Why guys should take Women’s Studies classes

When you walk into a Women’s Studies course at Penn State you expect only a few brave guys to be sitting there amongst the multitude of girls.

Most of the guys that take it only enroll because their major requires it or they need to fulfill a gen-ed.

What is it about a Women’s Studies course which scares so many guys away?

Senior Michael Barnes, who is taking a Women’s Studies course for the first time, said: “Yes, it’s a Women’s Studies class, but at the same time, like, being a guy you can feel a bit alienated because they don’t talk about the issues that you particularly experience.”

Connor Lapiska, a 22-year old senior taking a Women’s Studies class for the first time, said: “It’s probably wrapped up in these notions of masculinity.

“Masculinity is a very fragile thing I think people are worried about damaging, you know, how they’re perceived by their friends and stuff like that.”

Valentine Ndibalema, 21,  taking her second Women’s studies class, said: “ I feel like if men voice their perspective they would feel like their opinion could be taken the wrong way. They may feel like they’re a target.

“The title itself says ‘Women Studies’ not all around ‘Male and Women Studies’.”

There are a lot of common misconceptions that guys have about women’s studies and feminism.

Associate professor of Women’s Studies and African-American Studies Dr. Maha Marouan said: “I feel the word ‘feminism’ is not a sexy word and I think especially in the media it’s a negative word not just for the men, but for the female students as well.

“There are so many misunderstandings about the word especially in social media. Being a feminist makes you unsexy, makes you unattractive, makes you a hairy lesbian, you know these are often the stereotypes.”

No, not all feminists are hairy lesbians and if some feminists are hairy lesbians, why is that a bad thing? Not all of them are unattractive or unsexy, feminists know they are beautiful and empowered women.

Feminism aims for women’s equality to men socially, politically, and economically and women‘s studies courses teach sociology, history, literature, politics, and psychology, with a feminist approach.

“There’s the assumption of ‘oh, well if it’s a course on feminism that means it’s not about me, it’s about women. So many male students don’t think they can claim feminism and it simply means they can’t be advocates for equal rights,” said Dr. Marouan.

She adds:  “There is another misconception, which is any course about Women’s Studies or engages with feminism means to many guys that they are going to be surrounded by all these angry women that are going to blame them for all their problems.”

Why should guys take Women’s Studies courses?

“I’ve been exposed to perspectives that I would have never been exposed to before. Men think that women aren’t marginalized and things like that,” Conor said.

“Like right now there’s a men’s rights movement, men think that feminism is actively targeting them. I think if they came and sat in on a single class they’d realize that a lot of their preconceived notions are wrong and unfounded.”

From Dr. Marouan’s experience with guys taking her classes she said: “By the end of class they are already claiming they are feminists because they understand what feminism is about.

“They understand we have these gaps in society, they understand we have these issues and they understand we live in a patriarchal society.

“I think guys should come to Women’s Studies classes because it will allow them to question structures they have never questioned and in order for us to change society we need everybody. Feminists need male allies, we cannot do this work by ourselves.”

Women’s Studies let men understand the hardships of women and opens doors for discussions about how women are marginalized in Western society.

Some people believe women are already equal, but after taking a Women’s Studies class students will realize that the success of a few feminist goals only creates the illusion of equality.

“I was never interested in taking women’s studies courses as an engineer I want to take courses that tie into my major not liberal arts. I feel like the class would be useful for women ’cause its talks about them mostly, but not for men, “said Jason Reyes, a 23 year-old senior.

As students begin planning their courses for the spring semester, take into consideration checking out some women studies courses, you might be pleasantly surprised.