Representatives of the Boston Global Action Network discussed the issues of feminism and globalization with students in Higgins 310 last Wednesday.
A crowd gathered to hear Catherine Bell, Kiaran Honderich and Cassie Watters speak.
“We need to strive for the social, political and economic equality of all people,” Bell said. This is the definition of feminism Bell, the first to speak, used throughout her presentation. Bell proceeded to ask the audience, “What would a US feminist society look like?” She encouraged students to respond.
The brainstorming, as Bell called it, led to a long list of answers to this question.
Students said equal pay for equal work, equal cost for equal products and equal representation in the media of both sexes would exist if the United States were a feminist society. One student suggested that in a US feminist society, a woman would be able to live without harassment no matter what she wore.
“We see things like veils in the Middle East as being oppressive, but those women choose to wear those veils. They might view our bathing suits as being oppressive,” said another student.
Bell went on to say that no double standards would exist if the US were a feminist society.
The conversation moved toward a more global outlook, and the qualities of a worldwide feminist society were outlined.
Students said, in a worldwide feminist society, health and sexuality would be valued equally between the sexes.
Also, according to Bell, there would be equal access to adequate health care and insurance, and no one would be forced into sex or prostitution.
“But should women be able to have equality everywhere, even in the church?” asked Nicole Farina, A&S ’03. Bell said she was unsure of the answer to this.
The second speaker, Kiaran Honderich, started by examining the assertions made during the brainstorming session.
“Let’s look at how the current processes of globalization are interacting with the ideals we’ve just set up. Is globalization making the world more or less like these ideals?” said Honderich.
Honderich discussed the impact of drug companies and the market on people in Africa.
According to Honderich, 24.5 million people in sub-Saharan Africa have AIDS.
Honderich stated that people are dying left and right in these countries.
By comparison, people in the US who are infected with HIV are living relatively normal lives, Honderich said.
“We have drugs readily available and cheaply manufactured. But are they available in South Africa and other African countries?” Honderich stated.
She continued, “No, because pharmaceuticals are demanding prices way above the cost of generation.”
One audience member asked Honderich why she thinks they haven’t found a cure to AIDS.
“There aren’t good incentives by the market for pharmaceutical companies to produce vaccines. You only use it once, you’re not dependent on it,” Honderich said.
This lecture was the final one of a series of six on the subject of globalization. It was presented by the Women’s Resource Center, the Undergraduate Government of Boston College (UGBC) Women’s Issues Council, and the UGBC Social Action Council.
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