Sometimes those of us who don’t come into daily contact with the campus tend to forget that radical feminism is still very much alive–and, if not exactly well, definitely active.


Here’s a snippet from report on a “Patriarchy Slam” held recently at the University of New Hampshire:


“Black and white flyers depicted a drawing of a woman grasping onto a hammer with ’FEMINISM’ on the handle. In the middle of the female symbol fists were clenched and space above the woman read: ‘If I had a hammer…I’d SMASH Patriarchy.’ A bubble by her face said, ’I FOUND IT!’


“UNH students found it, too. 
 
“Approximately 40 people attended the Patriarchy Slam organized by the Feminist Action League (FAL). …The event, featuring poetry readings, skits, monologues and an open microphone, was designed to give women a space to share their experiences of oppression in a comfortable setting, Megan Smith, a member of the FAL, said.”


“Some might be tempted to explain away this event as an aberration, perhaps some strange Wiccan initiation ritual performed at the end of a long New England winter,” writes Carey Roberts of Ifeminist. But it is not. It is, notes Roberts in a piece on “Feminist Hate Speech,” an intrinsic part of feminist theory.


“For years,” she writes, “disdain for men has been nurtured in Women’s Studies programs around the country. Required reading for these courses typically includes the works of [the late] Andrea Dworkin, and such books as The SCUM Manifesto. SCUM is an acronym for ’Society for Cutting Up Men.’”


Roberts recounts the story of Desiree Nall, a student at Rollins College in Winter Park, FL who claimed to have been raped in a campus bathroom. The investigation cost $50,000, and the campus was placed on “high alert.” As it happened, Nall later admitted that she had not been raped. The event was a stunt designed to “make a statement” about sexual violence. Seems to me the statement it made is that the authorities take such allegations very seriously, as they should.


In view of such actions on campus, I’d like to plug IWF’s campus program, a sane alternative to patriarchy slams and fake rapes.