The Johnson County Social Exchange hosts an event discussing on sexism and politics.
By Naomi Hofferber
Community members met Tuesday night in a local bead shop to discuss the issue of sexism in American politics and how sexism can be dealt with in society.
Johnson County Social Exchange, a group that formed a few months ago to host community discussions about societal issues in the nation and in Iowa City. The group was organized by Mission: Iowa City, the Dream Center, and the Iowa City Downtown District. Other discussions have revolved around the Black Lives Matter movement and the issue of affordable housing.
The night’s discussion covered various topics revolving around sexism in society and politics. Christine Ralston, an Iowa City community member, served as a moderator for a panel including Alea Adigweme, a UI Ph.D. student in communications, Paul Gowder, an associate professor of law, Patrick Dolan, a lecturer in women’s studies, and Susan Junis, the education coordinator of the Rape Victim Advocacy Program.
“I think [discussion] is vital if you care about the world you live in,” said Kurt Friese, one of the organizers of the event. “To me, the important part is not just that they discuss it but that they discuss it civilly and not throwing barbs at each other and insisting ‘I’m right and you’re wrong.’ It’s not that simple, nothing in life is.”
The conversation examined in a large part the campaign of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and how gender roles and sexism could play a part in her perception.
Ralston discussed the issue of Clinton being strong and occasionally terse, and said that even though it’s those aspects that make her a viable candidate, it is also something that receives critique.
“She’s not warm and fuzzy; she’s not your traditional stereotypical American grandma,” she said. “And that’s what people are pushing against her for, but at the same time it’s how she got where she is, and I see that line between the types of her femininity that our culture lifts up and the types of female performance that our politics are willing to support.”
Adigweme brought up the topic of femininity and masculinity and how the gender of people can often dictate how they are supposed to act. Gowder suggested that a lot of response by the public in distrust of Clinton also has to do with the role of gender.
“Particularly the virulence about honesty that we see directed at Clinton — it has to be gender, it fits so squarely into the classic presentation of women as dishonest, as manipulative, as having these sort of subordinate rather than dominate strategies of persuasion and getting their way that depend on manipulating and deceiving the dominance,” he said.
After a panel analysis of women in politics, an audience member asked the panel what to do to confront sexism on a day-to-day basis.
“I think there are lots of different things that people can do,” Junis said. “I want to always point out that it’s never the responsibility of someone that’s being targeted to take action on what’s happening — sometimes self-preservation is what’s important.”
She suggested bystander intervention as a good way of standing up to sexism and noted that RVAP and the Women’s Resource and Action center offers bystander intervention classes for interested groups.
The Social Exchange plans to hold community discussions similar to the one held Tuesday on a monthly basis, Friese said.
“If we can be cordial to each other and civil to each other, and learn to feel what the other person is feeling, things are going to turn out better in the end,” he said.