Feminism and equality
FOR YEARS, A large poster hung in the window of the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa’s Women’s Resource Centre (WRC) that made the following (among others) mysandric statements on “steps to preventing rape”:
1. Men should keep to well-lit areas and should be accompanied by Protection officers.
2. Men should wear bells around their necks at all times.
3. All family members and friends of men should always know where men are and what they’re doing.
(The full poster can be seen at: www.Imgur.com/Fto57 )
Would an organization that is truly “concerned with equality for men and women” display such a poster? Were the possible emotional reactions of male victims of sexual assault upon seeing this poster ever taken into account?
The WRC has the power to lead positive change. They could have used their window space to lead the way on important issues that men face, such as child custody discrimination, criminal court discrimination, higher drop out rates in high school and at the University of Ottawa, uneven distribution of workplace deaths, selective involuntary armed forces service, developed-world prevalence of male genital mutilation, higher homelessness rates, higher unemployment rates, and higher rates of North American institutional sexual assaults.
It is indeed a shame that they instead chose to contribute toward the vilification and ridicule of men in the U of O community.
There is no way to tell if the women behind the poster were serious or joking. But the fact is that men can be raped too, and this is no laughing matter.
University of Ottawa Men’s
Resource Centre Collective
The Men’s Resource Centre’s goal is to make the public aware of men’s issues and the manner in which they are interconnected in larger societal pattern of discrimination, ignorance, and harmful public policy that in many ways disadvantages boys and men. We focus on positive activism to advance a healthier society
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