NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) – Malala, Beyoncé, and Emma Watson are just three of the names that come to mind when Patricia Boyett of Loyola’s Women’s Resource Center tries to define 21st-century feminism. It was her idea to have a Feminist Festival on campus. The event runs through March 11.
Click here to see the full festival schedule.
“Loyola’s social justice mission is really a deep part of feminism; you know feminism is about getting gender equity for all people,” says Boyett.
And to anyone who associates feminism with women socializing and man-bashing, she says, “Think again!”
“It’s a really serious topic. Women are suffering all over the world today; just yesterday women were arrested in Turkey for protesting domestic abuse. We tend to think in the United States that we don’t need it, but we have the wage gap, we have one in six women are raped in this country, one in five women are raped on college campuses—so we have a lot of work to do.”
In honor of International Women’s Day, the sounds of multiple languages and multiple religions were woven together at the Ignatius Chapel for an interfaith service, designed to help women and men on campus discover “the Feminine Divine in Me.”
The festival wraps up on Friday with a feminist concert, but before then, talks and panels will tackle monumental issues such as human trafficking and female empowerment.
All events are free and open to the public. Boyett hopes the festival will become a favorite tradition at Loyola.
