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News: Marshall M. Fredrick’s Museum looks forward to new exhibits
News: COVID policies continued
Opinion: Male privilege holds women back
Monday, Jan. 10, 2022
Vol. 54 No. 14
Saginaw Valley State University’s student newspaper
thevalleyvanguard.com
‘Toxic’ workplace led to counseling center staff’s exit Ex-colleagues accuse each other of insensitive remarks, lies, and tense office encounters Shelby Mott Vanguard Editor-in-Chief
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VSU’s Mental Health and Wellness Center has gone through a major shakeup over the past several months after allegations of a “toxic” work environment and other serious accusations. In an office responsible for providing mental health counseling services to students, staff members resigned because they said their own mental health deteriorated because of tensions with colleagues and complaints of discrimination. None of the professional staff members who worked in SVSU’s Mental Health and Wellness Center at the beginning of 2021 remained employed there by the end of the year. The latest employee to exit the office was its director, Margaret Bach. She was hired in February 2021 to oversee the office’s rebranding and then resigned in October 2021 after she said “lies, falsehoods and ongoing misrepresentations” were directed at her by “many staff at the university.” “I recently resigned from the university, due to the fact that the lies, falsehoods and ongoing misrepresentations would continue to be perpetuated by many staff of the university,” Bach wrote in an email in response to questions from The Vanguard. “As someone hired to support the mental health and wellness of the university, unfortunately, my emotional health was suffering and needed to be a priority.” However, ex-employees tell a
much different story about what took place at the center under Bach’s leadership. Among the people accusing Bach of creating a “toxic” work environment as well as using racial- and gender-insensitive language in front of colleagues was Sara Lyden, a former mental health counselor who said she quit along with two of her office co-workers in the summer. Bach was their supervisor. Lyden said other factors pre-dating Bach’s arrival also played a role in Lyden’s decision to leave. She said the office lacked support from university leaders during a fall 2020 semester that presented a dramatic increase in demand for mental health support services. “The mental health of our students remains a high priority,” SVSU spokesman J.J. Boehm said in a statement to The Vanguard. “We appreciate the ongoing efforts of the current staff of the Mental Health and Wellness Center to provide timely, professional service to our students, and we support them in this important work.” In October 2021, The Valley Vanguard began investigating the staff turnover in the Mental Health and Wellness Center. Along with interviewing former professionals in the office, The Vanguard reviewed notes staff created to document the work environment. The Vanguard also filed a Freedom of Information Act request with SVSU to review a Discrimination Complaint Form submitted against Bach in July 2021.
Mental health crises The SVSU Student Counseling Center (now called the Mental Health and Wellness Center) was already facing a lack of resources, prior to the beginning of the pandemic, Lyden said. Lyden, who earned her bachelor’s and master’s from SVSU, joined the office as an intern in 2018 and then was hired as a professional mental health counselor in 2019. Lyden, whose maiden name was Sara Woodrow at her time of employment, said their office had been short-staffed since she was hired. She said it is recommended for counseling centers in higher education to employ one full-time therapist per 1,000 to 1,500 students, according to the International Accreditation of Counseling Services. In the fall 2020 semester, SVSU employed two full-time counselors and a student population of around 7,000, she said. Lyden said the fall 2020 semester’s staff level became especially challenging following the return to campus after lockdown in August 2020 and then the November 2020 on-campus suicide of Dennis Gray, a biology professor at the time. Both circumstances elevated student anxieties and exposed exactly how much the center was struggling to meet the demands of the student population, she said. She said the office advocated for more staffing, but the university never followed through on those requests or provided sup-
Former staff members Margaret Bach, director of the counseling center (left) and Sara Lyden, mental health counselor (right). Courtesy Photos | Ucomm
port that semester. Lyden said the center’s staff also requested a phone service that would provide students with a 24/7 hotline for mental health crises in 2020, but the university did not provide that resource until the following year. “I don’t think the university really understood what it was that we did,” Lyden said. “Even now, I’m not sure that they really understand the services and how those services have to function and the ethics behind them and the policies. We never really had much support in general from the university. We called ourselves an island. We felt very separate from everything and everyone.” According to Lyden that separation sometimes led to a breakdown in communications. For example, following Gray’s on-campus suicide in November 2020, Lyden said she and the counseling staff learned of the additional services they would
provide when they read about those planned services in campus-wide communications sent to all students, staff and faculty. Lyden said she and her colleagues learned about the office’s renaming as the Mental Health and Wellness Center from a communication sent across the campus, creating confusion for some in the office. “We thought SVSU was creating a new center and we were going to be part of that center,” Lyden said of her first reaction to reading the communication. “We didn’t realize we were the center.”
