Take Back the Podium

WHILE this year's Take Back the Night rally attracted many enthusiastic participants, the march seemed to have lost touch with its original purpose. The event is designed to give women the opportunity to act together to reclaim areas where the threat of sexual violence prevents us from normally going. By marching and chanting confidently through these streets, we empower ourselves and defy this threat. As women acting in solidarity we can--for one night at least--take charge of the streets without protection or assistance.

But Take Back the Night is more than a march by women into streets that are dangerous at night. It is also a forum where women speak to each other, defend our right to control our bodies and demand that we be heard when we say "No" to men. Actions such as Take Back the Night reveal our strength in numbers, provide women with too-infrequent leadership roles and recognize a community which will support us in personal crises involving sexual aggression. They bolster our confidence as women and enable us to approach interaction with men from a position of strength rather than of weakness.

The message of last week's Take Back the Night march lacked the feminist strength of past years. The traditional chant "Women unite, take back the night" was diluted to "People unite" in acknowledgement of the men who were present. Speakers repeatedly thanked these men for participating and warned the crowd that women alone cannot stop rape and sexual violence. In addition, a male student, Jeff Goldberg '88, spoke at the rally.

MEN do have an essential role in stopping violence against women. It is of fundamental importance that they work to change the accepted standards of how men treat women. But men who want to change those standards must create their own organizations, rather than attaching themselves to groups established by and for women. These men need to work together and address this issue in terms of their own involvement and within their own gender.

Take Back the Night is not an appropriate platform for male spokesmanship. If men want to attend the event, or assist in planning it, their role must be one of support, not leadership. It is not a night for men to speak out. And it is certainly not a night for men to speak out about how women can regain control over their bodies.

In his speech, Goldberg did not concentrate on how men can work with other men to change their attitudes. Instead, he advised women about how they should resist sexual violence and how men can help them do so. Such a speech, while well-intentioned, was ill-considered and inappropriate.

In a letter written to The Crimson on April 21, Goldberg encouraged men to attend the march and stated that "women must not march alone...men must join women in their fight to be free of sexual harassment." He calls sexual harassment a "community problem" and likens it to homelessness. Goldberg's letter stems from his desire to curb violence against women, but his sentences carry an ominous double meaning.

The statement "women must not march alone" ignores the fact that we can march without men, and that our event is legitimate though the whole "community" is not involved. Goldberg failed to recognize our power to act on our own and the need for men to discuss issues of sexual violence among themselves. He believes that men's proper role is to unite with women in our fight.

BUT to give a man the microphone undermines the philosophy which gave rise to Take Back the Night: that women must be able to speak for ourselves, to act on our own and to gain strength by working together with other women. Only by acting independently can we defeat male physical, intellectual and political domination of women.

Just as this is not a night for male spokesmanship, it is also not a night for male leadership. Organizers did ask men to walk at the back of the procession so that women could lead the march alone, but several men disregarded that request and walked directly behind the leading banner. Before there can be true equality between the sexes, men need to learn what it means to follow the lead of women.

Several of the men who participated in this year's Take Back the Night rally and march--and the female organizers who persistently thanked them and invited Goldberg onto the stage--did not take into account how their actions might jeopardize the fundamental purpose of the event. Men who choose to attend an event which celebrates women's empowerment must do so with care. A man's participation must be seriously considered and sensitively undertaken.

We hope that the future organizers of the largest women's event at Harvard-Radcliffe will return to the chant of "Women Unite." At the same time, we hope that the men who have recognized their role in stopping violence against women will be sensitive to the importance of women's solidarity, and actively work to create their own forum for change.