Oxford students who are fighting for feminism

Probably all of us have been cat-called and groped in clubs,” says Oxford feminist conference organiser Charlotte Sykes.

“Me and my friends have all been victims of sexism in various ways: from discouragement against achieving our ambitions due to our gender, to body policing by institutions, friends, family and strangers, and being socialised that we are naturally more irrational and thus our emotions cannot be trusted.”

But rather than accept that’s “the way things are”, Charlotte is one of a growing number of young women who aim to do something about it.

She is setting up a day-long conference to address issues that range far beyond her own, her friends’ and other students’ experiences.

“I've been involved in feminist journalism and activism since I arrived at Oxford but feel that despite the energy and enthusiasm for feminism within student groups, we need to make a concerted effort to increase our interaction with women outside our own communities,” says Charlotte, 20, who is in her final year of Oxford studying English literature, Her interest in feminist issues was sparked at school, through studying feminist literary criticism.

At Oxford, her awareness grew, she became involved in feminist organising and has edited a university-based magazine devoted to gender issues for the past year.

“A large part of this was understanding how normalised sexism was.

“For example victim blaming of rape survivors, unofficial policing of fellow female students' sexuality through slut shaming jokes and comments and a tendency to disbelieve survivors of sexual violence are all current problems at Oxford University,” she says.

“Feminist theory and activism offered a prism to understand what had previously just been explained to me as ‘the way things are’, and offered insight into women’s structural oppression across the board.

“However, important as this is, I worry that these stories of sexual violence against young women at university and the sexism they face at these institutions are widely discussed at the expense of not highlighting other, extremely urgent, feminist issues.”

She cites her belief that women have been hit disproportionately hard by the recession and credits it with sparking a new wave of feminist activism.

“Many of the goals of the last half century in terms of social security and gender equality have been jeopardised by the cuts.

“There is less funding for women’s and children’s refuges, safe spaces for those fleeing domestic violence,” she says.

“There is less funding for childcare benefits, locking women who cannot afford childcare into a bind of staying at home to look after their children, yet being demonised by the press for not working and thus ‘benefit scrounging’.

“Women are more likely to be precarious workers or on a zero-hour contract, and thus seen as expendable workers.

“A shocking number of women lose their jobs after having children, and cuts to legal funding means only the wealthiest can afford to take their employers to court for unfair dismissal. These are just a few examples among many.”

It is issues such as these and others – including women facing multiple oppressions, those of race, disability or sexual orientation – that the conference at Wadham College on November 1 aims to address. There will be panel discussions, workshops, film screenings, T-shirt making and more, with a minimum of two events on at any one time throughout the day, in three rooms of the college.

Charlotte Sykes

Speakers include Focus E15 mums, a group of single women who recently occupied a housing estate in east London; Pragma Patel, an activist involved in Southall Black Sisters, a group that fights sexism in and racism towards South Asian communities; a representative of WISH charity (a voice for women’s mental health); journalist activists; members of Global Women’s Strike, a group that called for wages for housework and more.

“We are hoping that our attendees will be both students and non-students,” says Charlotte. “It is aimed at women of all ages; some of our speakers were active in the 70s, and some are active now. We hope that our attendees will reflect this age range.

“We hope to open up a dialogue between student feminism and the feminism of women outside of very privileged institutions such as Oxford. There is a staggering gap between the fervour of student feminism and its engagement with women outside of its communities.”

The conference at Wadham College, Oxford, on Saturday, November 1, from 10am to 8.30pm, is free to attend. To register and for details see feminismtheoryaction.co.uk or facebook.com/feminismtheoryaction

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