Change and uncertainty At the time of Gray’s suicide, the office was in a state of transition. The director at the time recently had accepted a new position in the campus’ Human Re-
See Counseling, A2
SVSU student survives life changing COVID experience Audrey Bergey Vanguard Photo Editor
Abby Pignatelli, an undecided freshman, experienced COVID differently from most. In fact, the illness took her completely by surprise. Pignatelli went to the ER on Nov. 25, 2021, for an ear infection just to find her ear drums had burst, had a blood infection and was diagnosed with COVID. “I was then admitted to the hospital and from what others tell me on Nov. 27 I was intubated and moved to ICU,” she said. Pignatelli went into a coma and needed to be checked on many times. “Doctors and nurses would constantly check my brain and heart function unsure if I would ever wake up,” she said. “During the time I was on the ventilator my lung collapsed and had a chest tube placed.” After a few days Pignatelli made it out of her coma. “With God’s grace on Wednesday, Dec. 1 my body took it upon itself to extubate (remove ventilator tube) myself.” She was able to return home on Dec. 5 after receiving physical therapy in the hospital. Pignatelli went through this experience to find it impacted her for the better. “COVID impacted my life for the better,” she said. “I not only
grew my relationship with God, but I also unknowingly helped others with their walk with Christ. Facing death not knowing you are facing death is still crazy for me to wrap my head around, but God has given me a great support system during all of this.” Pignatelli said she had been asked a few times if she would change what happened to her. “No, I would not,” she said. “I have a much better appreciation for life, and I learned that God’s not done using me for his work.” Not only did COVID impact Pignatelli, but it impacted many others in her life as well. “While I was seeking the medical help I needed, my parents created an amazing Facebook group/page called “prayers for Abby” where they not only updated many but where anyone could post prayers, thoughts and Bible verses,” she said. ”There were over 700 people being my prayer warriors.” Pignatelli received help from SVSU as well. “SVSU helped a lot when I was sick,” she said. “My sisters emailed everyone they could to see what accommodations I could receive.” Pignatelli received help from the SVSU community and will be able to complete her fall semester.
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Home for the Holidays was performed on Dec. 3, 2019 by the SVSU theatre department Courtesy Photos | Brooke Elward
Theatre expects empowering season Sadie Shepherd Vanguard Reporter
The SVSU theatre Department has several plays it is planning to showcase during the winter semester. “Silent Sky” by Lauren Gunderson and “Top Girls” by Caryl Churchill were the two productions selected by faculty. Theatre department chair David Rzeszutek said he and his colleagues try to make diverse choices. “We try to balance our theatrical seasons to offer a variety of styles and genres,” Rzeszutek said. Theatre professor Tommy Wedge elaborated on this sentiment. “The idea is that from one’s first
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to last year, each student should have the opportunity to participate in a range of genres and styles; from comedies to dramas, musicals to farces, theatre for young audience to Shakespeare, classic to contemporary,” Wedge said. “That way when one graduates from our program, their resume highlights their range of experience and expertise.” “Silent Sky” will be the first play to be performed. It follows the brilliant Henrietta Leavitt during the early 1900s as she attempts to break into the male-dominated field of astronomy at the Harvard Observatory. Theatre professor Peggy MeadFinizio is directing “Silent Sky,” and said she fell in love with the play after attending a staged reading of it.
