Feminist Blog Generates Online Reaction

A new blog from Exeter Feminist Union has racked up hits from Exeter students and faculty and permeated social media and conversation across campus. Peaneedsfeminism.tumblr.com, a project sponsored by "Fem Club," aims to answer the question: why do we still need feminism?The blog, created by Exeter Feminist Union co-heads Amina Kunnumal, Caroline Goldfarb, Davis Leonard, and Kristina Elhauge, features anonymous signs and signs held by students on a variety of subjects related to feminism. Some of the pictures which feature pictures of female students with signs in lieu of clothing have drawn controversy.“I need feminism because in the USA photos of topless women are ‘pornographic’ when only 10 percent of cultures even consider them sexual,” read Elhauge’s sign.The topic of the messages range from issues of women in business to sexual assault to objectification of media.Lower Preeya Sheth said that the club intended for the website to act as a forum. “The purpose of the blog is to open up the discussion to the school and beyond,” Sheth said. “The definition of feminism is believing in equal rights, women just happen to be the ones denied equal rights. We wanted to show people why we are feminists, but we also wanted to widen the discussion so more people can tell the world what feminism means to them.”Goldfarb hoped that the blog would clarify the meaning of the feminist movement. “Since we started the club last year, I've had a lot of people ask why we need feminism or simply what feminism even is. We hoped that by giving people's own answers to the question, ‘why do we need feminism?’ that we would be able to bring light and individuality to the cause.”While the photos displayed on the blog are primarily submitted by females, men still play an integral role in the club and its blog. Upper Lazaro Cesar, who posted a photo with a sign that read “I need feminism because I want my daughter to be judged on her abilities and not her sex,” felt that the blog brought an individual angle to the issue. “The blog is powerful because it adds real faces, and stories to the problems women face today and puts the issues into perspective,” he said.Sheth said that the club aimed to showcase a wide variety of feminist views. “Our group is composed of guys and girls. We have very radical people, and also people who see feminism in a more conservative light, as well as everyone in between. People like to group feminists together as one ideology, but there is a large spectrum,” she said.In addition to the club’s high praise, some students have reacted to the controversial photos with criticism.“Personally, I think the message that they're trying to get across is noble, but the way they're going about it is sort of defeating the purpose,” said one male student who would like to remain anonymous. “With the way we are conditioned to think, images like topless females are immediately associated with sexual nature, so by trying to promote a non-sexual agenda over those images, the message that they want to send gets a bit lost.”However, Elhauge said that the club intended the photos as a form of empowerment, and also as a method of highlighting censorship of breasts in the media.“[The photos] do not mean that we are trying to objectify ourselves, but that we are actually empowering ourselves. I think a lot of people agree with our efforts, but there are some people who are not really getting it because they are under the impression that sexualizing yourself is automatically objectifying yourself and that you can’t be feminist if you are comfortable with being topless,” she said. “We are arguing against censorship.”Elhauge went on to say that she felt it was unfortunate that the semi-nude photos have received the most attention out of the project’s different components. “The point of the campaign was not about nude photos,” she said.“That’s just a small sliver of all the things we have gathered. We have over 100 people who have collaborated with us and written their own notes about sexual assault, abuse, unequal pay, a lot of inequalities that have nothing to do with nudity, it just so happens that the ones that get the most attention are the topless.”After senior Ryan Harden posted his comical interpretation of the blog’s form of expression, his photo became a secondary forum for gender discussion. Harden’s topless photo reads, “I need feminism because I am a strong, independent, white woman who don’t need no man.” The controversy of the blog crescendoed with Harden’s picture, however he said his intent was to further the club’s goal, not impede it. “While most assume that my Facebook picture has a negative connotation and even acted on that assumption, in my opinion a humorous photo allows for more open discussion to occur,” he said.