International Women’s Day was first officially celebrated on March 19, 1911. Since then, IWD has been largely used as a platform to bring awareness to gender equality and unfair treatment of women, and as a campaign for fair policy. In honor of the 125th anniversary of IWD, this article explores the female culture and perspective on the UD campus.
Demographically speaking, women are well represented at UD. Elinor True, junior biology and English major, noted, “There are more female students than male students, and a significant part of culture is the numbers.” UD has a 51.9% female and 48.1% male student body as of Fall 2024.
Beyond demographics, the incredible faculty and professors on campus go a long way towards influencing the mission of UD. Clare Kelsch, freshman drama major, said, “There are so many strong female figures in the UD environment… lots of professors who are very intelligent, well-spoken and role models of everything a woman can be.”
An anonymous sophomore said, “There are two female professors in the chem department [and] quite a few female chem majors, which is amazing. I think within the [female STEM] community, everyone is so supportive of each other and wants them to succeed in whatever they hope to pursue.”
Even though women are well represented in numbers and supported by their professors, this is not always reflected in the culture and environment of the student body.
Maggie Sonne, junior English major, said, “I’m genuinely shocked at what some guys here think is acceptable to say about women. Guys are way too comfortable about stating their controversial opinions about anything, but especially about women and their roles in society. Part of becoming an adult should involve realizing you’re not the center of the universe.”
The presence of misogyny on campus is emphasized even more by an anonymous sophomore STEM. major. “We have a lot of women’ representation on campus. I mean, almost every intelligent club on campus is run by a woman, which makes it even more disappointing that this campus is not good about shutting down sexist ideas” they said.
“A woman’s intellectual abilities and pursuits sometimes take on the character of a fun side hobby that is tangential to an ultimate vocational goal,” added Sonne. “Those goals are very beautiful, but the UD culture can do more to affirm a woman developing her intellect for the sake of developing her intellect.”
However, the diminishing of women and femininity is far from being an exclusively male problem. Kelsch noted, “As a culture, UD students have built a very narrow view of what a fulfilled female life should look like.” This is seconded by an anonymous junior: “I wouldn’t feel like I fit into the culture of UD girls… it can make you feel isolated and like there’s only one type of femininity.”
Some have experienced that UD culture actively shames diversity and non-traditional women. An anonymous sophomore said, “Diversity isn’t something that is celebrated well at UD. For women who aren’t Catholic, like myself, the UD environment can feel judgmental and almost as if it shames those who are different.” Senior computer science major Clarice Miller added, “I’ve definitely been shamed for what I wear a lot, just casually… people that are traditionally feminine automatically get accepted more on campus.”
The tension between UD’s mission and its culture is further reflected in the lack of events for IWD. “It needs to be celebrated in the way that we have usual events,” said Miller. “Women have been around since the beginning of time, but apparently it’s too politically charged to the point that people would somehow be offended by celebrating women.”
Kelsch added a different perspective to the matter, saying, “I think it [IWD] is very unimportant currently but not out of a place of malice… as a Catholic school we celebrate women and femininity all the time.”
International Women’s Day serves as a beautiful celebration of women and every kind of femininity, as well as a reminder that there is still inequality in our society that needs to be eradicated. Psychology senior Nolia Alexander said, “I think it’s very important, especially for those who hold misogynistic views, to realize that women hold significant value in the society that men like to call home. Just because you’re a man or white doesn’t mean that you’re any more important than a woman or a person of color.”
Author’s note: Many of the women interviewed requested anonymity due to fear of backlash from others on campus. The fact that sharing an honest perspective would generate this kind of response is more proof of the divide between UD’s mission and the actions of its student body.