I want to start by saying that I am an incredibly privileged woman, as I am white, straight, and cisgender.

That being said some days it can be pretty daunting to be a woman, no matter how you identify. Don’t get me wrong, I love being a woman, and I love embracing my gender, but sometimes the sexism that is all around me can be discouraging.

During the summer months, I work at a boat company where I deal with a lot of sexism.  Our passengers come from all over the country and the world for our tours, which is why we can get some pretty outrageous characters.  My female friends who are pilots have heard over and over again, “You drive pretty good for a girl.”  There have been passengers who have actually refused to get onto a boat because the pilot was a woman.  Then there are the endless amounts of uncomfortable sexual advances, which I am sure most waitresses and bartenders are very familiar with.

The sexism doesn’t just happen in the summer for me. It happens every single day here at UW-L too.  I have been mansplained too many times in and out of the classroom. I have friends who are scared to speak up in their male-dominated classrooms, and when they do they are often interrupted, talked over, and their experiences as a woman are often dismissed.  Don’t even get me started on Friday nights downtown.

This is why women absolutely must start standing together at UW-L.  It isn’t about pro-life or pro-choice, it’s about empowering your female peers for whatever they want to do.  We all have different goals and dreams, some of us want to be stay-at-home moms and others want to focus on their careers, or some want to do both.  We shouldn’t be shaming our fellow females, but instead empowering them.  Which is why I would urge all of you to get involved with the wonderful women’s organizations on campus.

I have gotten to know several of the organizations here—from the Pride Center to WSSA (i.e. College Feminists), there are amazing women ready to empower each other on campus.  I was able to attend an ALANA (Asian, Latina, African, Native American) Women meeting a few weeks ago, and I was kind of worried I wouldn’t really fit in, but I was so incredibly wrong.  Those women are so welcoming, and for once I actually felt connected to the women on my campus.  I also attended the “Cliteracy” event put on by college feminists, and I left feeling so proud of myself just for being a woman, which is actually a way bigger deal than what it sounds like.

So please, take an hour or two out of your week and go to these events.  Whether it’s stopping by a WSSA meeting on Monday nights or a Feminism on Tap event downtown, you won’t be sorry.  We need Feminism at UW-L and in our communities, and we need you to join us.