A Letter to My Women’s Studies Professor

I took your class to fill an ACE course. I took your class simply because that’s what my advisor told me to do. Looking back, if I had the option, I would go back and select a completely different course.

I’m a feminist and I HATED the Women’s Studies class that I enrolled in. I hated it so much; it has now made me apprehensive and wary of taking other courses in the women’s studies program. I can place all of my feelings of resentment towards the class to one simple reason: how you, the professor, made me feel.

I’m a feminist, yet you made me feel ostracized. I’m a feminist, yet you made me feel like my ideas were radical and wrong. I’m a feminist, yet you made me feel like I was the complete opposite.

When I took this class I felt completely out of my element. I’ve always been one to speak my mind and make my voice heard; I’ve never been on

e to be overlooked. But, in this class everything changed. I despised sharing my opinions because I felt like I couldn’t. I was a straight white woman from a suburb outside of Chicago who couldn’t relate to the other students in the class. I felt like my opinions were irrelevant because I didn’t have the same experience as others in my class.

Every time I opened my mouth, my ideas were shut down. I talked about some improvements women had made recently towards gaining equal pay and I’m reminded that there was a price gap to begin with. Every time I said something positive, I was reminded how much it sucks to be a woman in a man’s world.

I soon felt like the anti-feminist in class. Was it wrong of me to want to focus on the accomplishments women have made? You made me feel like it was. You and the rest of the class made me feel like in order to be a feminist I had to complain about my life and problems, not offer solutions, and remind people how miserable I had it.

It wasn’t until after I left your class that I realized what it truly means to be a feminist. It means fighting for equality, but also building women up. It means fighting for rights and progress, but also taking a step back to look at our success as a whole. Being a feminist means supporting everyone. Being a feminist means making sure that everyone has a voice and that all voices are heard loud and clear.

So thank you professor. While I hated your class, it helped show me the type of feminist that I want to be.

Your positive feminist,

Bari Pearlman