Take Back the Night had its first inclusive year last spring, with men being able to participate in the march. Planning this year is beginning early, with a meeting taking place Monday night to discuss the event’s mission.
Gender binaries, sexual assault, women’s empowerment and hegemonic masculinity are topics that could be, and have been, debated for years. All of them were issues to discuss within the planning of this year’s Take Back the Night march.
Following conflict surrounding the inclusion of men and non-binary individuals in last year’s march, individuals met Monday night for the first of a series of conversations surrounding the march’s mission and implementation.
Madison Koenig, a senior studying English and senate commissioner of women’s affairs, said she felt the meeting was productive.
“I think that people did their best to listen respectfully and really understand where everyone else was coming from,” she said.
About 10 people attended the meeting, which was held in United Campus Ministries’ lounge. The discussion focused on the differing definitions of what the event means to individuals, and therefore who should participate.
The group discussed whether the inclusion of individuals who were not female-identified violated the validity of the space for women, and whether enough voices were included in the process leading to inclusion last year.
Michelle Pride, training director for Ohio University Counseling and Psychological Services and a co-leader of the sexual assault survivor’s group, said that, during the panel regarding inclusion last year, there was a lack of attention to non-binary perspective.
“It was incredibly painful for me to watch their reaction to being continually left out of the discussion,” she said. “If you were assaulted when you were presenting as female and you identify as male, where does that leave you? What is your stake in this?”
There was also discussion about community participation from in the march.
Participants noted that the event had become more university-focused in recent years, with fewer and fewer Athens residents participating.
Within the conversation of male-identified people in the event, there were also thoughts on tackling inclusion within specific groups, such as the participation of members of the greek-life community.
“I would like to see men wearing ‘(this fraternity) supports Take Back the Night’ shirts, but I’d like it to really mean something,” said Julie White, program director of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies.
The conversation will continue for the six months remaining until the event, which is tentatively set for the second week of April. Koenig said she is aiming to get more community members involved in planning of the event.
@EmilyMBamforth
eb104010@ohio.edu
