Awareness: ♀Health, ♂Fashion, Hidden Identities

April 2nd, 2024 | The Inclusion Team hosted an event in the style of a 'fair' with 'booths' to raise awareness of some forgotten matters of the sexes―women's health, men's masculinity fashion, and the identities hidden and erased in a postcolonial world. As School of English students, what is more 'literature' that studying human society?

Our 'Fair' & 'Booths'

The team approached this event's goal by researching and recovering historical, and some cultural, information, which were then executed through interactive activities, including a cramp stimulator, a fashion show, a book circle, another jeopardy prepared by the EDI Head, and an insightful talk by Dr Gayathry from FASS.

• Not So Fun Facts (NSFF) on Women's Health >> Women's often dismissed health matters were shed light upon by a history of how women became sidelined in medical priorities, from community healers to witches and mystified 'hysterical' creatures (rude). This section admittedly had more focus on Western medicinal history. >> Issues of dismissing women's health ensues into modern day, from 'under-researched' to 'medical gaslighting', causing perpetual and generational stress and neglect for women. So some lesser known non-male-centric symptoms and cases were also covered in our jeopardy! Especially those menstruation-related information. This was accompanied with a period cramp stimulator, bought by our Team Leader Andre, for attending students to try.

  • With great persistence, some of our male students aimed and endured until level 20!! You rockstars.

    • To scale, their female friends found level 20 to be both stinging yet comfortable (🏆), especially a student with PCOS. No wonder some people use these things to ease menstruation. (It was however not so fun for a student with endometriosis; after all, her condition causes scar tissues which fuses her abdominal organs together with adhesions. The answers are different for everyone!).

• Masculinity: Men's Fashion History >> From the centre of fashion icons across centuries and cultures to the Great Male Renunciation and simplistic modern clothing, we dove into the expressions and standards of male fashion throughout history, the repeating patterns of things 'for men' becoming 'for women' and 'emasculating', and the paradoxical circumstances around male expectations and expression which can cause stress for boys and men. >> This was accompanied with a fashion show for our male students to feel comfortable in whatever they chose to wear - whether simple or elegant. This choice was from the rising number of guys on social media creatively experimenting, dressing up, and opening up about feeling good when doing so, including cultural and heritage wear.

  • Best dressed: Andre 🏅 Best pose: Brandon 🏅

• Hidden Identities: Colonial Legacies >> Also covered in our jeopardy, this category takes two columns to cover the various perceptions of genders, sexualities, and sexes, across the globe and by different cultures and countries - from ancient societies to modern groups, and minority groups that had to battle the dynamics of colonialism. Our team shed light on the knowledge and typically positive perceptions on these people which existed throughout our history, erased as colonial eras hit among other factors. It's not a 'trend'; shocking. >> In our book circle, we gathered books that included such representations -- from various years including beyond modern times. >> Most particularly, this section was to shed light on the ideas of third genders and non-het sexualities linked with cultural heritage and traditions, and how the modern framework of these identities are comparatively new and Western. This was most enlightened to us and attending students by Dr Gayathry.

Dr Gayathry's talk: Colonial Legacies

A huge thanks to Dr Gayathry for her presentation and discussion circle on the colonial effects on our history, culture, and knowledge, how the erasures are perpetuated in media portrayals or lack thereof, and news of some groups and countries currently trying to reclaim their past and cultures.

She also opened a space for freedom of expression with attending students to speak and share experiences. 11/10.

_

_

_____________________________

Endometriosis information from period tracking app: Clue

endo.pdf

Download PDF • 800KB