Tufts Female Culture Series: Women's Studies Department To Hold Baking and House Cleaning Symposium
April 1, 2008
The Tufts Department of Women’s Studies announced last Wednesday that it plans on holding a symposium on baking and house cleaning.
The event will feature roundtable discussions on baking and cleaning, as well as general house cleaning. In addition, there will be in-kitchen cooking and hands-on cleaning seminars.
The symposium is scheduled for April 20, and is open exclusively to Tufts’ female students. “The department wanted to include men, but it wasn’t possible,” said Women’s Studies department chair Susan Badokian.
On the exclusion of men, junior Alice Silvfarb said, “It will allow me to better focus on the issues. Without men, there won’t be any reason to doll myself up.”
Sophomore international student Se Kond Klass agreed. “Without men participating, I won’t constantly have to worry about what I look like.”
A high volume of women are projected to attend, which has created many logistical problems for departmental organizers. “The sign-up list for the cleaning seminar was almost immediately filled,” said Badokian. “With all those cleaning women, we needed to find a lot of places to clean.”
In an effort to solve the problem, the Department of Athletics offered both the time and the facilities of many of its sports teams. The men’s baseball and lacrosse teams agreed to allow their rooms to be cleaned by the women during the cleaning seminars. The football and basketball teams are scheduled to eat the food produced during the baking and cooking seminar.
“It’s a great way to get the men involved,” said Badokian. “I think the department figured out a way to please both genders equally.”
The symposium has been heralded by many female on-campus groups as a unifying event. Sarah Butch, president of the Axis of Tufts Feminists, said, “It will be a chance for women to come together, to meet on common ground.”
“Some female students don’t like baking or cooking,” said Badokian. “The department wanted to make sure no woman would feel alienated, so we decided to include a seminar on house cleaning as well.”
Some students believe that the symposium is a sign that the administration is taking responsibility for Tufts President Larry Bacow’s controversial statement last semester. In October, Bacow was quoted in an interview: “It’s a big and scary world out there — some women will have their best success in the kitchen or laundry room.”
The statement was heavily criticized. According to Butch, there is no place for thinking like that at Tufts. “We are a progressive school,” she said. “I believe we should embrace diversity. Bacow says ‘some’ women. I say all women have an equal chance to excel in the laundry room or kitchen.”
The Symposium is drawing surprisingly little opposition from student groups. “You can’t argue with gender construction when it tastes so good,” said the Tufts LGBT President regarding the baking seminars.