Kaitlin Leather, an English major, read a poem on conception in the Stockdale Room on May 16 at the Gender Matters Conference.
By Stephanie Cox
Staff Writer
Gender in our society depicts everything we are to think, feel and be and this year at the Gender Matters Symposium on May 16 in the Stockdale room the roles of gender were studied, artfully dissected and eye opening.
Panels were held with different subjects including literature as a lens on gender, gender and popular culture, poems and the keynote speaker, Doctor Michael Kimmel spoke on masculinity.
Julian Rodriguez, a California State University, Bakersfield graduate of Sociology, presented his research on heteronormativity within video games and more specifically the online gaming community that held a heavy, “don’t ask don’t tell” policy.
Heteronormative as defined by the Oxford dictionary is a world view that promotes heterosexuality as the normal or preferred sexual orientation.
“Virtual world fantasies and real world problems are not separate,” said Rodriguez.
The aspect of masculinity and femininity are both things players also worry about.
When it comes to masculinity in video games Rodriguez said, “They [male players] attack people who are weaker than them to assert their dominance.”
Female players are objectified, with characters whose armor barely covers their breasts and not much else.
The gaming industry is in need of some changes to accommodate those players who are both heterosexual and feminine because too much of gaming is dominated by the demographic of 30 year-old men, which is the average age of male players, according to Rodriguez.
Video games aren’t the only problem in popular culture when it comes to gender roles and abuse.
Leah Lenk, a women and gender studies major, presented her research on the abuse of the Fifty Shades trilogy.
Lenk discussed the signs of abuse that main male character Christian Gray, commits against main female character, Anastasia Steele.
According to Lenk’s research, Gray possesses eight of the 12 signs of a batterer. He takes away Steele’s friends, family and marries and impregnates her within 6 months.
The series, as Lenk said, has a “beauty and the beast” aspect in that it is a women’s job to change this monster of a person into the perfect prince. This is often not the case within an abusive relationship.
Women although often victims of abusive, also face other obstacles that men do not, like pregnancy and abortion. During the poetry and poster panel students demonstrated these hardships through creativity.
Attendees at the Gender Matters Conference enjoyed refreshments in between speakers.
Student Kaitlin Leathers, an English major, read her poem “Conception” reducing the mystery of birth into reality, calling women, “a factory” of children.
The second poet to present was Ashari Wallace, child adolescent and family studies major, who presented her poem “A Letter to You,” about an abortion. On the wall were posters of her piece with the message, “always remember a woman who has had to choose to abort a child does not have a specific look nor do we know the circumstance behind her decision.”
Lastly, the keynote speaker Doctor Michael Kimmel, presented his book “Adventures in Guyland” and how masculinity has changed through the evolution of feminism and the femininity.
He started by saying, “There is no war of the sexes. Men and women should be equal,” said Kimmel.
Kimmel provided an interesting perspective on how women and men are really not so different and how women are responsible for making gender visible, for both sexes.
The symposium was hosted by Women and Gender Studies and The Women’s Network and funded by Associated Students, Inc., and Instructionally Related Activities.
