Last year’s cast from “The Vagina Monologues” is pictured above. The Feminist Empowerment Movement is a group promoting acceptance of all individuals. The group meets every Wednesday at 8 p.m.
There are a lot of misconceptions around campus about the Feminist Empowerment Movement (FEM) and what it stands for. Most students would tell you it’s a group for “girl power and all that.” They aren’t entirely wrong, but they aren’t entirely right either.
“We have the reputation of being man-hating feminists,” said FEM president and senior Meela Zecevic. “We are about a more humanitarian way of life. We are all about acceptance of everyone.”
The club was started on Adrian College campus in the late 2000’s.
Every year the group hosts several events, workshops and forums around campus. The main event FEM hosts is an annual production of “The Vagina Monologues.” The group has been hosting it for the past several years and has hopes of continuing the play for a while. Part of the money raised from the event goes to the Catherine Cobb Shelter in Adrian while the rest goes to the annual VDay Campaign, through which the event is put on.
Other events FEM has hosted in the past include numerous safe sex forums. Last semester, FEM hosted a safe sex forum with the RA’s from different dorms on campus. The idea was to teach students about the dangers of having unprotected sex. They talked about the dangers of STDs, rape statistics, and how it is necessary to be safe.
The club did a demonstration with freshmen during which they filled up 25 cups with water and put a few drops of a colored liquid into a few of the cups. The freshmen then had to mix the water from all the cups together, to see how easily STDs can spread.
The club has also hosted several forums on what exactly feminism is and how it relates to the stereotype.
“People need to realize that FEM truly steps away from the stereotype of feminism,” said senior and vice president Jamie Hollingshead. “FEM embraces the fact that all humans are equal regardless of background, race, gender, sexual orientation, or religion.”
The goal of FEM is to promote awareness and equality among everyone. They aim for diversity and equal rights for all.
“We want to share information in the world that will get people to be more proactive and to view things more open-mindedly,” said Zecevic.
Last year FEM hosted an event called the Clothesline Project. Students were encouraged to take a white T-shirt and write a story of sexual abuse, rape or domestic violence on it. Once the T-shirts where complete, they were returned to the counseling office and then hung on giant clotheslines that spanned across Caine Student Center. The project was to show that victims of violence are not alone. There is always someone out there who has a story like yours and who has been through a similar situation as you. It also served to raise awareness about all those around us who have been affected by domestic or sexual violence.
“FEM is a really amazing organization,” said junior and secretary Chelsea Howe. “The meetings are an extremely open environment where people can feel comfortable sharing whatever they want and raise any concerns they have.”
FEM meets every Wednesday at 8 p.m. in the Vivian Conference Room. For more information on FEM you can email Zecevic at azecevic@adrian.edu, or Hollingshead at jhollingshead@adrian.edu.
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