By Patrick Hubbard | Echo
In a political and social climate where feminism is generally misunderstood, Taylor is making an effort to educate its students as to the truth of the biblical perspective of gender equality.
"The F-Word Defined: Rethinking Feminism and Faith," which will take place on Tuesday, March 11, is a concerted effort on the part of faculty and students to bring awareness of the validity of the feminist movement to the attention of the student body.
This kind of gender discussion, which has been absent from the campus in recent years, will attempt to reconcile the polarizing ideas of modern feminism with a biblical view of the roles of women in Christianity and society, according to junior Sarah Cook, one of the coordinators of the event.
"It's important for women to try to understand their gender role biblically, and feminism is very compatible with biblical principle," Cook said. "It's not about women dominating; it's about equality between men and women."
Cook is optimistic about the event's relevance to Taylor students, and claims that everyone has something to learn from the biblical discussion of gender equality.Sophomore Felissa King, the event's other coordinator, says the desire to host such an event sprang from an investigation into the negative connotations of feminism.
"(Feminism) is considered to be such a bad thing on Christian campuses," King said. "At least here, it seems to be thought of as a really negative term. So we're at least hoping to educate people about what the ideas and concepts behind it might be."
While many may not identify themselves as coming from a feminist perspective, King asserts an awareness of the issue is still needed.
"It's always beneficial to have our thinking challenged," King said. "Even if it just starts conversation on campus, as far as why people agree or disagree, I see that as a beneficial thing. . . . Learning to consider things in different ways, especially the topic of feminism, would be really helpful."
The discussion itself will follow a fairly straightforward schedule.
"The event is going to be a panel discussion/lecture. There are going to be four professors and faculty members-two males and two females-talking about what feminism is," Cook said.
Cook posits that the involvement of male professors will dispel notions of female bias and lend the conversation a sense of sincerity in its efforts to educate the audience. The panel will consist of Scott Moeschberger (associate professor of psychology and higher education and associate dean of the honors program), Jessica Rousselow-Winquist (department chair and professor of communication), Jack Peterson (ESL program director and assistant professor of English language teaching) and his wife Amy.
Each of the four faculty members will give a short lecture, followed by a question and answer session, providing the audience the chance to seek clarification. This seems to be the underlying aim of the event: sparking a desire for dialog within the minds of the listeners.
"We're hoping that both males and females will attend the event because . . . for women, it's all about equality of gender, so it's not about just women 'seizing power,'" Cook said.
Both coordinators are confident that this discussion will lend a new perspective to common ideas of gender roles and begin the process of a move toward a better understanding of how the Bible calls us to interact with those around us.
The discussion will take place in Room 109 of the Euler Science Complex at 7:30 p.m. on March 11.