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“It is based on true events, real people and the discoveries made [by] the characters are still used in astronomy today,” Mead-Finizio said. “I am excited to share the story of a woman from the early part of the 20th Century that had a passion for something way beyond her reach and the impact she and the other women in the story made on the world.” The theme of trailblazing women continues in “Top Girls,” which follows lead Marlene as she celebrates a recent promotion at her job, with the help of some other prevalent women in history. Wedge is slated to direct, saying it is “a challenging script, both in style and substance” based on the overlapping dialogue used by Churchill and
See Theatre, A2
News
Page A2 | Monday, Jan. 10, 2022 | thevalleyvanguard.com | The Valley Vanguard
Museum has high hopes for new exhibits
POLICE BRIEFS Larceny On Dec. 9 at 2:00 p.m., officers met with an 18-year-old female student who wanted to file a larceny report. The student stated her catalytic converter was stolen from her vehicle sometime over Thanksgiving break. On Dec. 13 at 3:35 p.m., police spoke to an 18-year-old female student whose laundry was taken from an on-campus laundry room between 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.
Suspicious Situation
Gallery featured exhibit from Fall 2019.The exhibit was illustrations by Lance Jackson and sculptures by Rob Neilson. Courtesy Photo| Jolie Wyse
Rebekah Williams
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Vanguard Reporter
VSU’s Marshal M. Fredrick’s Sculpture Museum (MFSM) is looking to the winter semester with high hopes and new exhibits. MFSM is welcoming two new exhibits this winter. The first exhibit, “Harold Neal & Detroit African American Artists,” will be open from Feb. 1 through April 16.
Counseling, continued from A1 sources department and was preparing for the move. In the weeks after Gray’s suicide, the university brought in Bach, who was CEO of Child and Family Services of Saginaw at the time, to evaluate SVSU’s student counseling operations, Lyden said. In her email to The Vanguard, Bach said the circumstances of her role in that evaluation. “In the fall of 2020, the SVSU Counseling Center was under tremendous scrutiny and criticism,” Bach said. “This condemnation … caused the administration to create substantial changes to the department, including moving the Counseling Center from Academic Affairs to the office of Administration and Business Affairs. The staff were feeling hurt and devalued prior to my arrival.” Lyden said university leaders were never clear to the staff at the time about the reason for the evaluation. She said that it felt a lot like an “audit” because Bach was looking at statistics of how many students were being seen, how quickly staff in the office were responding to students, and what their caseloads
Theatre, continued from A1 the English dialect spoken by the characters. “’Top Girls’ is a hallmark of post-modernism and Feminism, and its themes are brilliantly brought to life by Churchill,” Wedge said. “I have the very best raw material to stage, which as a director is intimidating yet absolutely thrilling. ” Professor Mead-Finizio said the choice to have two female-centric plays was made in part due to the demographic of the department currently being the majority women, but also by assessing other factors. “It is important to share stories that feel right for this moment in time,” Mead-Finizio said. “Putting strong women in ‘the spotlight’ is what feels right for the current social and political situation. We have to ask, what sto-
Andrea Ondish, the museum’s curator of education, said she is looking forward to seeing the exhibits. “There are so many wonderful artworks and artists that have powerful backgrounds with the Black Art Movement in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s,” Ondish said. “I am looking forward to seeing the actual art in person.” Ondish said there is something about really looking at the artwork in person compared to online. looked like. Once the evaluation was completed, the position for a new director was posted and Bach was hired. Lyden said that it was around this time as well that university officials began to talk about rebranding the office to be named Mental Health and Wellness Center, a move she said was mostly “for optics” and added little substantive change to the office. As part of the rebranding, the office space was renovated, moving services temporarily to the third floor. “I felt it was missing the point of what the students were worried about,” Lyden said. “It wasn’t necessarily the name or the space: it was the accessibility, the availability, the quality of services, what we were able to provide. That’s what the students wanted to see.” Lyden also said she was worried the rebranding would make the center less transparent. “Even though we were called Student Counseling Center, a lot of people just assumed that it’s the mental health center and that we treat the mental health for everybody,” she said. “But we’re only able to see students within that office. So, when they presented that they ries do people want to see? What is relevant right now?” While “Silent Sky” is already casted, “Top Girls” still has upcoming auditions. Wedge said he welcomes students from all disciplines to try out. “Whether you have experience in theatre or not, or want to contribute onstage or offstage, we’d love to have your help,” Wedge said. “Over the past few years, connection has been so hard, and this is a great way to get to know people while giving yourself a productive creative outlet.” Auditions for “Top Girls” will be held Feb. 7 and Feb. 8 in Curtiss 181 with times to come. “Silent Sky” will run from Feb. 23 through Feb. 27 while “Top Girls” is scheduled for April 6 through April 10, both presented in the Malcolm Field Theater.
