
a
recent
CNN Town Hall at SXSW,
where he demonstrated his
intelligence, thoughtfulness
on policy and humility. Yet
Harris
and
Warren
have
done the same, particularly
given
they
have
both
recently released large and
substantive policy proposals.
Harris introduced a national
plan to dramatically raise
teacher
salaries,
and
Warren proposed plans to
make childcare affordable,
decrease
government
corruption, break up large
tech
corporations
and
decrease wealth inequality
by
taxing
the
extremely
wealthy, which leads us to
the second reason this is
unsurprising.
Despite
Harris
and
Warren’s
proposals
and
demonstrated
support
in
Iowa,
positive
media
coverage
has
mostly
centered on traditional (or,
white male) candidates. For
example, former U.S. Rep.
Beto O’Rourke, D-Texas, has
been presented as a rock star
by the media, in spite of the
fact that he has made only
one trip to Iowa and only
vaguely discussed his policy
proposals. He has received
some skeptical coverage, but
not much — it’s mostly seen
about his unclear platform
or his love of standing on
bar tops when speaking to
voters,
which
apparently
happens a lot.
On
a
similar
note,
Buttigieg has also received
some particularly fawning
coverage. A reporter shared
an
anecdote
in
which
Buttigieg
began
abruptly
speaking
Norwegian
to
another
journalist
after
learning
he
was
from
a
Norwegian
outlet.
After
revealing
he
learned Norwegian
because he wanted
to read an author
whose
work
has
not been translated
in
English,
the
anecdote went viral
and everyone was
charmed.
All
of
this
is
totally
understandable.
I, too, was charmed. Yet,
this story is pretty much the
extent of attention the media
has given him. They have not
posed substantive questions
about his policies — which
in my view, seem to be half-
baked adoptions of Warren’s
proposals
—
or
seriously
assessed his qualifications.
Still, it is important to note
the difference of Buttigieg
from O’Rourke and the other
traditional white and male
candidates,
which
is
the
historic nature of Buttigieg’s
campaign
as
the
first
openly-gay man ever to run
for president. His candidacy
will
be
inspirational
for
many,
especially
for
the
queer community and, in
particular, queer youth. It
is for this reason that it is
unfair to lazily throw him
into the same category as the
other white male candidates,
but it is also important to
acknowledge the advantages
his gender and race give him.
The
fact
that
these
personal stories are enough
to
push
him
ahead
in
the polls demonstrates a
broader
problem
in
how
the
electorate
weighs
personality
much
more
than experience, policy and
capability. Still, this cannot
be separated from the sexism
at play in determining who
we are charmed by and for
whom we have disdain. And
the media plays an important
role in who is considered
likable and who is not.
People have a propensity
to humanize those who look
like them over those who
do not by seeing themselves
— their hopes, insecurities,
desires,
downfalls
—
in
them.
When
a
primarily
young, white and male press
corps covers the primary and
general election, it is easy to
see why more empathy and
adoration is given to the
white male candidates, in
addition to the fact that 44 of
45 American presidents have
been white males.
Nonetheless, I was born
and raised in Indiana, so I
have known about and liked
Buttigieg a lot longer than
he has been on the national
scene. In my view, Buttigieg
is
quite
smart,
genuine
and
passionate.
After
a
recent interview on “Pod
Save America,” he has even
climbed higher on my list of
favorite 2020 candidates.
Still, it is important to
critique the fawning media
coverage of O’Rourke and
Buttigieg
that
celebrates
personality while ignoring
important policy platforms
presented
by
female
candidates, because media
coverage
shapes
elections
and how people think about
candidates.
To be clear, the problem
is with the media coverage
and how it has subsequently
affected
voters.
Pointing
out the sexism at play for
women in politics, especially
when running for president,
is not meant to attack male
candidates
or
dissuade
voters
from
supporting
them. Even as I grow more
and more frustrated at the
sexism in this primary, I do
not blame the candidates
themselves for sexist media
coverage or biased voters.
Calling out sexism — or
in some cases, racism and
homophobia— is meant to
create
an
equal
playing
field where voters are free
to support their prefered
candidate
without
social
biases
creating
unfair
advantages. Making sexism
visible
to
unsuspecting
voters and journalists only
calls on them to consider
how their own biases shape
who they view as electable,
likable and presidential.
Mayor Pete, Beto O’Rourke and sexism in politics
Marisa Wright can be reached at
marisadw@umich.edu.
Zack Blumberg
Emma Chang
Joel Danilewitz
Emily Huhman
Tara Jayaram
Jeremy Kaplan
Magdalena Mihaylova
Ellery Rosenzweig
Ethan Kessler
Anu Roy-Chaudhury
Alex Satola
Timothy Spurlin
Nicholas Tomaino
Erin White
Ashley Zhang
MARISA WRIGHT | COLUMN
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University affiliation to tothedaily@
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Meghan Brody is a senior in LSA and
the outgoing president of HeForShe. They
can be reached at megbrody@umich.edu.
It is important
to critique the
fawning coverage
of O’Rourke and
Buttigieg
We all strive for
similar goals:
equality and
justice.
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