For nearly a decade, the Sue Shear Institute for Women in Public Life has played "a vital role in ensuring that Missouri women have an opportunity to participate in the public policy process at all levels of government." The institute holds workshops, training programs and networking events to try to increase the number of women leaders in the state.
But a few conservative state legislators want the University of Missouri Board of Curators to boot the institute from its on-campus location.
State Rep. Jane Cunningham, R-Chesterfield, complained that the Sue Shear Institute for Women in Public Life - located at the St. Louis campus - caters largely to women with a Democratic viewpoint. She also said it seems unfair that men are excluded or made to feel unwelcome at the institute.
Yeah, Jane? Well I think it’s unfair that women have historically been excluded or made to feel unwelcome in politics. And the complaint that the Institute is only for Democrats is just flat wrong. A third of the Republican women in the Missouri state legislature are Sue Shear alumnae, compared to 28 percent of women Democrats.
Later, an aide to state Sen. John Loudon, R-Chesterfield, argued that it was inappropriate for a public institution to run "campaign schools" that teach women how to run for political office.
I'd argue that a public campus is, in fact, the ideal place for an institute that aims to get more women involved in public life. That's why Sue Shear should stay at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.
The curators took no action on the issue, but are scheduled to discuss it again at their December 1-2 board meeting. If you want to voice your support for the institute, you can send letters here, and they'll make sure the curators receive them.
Thanks to Madeline (a Sue Shear alum) for the link.
0 TrackBacks
Listed below are links to blogs that reference this entry: Women's political institute under fire in Missouri.
TrackBack URL for this entry: http://www.feministing.com/cgi-bin/movabletype/mt-tb.fcgi/2693
Weekly Feministing Newsletter
Feministing RSS Feed
Well, maybe they are realizing that women are already dominating college campuses, and they are getting worried at the numbers of men that are being scared off of college campuses. Seriously some of htis stuff about getting women and girls to participate is so 20 years ago, at this point it is kicking a long dead mule.
What's scaring men away?
Oh, you mean women who want to be involved in politics rather than food preparation and/or child rearing?
Those poor frightened babies! Men shouldn't have to put up with that nonsense! They're just too sensitive! Maybe they should go lie down and take some correspondance courses, or just do a little laundry. It's more suitable to their fragile constitutions than icky hard "college" anyway.
JJS - The Institute isn't about women into college, it's about getting women into politics and government. And, it fills a huge need for the state since Missouri falls below the (already pathetically low) national average of women in the General Assembly -- only 22% of its members are women. The Institute teaches women the political skills and gives them the political network that good old boys inherit from their good old fathers. I think the conservative’s challenge to the program is a scary and blatant attack on the idea that women should have a voice in public policy. Why is it so terrifying that we would want to train women to be successful political leaders?
Why is because it has become sexism in and of itself. Those who once fought against injustice to women are now having a hard time opening their eyes and seeing that women are now the majority in colleges. it is like a tide: people see the tide has risen downstream (colleges) but cant yet see that the tide will soon rise upstream (govt, leadership positions, etc)
meanwhile, too many boys are just not giving a shit. they are sick of being told they are evil because they are men. the mainstream men are sik of being told at freshmen orientations what thugs and god aweful potential criminals they are. they are sick of being told that cause they were born male they somehow oppressed other people 50, 100, 200 years ago, even though they are only 18 years old. They are sick of seeing special programs for everyone else, and basically being told they are refuse that is no longer interesting. they are sikc of having to sign of as potential slaves in the selective service campain, as if they are basically expendible. Again and again boys are being told they are worth less than women. but, ideology as it is, the other side either can't see this or does not give a flying fuck. Im not saying women have it great. Its that we need to stop caring about people just based upon what sex they are. reality is, any kid can be having a hard time and need help, it should not matter what sex they are.
/they are sick of being told they are evil because they are men. /
Maybe they're being told they're evil because they do evil thing.
