Number Fest and other parties didn’t stop those participating in Athens National F--k the Patriarchy Day from marching through campus on Saturday.
Athens was full of commotion Saturday, from Number Fest to parties around town, but that didn’t stop those participating in Athens National F--k the Patriarchy Day from marching through campus.
Students and Athens residents gathered at the bottom of Baker Center, marched down Morton Hill and stopped at the amphitheater by the four new residence halls on South Green.
About 18 participants engaged in chants of “two, four, six, eight, stop the violence, stop the hate,” and “racist, sexist, anti-gay, fascist bigots go away" at the event.
Gwen D’Amico, a sophomore studying music therapy, spoke on behalf of F--kRapeCulture, a student group against rape culture at OU, citing toxic masculinity as a contributor to the patriarchal society and rape culture.
“Lessons of ‘no means no’ and ‘silence means no’ are excused, while women are taught not to drink, take drinks from others, never to leave your drink, not to trust men, like it is the woman’s fault for an assault against her,” D’Amico said.
D’Amico recounted her own struggles with rape culture on OU’s campus, saying the university does not handle sexual assault cases properly.
“My reporting process was taxing, exhausting and quite honestly embarrassing,” she said. “Having to tell my story … over and over for seven months from when I reported to the date of my hearing.”
D’Amico said her assaulter was not found responsible for his actions and was permitted to remain at OU. Now, she said, she wants advocacy, and she can’t find it on campus. D’Amico also criticized Jenny Hall-Jones, OU’s dean of students and interim vice president for Student Affairs.
“Jenny says she loves our (Bobcat) family and says sexual assault is taken seriously, but then again loves and warmly embraces donations from fraternities, who are the the highest perpetrators of sexual assault, sweeping them under the rug and excusing their behaviors,” D’Amico said.
Sasha Gough, an Athens resident and creator of the event’s Facebook page, talked about the intersections of sexual assault and race.
“In a world of inequality, the best thing you can be is white,” Gough said.
Gough cited the Rape Abuse and Incest National Network’s statistics regarding people of color, stating that 17.7 percent of white women experience sexual assault compared to 18.8 percent of black women, 34.1 percent of Native American women and 24.4 percent of mixed-race women.
“This isn’t only applicable to sexual assault,” Gough said. “This is applicable to many other aspects of life. Jobs, incrimination and likelihood to be abused and assaulted by the police, as we’ve seen in the past few years.”
Gough also added that transgender women are dying in numbers.
Claire Seid, a junior studying sociology, spoke at the rally about the lack of funding for OU’s Counseling and Psychological Services. Seid said percentages of student tuition fees that go toward OU’s athletic programs could be rerouted to better use.
“We need to reallocate that money to CPS, because we need help,” she said.
Seid said that some people on campus, including herself, have talked about bringing groups on campus together to create a mental health coalition to supplement CPS. Seid said she has spoken with some employees at CPS and they are supportive of the idea.
Daniel Telek, a second-year student studying English and urban planning and sustainability, also spoke about CPS’s funding.
“We need to, as students, use our voices and use our power and get this money for CPS,” Telek said.
Gough said that the rally was important to raise awareness of toxic masculinity and problems caused by the patriarchy.
“I think as we’re marching … we should be thinking about those things and how we can potentially end the toxic masculinity and kind of destroy this black and white binary that we have and just make the world a better place,” she said.
@taymaple