Performance of Lonley Planet during the fall 2021 semester. Courtesy Photo | Vincent Ford
“Looking at digital images doesn’t give you the full impact of an actual artwork,” Ondish said. “You get to see the colors, textures, surfaces, brush marks, media choices, etc. It’s the personal artist mark-making and style you experience. It is unique and inspires me as an artist.” The second exhibit making its way to the museum, “Tradition Interrupted,”
See Museum, A3
were going to rebrand us as the Mental Health and Wellness Center, it made our services even more ambiguous, even less transparent. What we needed was more transparency.” Bach, though, said her work in the office after her hiring was impactful. “I was hired to bring change to the Mental Health and Wellness Center,” Bach said. “I did this by partnering with fellow universities to understand best practices for university and counseling center standards. In less than a few months, a 24/7 crisis line for students was initiated, the electronic medical records system was brought in compliance, clinical staff were serving more students than previously required, a strategic plan, policies, procedures where established. All essential for quality operations befitting of a university counseling office.” Boehm said Bach’s contributions to the center were beneficial. “Margie Bach resigned from her position as director of SVSU’s Mental Health & Wellness Center, effective Friday, Oct. 29,” Boehm said. “We appreciate her efforts to provide timely, quality mental
See Counseling, A3
Changes to COVID policy Kelsie Todd Vanguard Reporter
As students plan on returning to campus for in–person learning, there are COVID-19 policies to follow as the pandemic continues. The exceptions to the mask policy have been removed, meaning everyone, vaccinated or not, will be required to wear a mask indoors. Masks can still be removed when alone in a workspace or while eating and drinking. The quarantine/isolation guidelines will remain the same, meaning that if one tests positive for COVID-19, they must quarantine for five days regardless of vaccination status. Unvaccinated individuals are still required to be tested weekly. Tests can be scheduled at www.svsu.edu/nestplan/. President Bachand shared some advice he has for students to stay safe this semester. “First off, our students have done a great job of following the guidance we have provided,” he said. “I have noticed it and appreciated it. Throughout this pandemic, we have maintained a rela-
On Dec. 12 at 5:23 p.m., officers took a report from a 23-year-old female student who noticed a male that might be following her. The student noticed the male subject sitting by the study room she uses. The student was advised to call University Police the next time she sees the person. On Dec. 17 at 12:31 a.m., officers were dispatched to University Village West. Upon arrival they met a 20-year-old female student that had been arguing with her boyfriend. There was no physical contact during the argument. The boyfriend left prior to police arrival. On Dec. 17 at 3 a.m., officers found two females arguing and trying to fight one another in the parking lot of University Village. Police were able to identify one female as a former 19-year-old student. The rest of the subjects left before contact was made. Later that night officers noticed a parked vehicle occupied by three people. As police approached the vehicle, they observed a handgun in the cup holder. The driver was identified as a 22-year-old male non-student who had a valid concealed weapons permit. He was not involved in the initial call. The other two occupants were identified as the 19-year-old female student and a 20-yearold female student. All three were asked to leave campus. Police said later in the night, the 19-year-old female student reported being assaulted. On Dec. 24 at 10:21 p.m., officers responded to a possible home invasion in progress at Pine Grove. The female resident reported hearing sounds coming from the first floor. Officers searched the apartment but did not locate any subjects. The resident advised that she did not notice any damage, items taken or signs of forced entry.
Minor in Possession On Dec. 15 at 11:55 p.m., officers were dispatched to Living Center North for a minor-in-possession party. Officers arrived and noticed a 19-year-old student that was highly intoxicated. The intoxicated student was transported to the hospital by ambulance. Three minor students were given MIP’s.
Property Damage On Nov. 23 at 11:24 a.m., officers were dispatched to Bay Road and Pierce Road for a 3-car traffic crash. Three non-students were involved. The first vehicle was stopped at a red light. Due to slippery roads, the second vehicle was unable to stop causing it to strike the first vehicle. The third vehicle then struck the second vehicle in the back due to the icy roads. Two individuals were transported to the hospital.
