who needs feMinisM?

WHoneeds EMINIF sM?

Lauren O’Neill English, 2012

Lately, there has been something especially progressive in the air around Mansfield. It’s not our newly acquired taste in sculpture, or our building modernisations; rather, you might call it an atmosphere – one that pervades dining hall conversations, JCR meetings, Freshers’ Week plans and even tutorials. Though our College has long been a place where diversity is accepted and welcomed, it’s now also becoming an active voice within the University at large, in favour of equality for all. But I have noticed that there’s one word in particular playing on Mansfield’s collective lips. That word (whisper it!) is ‘feminism’.

It’s a complex term. The connotations of ‘the F word’ are different for everybody: for some it’s horribly outdated, whereas others feel that it is as vital in 2013 as it has ever been. However, regardless of personal taste, it’s an undeniable fact that over the past academic year, the unapologetic use of the word ‘feminism’ has experienced a major resurgence within university culture in the UK. The current mood at Mansfield is symptomatic of something I’m going to call feminism’s ‘comeback’ (even though by doing so I run the risk of making it sound like a 1980s pop star doing a tour of working men’s clubs). This is an exciting time to be at university, especially at Mansfield College, Oxford.

Feminist organisations are springing up at universities all over the country, presumably in response to wider social phenomena. Some of these influencing factors – such as the Everyday Sexism project, which uses social media to raise awareness of day-to-day discrimination against women – are overwhelmingly positive; some are not so (the ‘Lad Culture’ trend, and the severity of its sometimes unwitting sexism, shows the need for an increased feminist presence within universities themselves), but they all add fuel to the spreading feminist fire. Oxford has a particularly active University-wide ‘Women’s Campaign’, which aims to put self-identifying women on the map within the University; its recent ‘I Need Feminism’ event, which garnered attention from the national press, seemed to do exactly that – just by giving the women of Oxford an empowering and non-threatening place to speak up for themselves. The ‘I Need Feminism’ concept is very simple: an individual writes a sign stating why feminism is a necessary part of his or her life, and is photographed holding it. Later the photos are uploaded to a site like Facebook where others can see all of the different messages that have been written. The idea was later taken on by Cambridge University’s Women’s Campaign, and many university organisations elsewhere have also now carried out similar events.

As I queued alongside other Mansfielders outside the Rad Cam on a drizzly Monday evening, waiting for my turn to scrawl a typically angry message (‘I need feminism because you wouldn’t make a racist or homophobic remark now, would you?’) on a dry-wipe board, I felt genuinely part of something important. This was something personal and something universal at the same time,

and it was young feminists like me who had made the event – which was visited by 474 people in two days – into such a success. And so, after noticing over the following term or so the growing interest, curiosity and passion for feminism among my peers at Mansfield, I brought ‘I Need Feminism’ to College. But instead of asking people to consider why they personally needed feminism, I requested that they adorn their whiteboards with answers to the question ‘Why does Mansfield need feminism?’.

‘Gender equality at Mansfield is so much better than at other colleges. I think there’s a lot more lad culture, and more of girls and boys being separate elsewhere, whereas here there’s nothing that’s really dividing the genders,’ commented Tilly Slight, a first year History and Politics student. Indeed, many of the signs written and photographed over the course of the day seemed to echo this sentiment, celebrating the respect that, in general, Mansfield students have for people of different genders to their own.

Another area of College life highlighted by students as a success is the number of women in positions of seniority within Mansfield. My own sign was thankful for the amount of positive female role models I now know personally, while JCR President Joe Morris (second year, History) acknowledged that most of his JCR Bench Committee consisted of women, who are elected representatives trusted by the JCR to act in its best interests. The JCR Women’s Rep, Beth White (a second-year English student), stated simply that without feminism’s active presence in College, her role would be obsolete. First-year History and English student, Lettie Ezaz, agreed: ‘I think there’s a lot of provision here in terms of the women’s rep and women’s tutor, and there’s a particularly active body of feminists at Mansfield.’

