 "Photo: Jason Johnson")
An SIUC feminist group united this weekend to begin its fight for gender equality.
The Zeta Omega Eta feminist sorority gathered for its first workshop in the Interfaith Center to discuss issues ranging from women's body image to abortion. The event was held in conjunction with the first weekend of Women's History Month.
The ZOE sorority leader, Erica Dodt, a junior from Kankakee in women's studies, said the group is discussing its stance on a variety of issues.
"The reason why we have so many broad topics is so we can be bombarded by it and come back together and have a discussion about what we want to do with all of this," she said.
One topic the group will address in the future is sex education in Carbondale, because the local public schools only teach students to abstain from sex, Dodt said,
"It's not addressing any of the issues - the fact that we are having sex," Dodt said. "We're letting underagers know their rights and have an understanding of what's available to them and what's going on with their bodies, making sure they are not left in ignorance of their rights as human beings."
Although ZOE has only been together since 2005, Dodt says she has spoken to people about creating the same group on other campuses.
"We're thinking it can become a bigger, broad range thing with the same benefits that are available to conventional sororities," she said.
One speaker from the Student Health Center, Amanda Macht Jantzer, gave a presentation on sex - including topics such as birth control and genital warts. She said women should have more power when it comes to birth control.
"With condom use, it is a negotiated goal, but the male in a situation has more of the decision-making power and I don't like that," Jantzer said. "Maybe she's worried about some sort of violence that may occur if she refuses."
Lana Nardiello, a junior from Oak Park studying cinema, said the issue of body image stuck out to her the most.
"I think women are obsessed with their weight and their thighs and being perfect looking and I really want women to be able to accept themselves as who they are," Nardiello said.
Although the members of ZOE are feminists, