Campus activists are calling on the Gender and Women’s study program to change the name of its class “Women and Their Bodies in Health and Disease,” arguing that the name excludes and marginalizes trans and nonbinary students.
In a petition launched Saturday, Ayden Prehara, a GWS major and Sex Out Loud coordinator, requested that both UW-Madison and the department itself take action to make their programming more welcoming.
“As a transgender student in the Gender and Women’s Studies department, I’ve felt frustrated by the years of microaggressions and erasure that I have experienced as I have navigated the department,” Prehara said. “I felt so disappointed by the way that the course explained my body and the way my body functions while exclusively referring to my body as 'female woman.'”
Prehara said the experiences of trans and nonbinary students are routinely erased by the GWS 103 curriculum by gendered language and poor representation. The class ultimately made him feel so unsafe he stopped attending it all together, despite his passion for the subject matter.
Transgender and non-binary students repeatedly report that the extremely gendered language used in the course can be triggering, invalidating and anxiety-producing, according to the petition. The students demanded a title and description which is inclusive to all students whose bodies are reflected in course material.
Instead of its current name, Prehara suggested un-gendering the course and calling it something along the lines of “Gender, Bodies and Health.”
Gender and Women’s Studies 103: Women and Their Bodies in Health and Disease is a required intro course for the major, but it is also one of the most sought after courses on campus, Prehara points out
“This course brings students from across disciplines and communities to discuss the ways gender impacts our daily lives through the lens of health, with many describing the course as eye-opening and revolutionary in the way they understand their own identities and experience,” Prehara said. “This is the kind of power 103 holds on campus for students."
Since its launch Saturday, Prehara’s petition has garnered over 150 signatures toward their goal of 200.
