Has anyone done this in college?

[sanctamaria17]

We’re doing Take Back the Night on campus next week and I could not be more excited! We’re doing a march to raise awareness on sexual assault/domestic violence and our Clothesline project. I made three t-shirts for it. One says, “Sex is a gift, not a weapon,” another says, “Strength is for love, not hate,” and another, I wrote on the sleeves. One sleeve says, “You are beautiful and it’s never your fault,” and another says, “Your worth is not defined by the man you are with but by the woman you are within.” I’ve also talked to people in our Catholic students group to see if we could have a night where we talk about the dignity of women, especially since many people think Catholics hate women, because of a lot of our teachings. And I think that as Catholics, these issues bring up a lot of questions as well. Like, “Did I sin?”, “Did I lead them to sin?”, etc.

Mainly, I want people to know where we stand on women’s dignity and I especially want people to know that it wasn’t their fault and that God hasn’t abandoned them if something bad happened to them. Especially because it impacts so many women. And men and families too. I think, especially because the family unit is under attack, that we need to do something.

 

[Belle10]

It sounds like you’re very compassionate and wanting to reach out to those who are hurting, which is wonderful. Domestic and sexual violence are terrible and we should speak out about them. I would just urge you to not fall victim to the ultra-femi-nazi PC that sadly often overtakes such events.

Your idea about having a night to discuss the Catholic view of women, etc. is great! I would suggest getting some help from your local diocese – maybe they can help by providing some speakers.

 

[sanctamaria17]

Thanks

Yeah, it’s not getting overly PC. Actually, we’re having some men speak too. One of my Catholic guy friends played a huge role in planning this and he urged me to get the Catholic girls to go. He’s very big on protecting women and respecting them.

 

[Belle10]

Well that’s great! I hope it goes well!

 

[ack]

Hi,

Your idea sounds like a great event to have at the Catholic center on your campus.

They did do Take Back the Night when I was in college. You should probably know that this event is usually run by radical feminist groups, so hopefully their ideology won’t interfere with the event. (On my campus, Take Back the Night was organized by the same group that “escorts” women into abortion clinics.)

Also, on my campus, Take Back the Night was tainted with pagan spirituality – feminist groups often have a lot of members who practice paganism, and this was apparent in the event.

 

[manualman]

I hope yours goes better than “Take Back the Night” events at my college (U of WI - Madison) back in the early 90’s. IIRC, the left loonies comletely dominated the event, which included a a topless female protest march on the state capitol!

I think it’s great you are getting involved and from your post everything sounds SO much better than what I remember. Just be very careful that nobody is using you to put a catholic veneer on something that contains elements hostile to your faith. Don’t let them sneak in abortion and contraceptive promotions!

 

[sarita]

I remember the take back the night marches from my campus in the late 90s and they were definitely radical, feminist, neo-pagan type affairs. The night mostly consisted of marching around campus and shouting obscenities.

 

[Rach620]

My Catholic university has a Take Back the Night event, too. It’s mainly sponsored by the more secular feminist-leaning group on campus, but Right to Life and other orthodox Catholic groups sign on, too. It features a prayer service and candlelight vigil for victims of sexual violence.

I think events such as these are really important, and it’s good that you are getting the message out there that the Catholic Church cherishes the dignity of all human persons, men and women!

Maybe your Catholic student group could sponsor a good guest speaker some night to explain the Church’s understanding of the dignity of women? There is really so much good stuff out there. We just finished up a great conference on the dignity of women at my school–it’s called the Edith Stein Project and had speakers on many different topics relating to sexuality, vocations, and healing from sexual violence. Maybe you could do something similarly constructive?

 

[sanctamaria17]

I talked to two people in our chaplaincy, they’re extremely supportive of the talk! And so is most of our executive board, which I’m on. My campus is mostly women so this is something we all believe is necessary, especially because, sadly, people get the feeling that Catholics don’t pay attention to issues like domestic violence or rape. And I’d love to support centers that help women in these situations but it seems a good deal support abortion

Our feminist group actually has quite a few pro-life, Christian women. They want ALL women to speak their minds on ANY issue. I asked at the beginning of the year, point-blank, if pro-lifers were allowed, they said absolutely and that they want women who have different views. I’m very thankful because I know it’s not the same everywhere.

I’ve gotten out of some sketchy situations in my own past, not as severe as what quite a few women have been through, but just enough to keep me aware. I’d love one day to start a Catholic center for women who are victims of sexual/domestic violence, one that is also pro life. I’d also like to work with immigrant/refugee women as well.

 

[goblue32]

Hi,

Your idea sounds like a great event to have at the Catholic center on your campus.

They did do Take Back the Night when I was in college. You should probably know that this event is usually run by radical feminist groups, so hopefully their ideology won’t interfere with the event. (On my campus, Take Back the Night was organized by the same group that “escorts” women into abortion clinics.)

Also, on my campus, Take Back the Night was tainted with pagan spirituality – feminist groups often have a lot of members who practice paganism, and this was apparent in the event.

I agree 100%. When I was in college this event was a radical feminist production, and the great idea of making people aware of an important issue was lost. The group was very confrontational towards men.

 

[puzzleannie]

We’re doing Take Back the Night on campus next week and I could not be more excited! We’re doing a march to raise awareness on sexual assault/domestic violence and our Clothesline project. .

yes it was started on urban campuses in the 80s, also in conjunction with teaching women to defend themselves and stay out of unsafe situations, and to force college administrators to address safety issues and crime on campus–still a problem according to last month’s readers digest article. at least on my urban campus this was not a feminist issue per se, but a woman’s issue and safety and welfare issue for faculty and staff as well as students.

 

[Corki]

yes it was started on urban campuses in the 80s, also in conjunction with teaching women to defend themselves and stay out of unsafe situations, and to force college administrators to address safety issues and crime on campus–still a problem according to last month’s readers digest article. at least on my urban campus this was not a feminist issue per se, but a woman’s issue and safety and welfare issue for faculty and staff as well as students.

Make that the 70s