See COVID, A3
The Valley Vanguard News Editor Alyssa McMillan | E-mail anmcmill@svsu.edu | Office 989-964-4482 | Instagram @TheValleyVanguard 110A Curtiss Hall
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POLICE BRIEFS Property Damage On Nov. 23 at 2:20 p.m., officers responded to a two-car traffic accident at the corner of Bay Road and Pierce Road. One vehicle turning south on Bay Road struck the front end of a vehicle that was heading north on Bay Road. Both vehicles had minor damage. Neither driver was an SVSU student. On Nov. 28 at 8:39 a.m., officers were dispatched to Freeland Road and Bay Road for a two-car traffic accident. One vehicle was attempting to turn south when it was struck from behind by a distracted driver causing minor damage. Neither driver was an SVSU student. On Dec. 16 at 12:58 a.m., officers took a report from a 20-year-old male student who reported his vehicle’s rear window shattered while driving through the parking lot. It is believed that the window shattered from sudden temperature change or a pressure change. On Dec. 17 at 12:45 p.m., officers met with a 19-year-old female student who stated she had a couple items destroyed and a couple items stolen by her roommate. The incident is still under investigation. COVID, continued from A2 tively safe campus environment, thanks to everyone’s cooperation.” He said that this was possible due to the dedication of staff. “Since August 2020, our dedicated contact tracing team has followed each case where a student, faculty or staff member has tested positive,” he said. “There have been zero cases of transmission traced back to a classroom or laboratory setting at SVSU. Vaccination and booster shots continue to protect against infection and spread. I have received my booster shot and I encourage others to do the same.” Bachand said the school is paying attention as things change. “We will continue to adjust our policies as our understanding evolves and expert guidance changes,” he said. “We will make updates that are appropriate for current conditions, which are constantly changing.”
Museum, continued from A2 will be on display from Feb. 19 until June 18. This display is an international group that shows how artists can use contemporary ideas and mix them in with aspects of their culture. “For ‘Tradition Interrupted’ the artists come from varied cultural backgrounds,” Ondish said. “They hail from every corner of the globe. From rugs and mosaics to metalwork and ceramics, they are merging age-old art and craft customs with innovative techniques that interrupt tradition while still collaborating with the past.” The “Tradition Interrupted” exhibit focused on how you can use ancient techniques to tell a new story. Ondish said there are multiple ways that this exhibit can contribute to students’ learning at SVSU. “University professors in departments such as history, social work, science and technology, art, English, sociology, just to name a few departments, can use the artwork as a valuable teaching tool,” Ondish said. In addition to the new displays, the museum is hosting a photography contest called “Capture A Moment in Time.” The deadline for the competition is Jan. 15 and the winners will be notified by Jan. 31. The winners will be determined by three jurors, and they can receive prizes for $100 for first place, $75 for second place and $50 for third place. The three jurors are Hideki KIhata, an art professor and former chair of the art department at SVSU; Thor Rasmussum of THORtography in Saginaw; and Emiliano Vega, who paints murals and more.
Counseling, continued from A2 health services to our students, and to add new programs, such as a 24/7 crisis support line. We wish her well as she pursues other professional opportunities.”