Indeed there is: ‘Mansfield Needs Feminism’ is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of all of the amazing genderequality activism that Mansfield students support and are involved in. Our JCR stocks C*ntry Living, a radical feminist magazine put together termly by Oxford students (in order to help sustain this venture, Mansfield JCR – a significantly poorer institution than many of its counterparts at other colleges – voted almost unanimously to donate £200 to it), as well as the termly Women’s Campaign ‘zine’, which was co-edited by a Mansfield student in Michaelmas 2013. A host of University-wide feminist activities has continued over the past academic year, with Mansfield students and staff at the forefront. For example, Junior Dean Dana Mills was an integral cog in the machine of Oxford’s ‘One Billion Rising’ flash mob, which sought to raise awareness about the global

pandemic of violence against women, and was attended by a number of our students and tutors, who danced in the streets of Oxford with hundreds of others. Furthermore, we’re fortunate to have an especially pro-active JCR Women’s Rep. Beth White – along with her JCR Men’s Rep counterpart Alex Brant (second year, Engineering), and Harriet Ainscough (second year, PPE), the JCR LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered and Questioning) Rep – works tirelessly to ensure that people of all genders feel safe, comfortable and respected at Mansfield. We’re one of the few colleges who actually have a Women’s Rep, a Men’s Rep, and an LGBTQ Rep, all in the interests of equality and making sure everyone is catered for. One particularly successful event was Hilary Term 2013’s College self-defence workshop, led by professionals invited by Beth. She later commented that ‘both women and men came along, and it goes without saying that the girls were throwing punches to rival the boys. It was all about equipping students with a skill set that would help them to feel safer in Oxford.’ Beth’s work extended into Michaelmas 2013, when along with Alex, JCR Vice President Abi Rose and other volunteers, she ran an informal sexual-consent workshop for Freshers’ Week.

Also in Michaelmas 2013, Mansfield became only the third college in the University to establish its own genderequality society. Mansfield Gender Equality Society will provide a positive, non-discriminatory space for discussion and activism on topics related to feminism and gender equality. It has already garnered interest from a number of students and potential speakers.

However, despite all these fantastic achievements, it would be naive to consider our work complete. Though many of the signs written at the ‘Mansfield Needs Feminism’ event celebrated our College’s welcoming atmosphere for people of all genders, other signs highlighted shortcomings. Ben Janoff (second year, Engineering) and India Kirkpatrick (first year, Materials Science) both noted that of all the students admitted in the past year for Maths and Science subjects, only four were women. Though this speaks to a wider problem in terms of women’s access to degrees in these subjects, it is hoped by many that Mansfield can be at the forefront of vital access work, in its capacity as one of Oxford’s most progressive colleges.

Mansfield, then, is becoming quite a hub of feminist activism, with students and staff getting involved at many different levels. For me, it feels great to be learning at such an open-minded College, where feminism is encouraged rather than stifled. Though this isn’t necessarily the case within the entire Oxford institution, or indeed within UK university culture as a whole, the existence of trailblazing establishments like Mansfield shows that it’s certainly possible to foster a worldclass learning environment that holds equality for all as a core value.

Mansfield

Portrait of an oxford College

From various perspectives, this book tells the interwoven stories of Mansfield’s past and present, its extraordinary growth and development, and its ambitions for the future. It features stunning new photographs by the College’s photographer in residence, Keiko Ikeuchi, as well as never-before published pictures from Mansfield’s archive.

Contents: 1. Origins and Reinvention 2. The College Buildings 3. Governance and Access 4. Three Principals Look Back 5. Three Thematic Perspectives 6. College Life: Then and Now

General Editors: Stephen Blundell and Michael Freeden Photography by Keiko Ikeuchi

Specifications: hardback, 176 pages, 270 x 230 mm over 150 illustrations, ISBN: 9781906507497 Publication: July 2012 Published price: £45.00