Naah, couldn't be. Everyone knows feminists just hate men, no matter how saintly they may be. We don't hate oppressive and repugnant actions, we just hate penises.
hey, jones, come off it...
it's only paranoid chauvanists like you who believe that feminists think men are evil...
it's even more ridiculous that you go on to imply stuff about people of color when that has nothing to do with the subject at hand...
so, well, i'm sorry you have these intense anger/guilt issues with being a white man... but, hey, i'm a white man, too, and you sure as hell don't speak for me. the fact of the matter is, today i have it much better than women and than people of color and to pretend that's not the case is absurd. how often do you get followed around by security when you're shopping? how often do strangers assume familiarity with you looking to get into your pants? how often do you hear the top faculty of ivy league schools telling the world that you're not as smart as the other sex?
the fact is, it's still much easier for white men to get good-paying jobs, piss off on family responsibilities, get involved in (and get real power in) politics, etc. etc. etc.
so, yeah, i'm sorry you're sick of seeing programs for everyone else, but the fact of the matter is that the world, right now, is a special program for white men... maybe not so much as it was in the 1600s or the 1960s, but it still is - when was the last time we had a woman or a person of color as president... vice president? oh, wait, we haven't even had a jewish vice president... but white men are so disadvantaged...
and there are still plenty of boys' clubs out there for you to join (remember that whole row about professional sports? yeah, well i just went to the baseball hall of fame and, over there, they still talk about the legacies of "great men"... you'd feel right at home)... so stop whining you jackass.
puck, It seems we are always on a different page doesn't it? I was not representing my personal viewpoint or experience. i was tyring to get into the head of the young college age man who may be feeling demotivated, and unwelcome, on today's university campus. I am not that person, that is not me. I was using my imagination to describe issues that person may be having. the fact is, men are opting out of college, which in my opinion is not a good thing for today's young men, it is a sign that something may be wrong. So, I am left wondering, suggesting ideas as to why this could be happening.
I appreciate your replies but I am discussing ideas here, you do not need to personalize everything. U do not see me calling u names, saying this and that about your moral character, etc.
and how this relates to the topic is, it is the "women only" events, that would be branded "sexist" if men did the equivelent, and many similar things, that may be one component as to why men are feeling unwelcome on college campuses. If u are brainwahsed to think men can never be put down or shit on, well that is just ideological claptrap in my opinion.
JJS - I think you are missing a few key points on the issue of more women earning degrees than men. They talk about how boys aren't college bound because college isn't "cool" for guys (in another article posted recently). Why? Because other boys think that it isn't cool. The women are asserting themselves and saying "hey, I want to get an education" and the meat-headed boys are talking the potential college boys out of going to school by telling them college is for sissies.
And next time you think that men won't feel welcome in college, go to a frat party. Or a football game. Or any class in the engineering department. Men are still dominating the areas at universities that will lead to the higher paying/more stable/better respected jobs (engineering, chemistry, biology, etc). The women that are flocking to college are getting less marketable degrees like Psy, English, or Sociology.
Another reason that fewer guys than women are going to college is that post high school men have more options that just college. Women are given a very narrow set of choices as far as careers are concerned (secretary or day care worker?), so they see college as a must for good pay. Men are able to get good paying jobs without a college degree (construction work ain't glamorous, but it pays better than daycare). You'll notice that the wage gap still exists, even though more women earn degrees than men. In fact, on average a woman with a Bachelor's degree will earn roughly what a high school graduated man will earn.
This isn't about hating men or discriminating against them. It's about the culture that promotes different things for men and women and the consequences of those difference. Woman are trying to work their way into their "fair share" of the power/money/rewards/jobs/etc. It's not about individual white men oppressing women. It's about a system that is set up to benefit white men more than others by stacking the deck in their favor.
And I'm very big on the men's movement as well... you know, allowing me to express emotions, be elementary school teachers, nurses, or stay-at-home dads are all things that I fight for.
so nyah.
Someone saying men are unwelcome in college needs to first explain to me why so few women are getting free-ride-style athletic scholarships compared to how many men are getting them.
Actually Dim, the rates of male/female athletes on scholarship at most universities is remarkably equal. Title 9 made it so that they have to offer equal amounts of funding to men and women, and (because football gets so many scholarships) the women's teams generally get more full rides than the men's to balance out the football imbalance. Men's teams are more likely to break up scholarships into partial ones for sports like wrestling or baseball, etc.
But I will say that the men's athletic teams get WAY more money than the women's athletic teams. Just not in scholarships.
If your claims are accurate, I shall stand corrected.