Say you’re a woman walking alone down a street and you hear the all-too-familiar sound of a man’s catcall. What do you do? What should you do? These were some of the questions raised during April’s meeting of The Stoop, a monthly get-together where anybody with an open mind and open ear can come to talk about important issues in a friendly, respectful setting. For that discussion, participants came eager and ready to discuss the topic of gender and women’s bodies.
Inside of IX Art Park’s public event space, a small, intimate gathering of both women and men sat down together in a circle, surrounded by eclectic artwork.
The guest host leading the discussion was Dr. Aidyn Mills, founder of The Rise Campaign Inc., an organization dedicated to encouraging healthy representations of women and girls in the media. Through her current work with the City of Charlottesville Human Rights Commission and Charlottesville’s Sexual Assault Resource Agency, Mills has continually grappled with issues that directly affect women.
Throughout the evening, Mills challenged the room to answer questions such as, “What makes you as a woman (or man) feel empowered?” “If you felt safe, how would you speak out against sexism?” “How might your gender experiences intersect with your ethnicity and background?” Women shared their stories about how they’ve confronted sexist remarks, while men asked how they could play a role in empowering the women in their lives. The parents in the room discussed their concerns about raising confident daughters amid the negative portrayals of women in the media.
As the meeting wound down after two hours, the participants shared what new learnings and actionable ideas they could take away from the conversation. One woman said she planned to teach yoga classes to women who’ve experienced trauma in Charlottesville, so that they could positively reconnect with their bodies in a safe space. Others felt more motivated to speak up next time a friend or co-worker made an offensive remark toward women. “You never know what kind of seed you might be planting in their minds,” added Mills.
In the future, Mills hopes to continue hosting more discussions around gender and women’s issues through The Stoop. She feels that having open-invitation conversations is one way to build a more active and enlightened community. “I really believe that if you give people the opportunity to voice their own opinions, they become more invested and that’s how you can really start change,” she says. “To get more people involved, you have to empower them and make them feel like they have a stake in this too.”—Sherina Ong