‘A delicate position’ Lyden said she and her colleagues in the office felt apprehension about the university’s decision to hire Bach. Lyden said she felt there were conflicts of interest in the hiring. For example, the SVSU counseling center contracted with Child and Family Services of Saginaw when Bach was CEO there, sometimes sending SVSU students to Bach’s organization for counseling services when necessary. With Bach leading an evaluation of the SVSU counseling center, it put her in a position to recommend more outsourcing to Child and Family Services of Saginaw, Lyden said. It also put Bach in a position to set herself up to be hired at SVSU, Lyden said. “It felt very premeditated,” Lyden said of the hiring. Prior to Bach coming in, the environment at the SVSU counseling center was tight-knit and staff there were supportive of one another, Lyden said. She said that, once Bach came in, that structure dramatically changed, and it became difficult to work in the office. Lyden said that one of the reasons for this was because Bach used racial- and gender-insensitive language. Bach denied the allegations. “The allegations and accusations made by a former staff member are false, sad misrepresentation and a frankly defamation of my character,” Bach said. “It is also important to note that this staff members never shared any of these concerns directly with me or with any other staff at the university. As misunderstandings can easily and appropriately be handled very constructively with simple, honest, open dialogue.” Lyden stood by her allegations. She said she was present when Bach made one of the racial- and gender-insensitive remarks. After Bach was hired, she was a member of a university committee that performed a job search for a new part-time mental health counselor at the office, Lyden said. The counselor hired was a Black man. “She said she wasn’t sure if we could keep him busy,” Lyden said. “When we asked what she meant, she followed up with, ‘Not a lot of men and not a lot of Black people typically reach out for services.’ That’s when we corrected her, that he’s qualified to see anybody.” Lyden said her office colleagues described other remarks Bach voiced regarding that same part-time counselor. Lyden kept notes of those discussions, sharing them with The Vanguard. Those incidents she learned from colleagues included the following: • After the part-time counselor was hired, Lyden said Bach told a colleague in the office, “I don’t know why they even have a committee if they were just going to pick a Black man to fill a spot anyway.” • Lyden said Bach told a colleague in the office that they would have to “lighten up” a photo of the part-time counselor before it was included in a printed presentation packet for prospective students. • Lyden said Bach told a colleague that she mistook one Black person for another because “they all look alike.” Lyden said that the comments Bach made
The lobby of the renovated mental health center, Nov. 7, 2021. Courtesy Photo | Brooke Elward
didn’t sit right with her. “We were in a very delicate position because we didn’t feel the university trusted us,” she said. “And we didn’t really trust the university. We didn’t want to make reports so early on, because they already felt we were being very defensive.” One of Lyden’s colleagues in July submitted the Discrimination Complaint Form against Bach, Lyden said. Except for the date of the filing, the university redacted all submitted content in the form when The Vanguard requested it using the Freedom of Information Act. When justifying the redactions, the university cited “privacy” and indicated there was “not a final determination” related to the complaint. “SVSU received one complaint regarding Margie Bach during her time at the university,” Boehm said. “SVSU immediately began an inquiry into the complaint. The inquiry has been completed. Since Ms. Bach and the complainant have each left the university, no further action is needed at this time.”
Broken dreams Lyden said that the way Bach acted in the center created a “hostile” workspace. Lyden said the environment became “unbearable,” leading Bach’s only three professional staff members to leave their jobs by summer. “I was uncomfortable being in office space with her,” Lyden said. “I started having a really hard time functioning and making it to work because I was so depressed, and I was so anxious.” Lyden said that leaving was not an easy decision, and she felt as though she was letting the students down. “I had every intention of making this a career,” she said. “I took a pay cut to come to the university because I loved it. And I’ve never left a job that I loved. I loved the students. I loved the work. I loved being a therapist. I loved everything about my job. But the work environment was so unbearable that my own mental health had declined to a point that I couldn’t justify staying because it wasn’t fair to my students. I’m coming into work and I’m having panic attacks between my
appointments, and that’s not fair to them. But there was no one to help us.” Lyden resigned after the other full-time mental health counselor at the time left the office. After Lyden’s departure, the office’s administrative secretary left, Lyden said. All were gone within a 1-month period, she said, leaving Bach as the only full-time professional. “My mental health had declined and then I was going to be losing my support system,” Lyden said of her decision to leave. “It wasn’t getting better. It was getting worse.” Lyden said that the university is just as at fault for the issues. “The university was complicit in hiring her against our reservations about it and against our encouragement to focus on other aspects of resolving these issues,” Lyden said. “I want them to do better with that. And to make an honest effort and making things better because nothing’s changed. Except for the name. That’s so scary. And the students don’t deserve that. Everyone, you know, has been asking for support and asking for help and I think the focus has just gone so far off course that I don’t even know that they’re aware of what they’re working towards anymore.” Lyden said she hopes that something positive will transpire out of the “toxic” workplace environment she experienced, and that university leaders will hold themselves accountable. “I still feel like I can’t let that go until I know that something is actively going to be done,” she said. “To improve it. And I’m not there anymore to see that that’s getting done. And so, I think more than anything, it’s just a sense of responsibility. I have to do everything I feel like I can that this gets brought forward so that the university feels, ‘I have to do something to repair this to make this better.’” The Mental Health and Wellness Center is currently under the direction of Interim Director Kelly Thompson. There is a job posting for director of Campus Mental Health and Wellness Center to fill Bach’s position. The Center held a grand opening for its newly renovated office on Nov. 2, 2021.
