WAMGO Update #2

It's been a while since my last update, so here's a quick run through of what I've been up to over the past month...

1.

This is the poster for Love Your Body week which was last week. Bar the Let's Talk About Porn which was organized by our Sabb officer Sidonie Bertrand-Shelton, these were all events I put together to try and get us talking about and thinking about body image a bit more. You can read about what we talked about in the Let's Talk About Body Image here, and pick up one of the zines we made from upstairs in the SU!

2. Gym Introductions and Self Defense. No I haven't forgotten these are on my manifesto, I've got a sign up sheet for women-only gym inductions here, which we'll be organising once we've got enough sign-ups. I've also been starting to talk to RHUL sports clubs about organising self defense classes for womena and marginalised genders. Hopefully we'll be getting lots of these next term, and set them up so they carry on after my year is over! Pretty soon I should be able to give you a list of gym classes with female instructors too.

3.

Campus connect currently only has 2 gender options. As of next year a third option will be added! I'm sorry it couldn't happen this year but it's a lot to change the system half way through.


4.

So the LGBT+ Officers have been getting the college to get some more gender neutral toilets. I thought it would be great if we a) help people understand why we need them and b) make sure people aren't judgemental of others in the meantime. This brilliant poster from University of Bristol LGBT+ Society is something we're hoping to replicate. As well as this we've been designing posters for outside the Gender Neutral Toilet in the SU.

 5.

 Liberation Station has been going well! I've been helping out with shows and this week we're discussing topics to do with SHAG week, specifically Virginity and LGBT+ issues.


6. Sub-Committee! This last GM I had a Sub Committee elected! You'll be hearing lots more about them over the coming months and hopefully meet them at the next few event. We've already got a lot of stuff planned for the future and set up this page to tackle Sexism on campus.

Upcoming Events

Transgender Awareness Week
This week may be SHAG week but it's also Transgender awareness week. We have stickers available from either me or the LGBT+ Committee.

SHAG Week
As I mentioned it's also SHAG week. I was busy on Friday helping to pack bags which you can pick up from the SU reception.

Everything going on can be found on this poster:

Reclaim the Night

This Saturday is Reclaim the Night in London and RHUL are travelling up together from Egham. For more details join this event page: and for information on the event as a whole see this.

16 Days of Activism #ReclaimYourCampus
This will run from 25th November to 10th December, watch this space for more details!

Zine Making!

This Tuesday we had a zine making session for Love Your Body week. They are available to pick up from upstairs in the SU for free! Here's a sneak peak into some of them...

Let's Talk About Body Image

This Monday I hosted a discussion talking about Body Image as part of Love Your Body Week. The idea was to have speakers talk about aspects of body image we don't always consider e.g. body hair, BME women, make up, and from there start a discussion with everyone there about what we think about body image.

It started off with Natasha Barrett, the president of Femsoc, and H, the recently elected women and marginalised genders' events and initiatives rep, talking about body hair. This set the tone for the entire talk, it was chatty and welcoming, and they talked about everything from awkward shaving experiences to shaving and relationships, to not shaving at all.

Why do we always zoom in on celebs under arms?

After that we heard from Garen Abel Unokan who talked about BME body image, in particular the representation of Black Women. For those who came to the screening of Dark Girls in October or have seen this documentary before, you will be aware of the racism within their own community which black women face. This was something Garen emphasised in her talk; having worked for a beauty magazine specifically for a black audience, she was surprised how many skin lightening ads she found, and how many articles on 'relaxing' your hair- a proccess of straightening hair that is particular wavy or curly, as is typical of BME women.

Why are we made to think the hair on the right is 'better'

The final speaker was Antonia King. She approached me wanting to talk about make up a few days before the talk was to happen as I was searching for a few speakers, having had a couple pull out. I am so glad she spoke about this issue because it wasn't one that many people had considered. People were really interested in discussing this, as she brought up how we can't shame people who wear too much or too little make up; if that's what people like to do, that's fine.

Why do we feel like we can comment on the amount of make up someone wears? Especially if it's what makes them feel good.

The discussion afterwards was brilliant. Everyone chipped in, sharing experience. We discovered we had a lot in common. Like knowing we had to shave our legs without ever being told to do so. Like having parents tell us how we should look. Like having an interview and getting told how to look good for it when our male counterparts were offered valuable advice for the job. Like how when we wear make up people talk to us more, how people feel like they have a right to comment on our bodies, and most importantly how important it is to have a supportive group of friends.


Overall, I was incredibly pleased with the talk and I've realised how important it is for us to keep talking about these things in safe spaces, and make sure we create a campus that is the most open and supportive it can be.