Women’s centre necessary

By Melissa Mathison

Editor, the Gauntlet,


Re: "Women’s centre not necessary," Oct. 9, 2003,


I would like to address the article about a women’s centre on campus being unnecessary. A claim was made that the entire reason we want a women’s centre is because other universities have one. This is false. There are many reasons that we need a women’s centre that have nothing to do with the fact that other universities have one.


The fact that this article was published speaks very clearly to the need for a women’s centre. It presents a very limited and misguided ideal about what feminism should be, and does not recognize that there is a lot of sexism on campus that needs to be addressed. These are not petty details. Sexism is a form of oppression, and in a society where all people are supposed to be treated equally, this should not be acceptable.


It is interesting that finances were addressed considering that in reality women on average make 73 cents to the male dollar. We still live in a patriarchal society, where systemic oppression of women is widespread. The fact that the President of the Students’ Union and the majority of students are female does not indicate that women are not oppressed on campus. A campus women’s centre is necessary to address the many issues that women face, and to provide a space where women are not ostracized or oppressed. Perhaps some research on a subject is necessary before an attempt to write about it.