The Penn Association for Gender Equity organized their gender equity week from March 24-29, featuring guest speakers, student-run workshops, and hands-on experiences aimed at teaching how to be a gender equity advocate.
The co-chairs for PAGE this year were College juniors Amara Abdoulkarim and Herinah Assah, who have both been involved with the Penn Women’s Center since their first year as undergraduates. As PWC first-year fellows and sophomore pre-orientation leaders for the PennGenEq group, they aimed to use their experience to host a variety of events that facilitated discussions about gender and social justice.
Assah said this year was especially important for the Penn community, especially due to defunding and other factors that decreased PAGE’s visibility.
“I want more [people] to care about gender equity because it’s built on a patriarchy that affects everyone negatively,” Assah said.
One of the first events of the week was called “ARCGIS as a Tool for Feminist Placemaking,” which was hosted in conjunction with the Urban Studies Department and monthly PWC Book Club meeting.
Tuesday featured a "Lift Up Your Self Image” program at Pottruck Health and Fitness Center as well as a "How to Support a Survivor” workshop with Penn Violence Prevention in the evening.
Wednesday boasted “Gender Equity Trivia” and a Pennsylvania State Representatives Panel, where the audience got to ask questions of representatives and hear the latest updates on Pennsylvania’s observance of new national executive orders surrounding gender.
On Thursday, a “What's Your Story” art event took place, where participants helped create a big mural that displayed the community’s values and thoughts about gender, as well as a “How to Support Someone with Postpartum” workshop hosted in partnership with Pediatric Alliance for Labor Support.
Over the weekend, there was a speaker event with Sophie Lewis, a German-British writer, who is currently a visiting scholar at the Center for Research in Feminist, Queer, and Transgender Studies, and a relaxing paint-and-sip event on Saturday to end off the week.
College sophomore Ashley Kim works at PWC, and she said that the community aspect inspired her to get more involved with Gender Equity Week.
“The aspect of community, empowerment, and strength, such as the community mural where people were able to draw on it, paint, and create their own project, will have an impact on the Women's Center and show off our ability to be strong during these times,” Kim said.
Abdoulkarim added one of the most rewarding things about hosting the week was “seeing it all come to fruition, and seeing the events being executed to the fullest extent to share information with those who we usually don’t see come into the Penn Women’s Center and those who may not be fully involved with PAGE.”
Abdoulkarim and Assah also hope that PAGE will expand their reach into Penn politics in the future, such as trying to get signatures and statements for free menstrual products on campus.
“Gender equity is inherently political, and we need to carve out a space in Penn politics,” Assah said.
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