The Valley Vanguard Sports Editor Denver Milam | E-mail dtmilam@svsu.edu | Office 989-964-4482 | Instagram @TheValleyVanguard 110A Curtiss Hall
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Opinion
Page A4 | Monday, Jan. 10, 2022 | thevalleyvanguard.com | The Valley Vanguard
Male privilege makes it impossible for women to achieve full equality Alyssa McMillan News Editor Psychology anmcmill@svsu.edu
As a woman, I constantly feel like I have to try ten times harder than my male counterparts just to achieve the same goals. In the wise words of Taylor Swift “I’m so sick of running as fast as I can, wondering if I’d get there quicker if I was a man.” I’m sick of walking into a room and having to demand respect when a man can walk in and is instantly given it. I can’t count the number of times I’ve been somewhere and been ignored while my male friend is spoken to, usually about things that concern me or only I know about. I can recall a time I was at the bar with a friend. He was sitting across from me at the table. A man came up and tried to talk to me. When I refused, he assumed I was
with my friend and instantly turned to him. I remember hearing him say “Come on, let your girl sing one song with me.” Now I’m not exactly the kind of girl that keeps quiet in situations like this, but this time I did. I wanted to see how my friend would handle this. Would he treat me like property and say yes? Would he see me as someone who needed to be protected and say no on my behalf? What he did say didn’t really surprise me because of the kind of guy he is, but if any other man had answered the way he had I probably would have been shocked. I heard him say, not in exact words, that I’m capable of answering for myself so he’d have to ask me. I said no. Men often view woman as objects. They’re not a someone. They’re a something. Something they want. They can be passed back and forth and don’t really have any autonomy of their own. They belong to whoever they’re dating at the time. Men can use women for whatever they want, whenever they want. This is such a toxic mindset that so many men, and even some women, have.
How are women supposed to move forward in life when they’re barely even viewed as a person by men? The mindset is even worse for women of color. Women of color are, on average, treated even worse by men. It also makes having a career for all women so much harder. Women have to fight to prove that they belong in a professional setting. They have to prove that they’re smart enough and equipped enough to do the same jobs. They make 70 cents to a man’s dollar for absolutely no reason. Maybe it’s because men often don’t view women as anything more than secretaries and assistants. However, women are arguably better at higher stress jobs. The book “Invisible Women” by Caroline Criado Perez shows just some of the inequalities women face. In the book, Perez discusses how women are proven to be better at handling high stress jobs. They can handle the stress of the job better and therefore are more efficient. So why aren’t there more women CEO’s?
Another concept she points out is that most medical testing isn’t done for women. On average, women are 41 percent more likely to be injured in a car accident. This is because all crash test dummies are male. Therefore, seatbelts and air bags aren’t made to protect women. If women were truly viewed as equal these things wouldn’t be happening. More women would be in positions of leadership and testing would be done for both men and women. But since men often don’t view women as equal, these things don’t happen. If men can’t even handle the stress of a job as well as women, how would they ever manage everything else? How would they ever be able to balance a job, a family, and a social life on their own? How many women have to die before men decide women deserve basic things like testing for medications and safety? What has to happen for men to see women as people and not property? Until men stop acting entitled, society can’t move forward.
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The Valley Vanguard is published by the students of Saginaw Valley State University weekly in the fall and winter semesters, with one issue published in the summer. Our office is located in Curtiss 110a on the campus of SVSU, at 7400 Bay Road, University Center, MI, 48710.
Advertisements do not necessarily represent the views of The Valley Vanguard.
Since 1967, The Valley Vanguard has provided coverage of campus and community happenings to students, faculty, staff and community residents. An online edition of the paper is available at thevalleyvanguard.com.
In addition to printing a correction in our print edition, the online version of the story will reflect the correction.
All advertising inquiries should be directed to valleyvanguardadvertising@gmail.com.
The Valley Vanguard Opinion Editor: Madeline Bruessow | E-mail mpbruess@svsu.edu | Office 989-964-4482 | Instagram @TheValleyVanguard 110A Curtiss Hall
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