By: KATELYN FIRESTEIN
Staff Writer
karfires@iu.edu
For any member of the IU South Bend community who believes in equality, the Feminist Student Union (FSU) is the perfect club. The Feminist Student Union is aimed at providing education and inclusion to members of the community, specifically here on campus. It focuses on defining feminism, creating a safe space for students, and inspiring activism.
The FSU is run this year by Co-Presidents Alexis Barton and Bri Taylor, Treasurer Emily Richardson, Secretary Kayla Isenbletter and Chair Hailey Rial.
The FSU at IU South Bend has been prevalent for years, but this year, the officers have made unique changes to continue to improve it.
“Alexis and I really reframed FSU this year because it has been branded as a Women’s and Gender Studies thing. FSU and feminism are for everybody: people of all races, religions, classes, and sexualities. We have tried this semester to be inclusive of everybody, because everyone needs feminism,” explained Co-President Bri Taylor.
“Having people from different backgrounds and majors who have different experiences is important to being able to use feminism in a way that is helpful for everyone,” continued Taylor.
This semester, some of the discussion topics for FSU are history of black feminism, self-care and mindfulness, trans empowerment and inclusion in feminist movements, cultural appropriation, intersectional feminism, and queer feminism. The club also participates in several events annually, such as the Clothesline Project in October for Domestic Violence Awareness Month and Take Back the Night in the Spring for rape culture awareness.
Additionally, the FSU has added a book club, which is an extension of the regular Feminist Student Union. Bri Taylor organizes this portion of the club and chooses relevant books for discussion and insight. Some of the books that will be included this semester are “White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism” by Robin DiAngelo and “Not That Bad,” which is a collection of essays about experiences with sexual assault, harassment, and rape culture, edited by Roxane Gay.
The FSU meets at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesdays bi-weekly. The meetings are held in the Women’s and Gender Studies lounge, DW2211.
For more information on upcoming events, join the Feminist Student Union – Indiana University South Bend group on Facebook or the Feminist Student Union IUSB group on Titan Atlas.
