There are some things the boys - and I mean to say boys - on this campus need to know. Specifically the boys on South Green, in James Hall and in the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity house at 24 W. Washington St. who decided to shout obscenities and slurs at the Take Back the Night march last night.
Shouting things from your windows like Go cook us some food or We love abortion
don't win you any points with anyone, especially your mom, your grandma, your sister or your girlfriend. In case you didn't realize it, those women you called sluts and dykes last night probably value the same things as all the women in your lives: equal rights and fair treatment.
It's easy to fight back against people like those boys, though. I mean, when your adversaries aren't articulate, educated or even brave enough to come down to street level and protest, you aren't really dealing with the Axis of Evil.
But, those boys aren't the real problem anyway. Sure, on a day-to-day basis they do serve to objectify the women of this campus, but they're a result of a trickle-down effect.
The real boys who need to be enlightened -- the ones who teach our beloved boys -- are the ones in power. Most importantly, President Bush, U.S. Sen. George Voinovich and the administration of Ohio University are all in the dark when it comes to the women of the United States and OU.
The boys in power seem to think women can't make their own decisions when it comes to their bodies. For some reason it makes sense to these boys -even though they can't ever become pregnant -- that they should legislate their morals on the topic.
Voinovich introduced the Unborn Victims of Violence Act -- signed by Bush -- which could serve as the first step to eliminate reproductive rights won in the 1976 Roe v. Wade decision.
Bush -- among other things -- put a ban on abortion and instituted a global gag order, which prevents family planning organizations in foreign countries that receive U.S. funds from discussing abortion.
Both of those boys have had a huge effect on women in America and worldwide. But women at OU, while they have to deal with those problems, also have to deal with our administration and Hudson Health Center.
They have to deal with the fact that, in order to see a gynecologist at Hudson (which, by the way, is only open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday), they must attend a sexual health seminar.
They have to deal with the absence of a women's center here on campus.
They have to deal with an interview and an examination if they want the morning-after pill from O'Bleness Memorial Hospital.
As a man, I realize I can never fully understand what it's like to be a woman in the hostile environment of the United States or the OU campus. But I can do my best to work for positive change and educate all the boys.
--Bowen, a sophomore journalism major, thinks any self-respecting man is a feminist. Send him an e-mail at charles.bowen@ohiou.edu. 17
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Chuck Bowen
