To the Editor: In the April 6,2004 edition of the Quad, the “Bruce speaks about feminism,” article by Josh Eisenberg was quite distressing for a number of reasons. While delivering her speech at West Chester University, Bruce attacked the feminist community based on a handful of her own experiences. This, in and of itself, is problematic, since there are over 15 varying types of feminism (i.e. Radical, Existentialist, Marxist, Lesbian Sepratist,Ecofeminism, etc.) which all ascribe to different belief systems. By lumping all feminists into one category and denouncing their politics and beliefs systems, Bruce gave lip service to a generalization that I am afraid was not based on many (if any) facts. The most generic definition of feminism (or of a feminist) upholds that women as well as men deserve the same social, political, and economic opportunities. Tammy Bruce, for someone who claimed that her role in NOW educated her, appeared to be a very uneducated person. The Quad’s review of Bruce’s speech failed to mention that Bruce called all socialists “anarchists,” and said that “everyone has a little Hitler inside of them.” It was also problematic for me to hear Bruce advocate what sounded to me (and many around me) a hate speech directed against anyone who had an opposing view. Bruce reminded many of a shock jock, (think Howard Stern here), who rather than addressing the questions asked of her, cashed in on buzz words and fallacious argument forms to generate hype. Perhaps it is relevant to note that Bruce told the audience she had, “gone through twenty years of psychotherapy,” since many of her positions and defenses seemed to belong to what at least one observer called, “the lunatic fringe.” Feminism, in any incarnation, are not the hateful groupings that Bruce alluded to. Many wonderful programs have occurred on WCU’s campus from the openly-feminist Women’s Studies Club (such as open forums, guest speakers, a gender oriented poetry booklet titled “The F Word”, counter demonstrations at Planned Parenthood, etc.)aimed at making the campus a place for women as well as men to be treated equally in all realms of existence. Anyone interested in joining the Women’s Studies Club can e-mail their contact information to: womensstudiesclubwcu@hotmail.com and join our member list.
-Jen Woolston
WCU Women’s Studies Club President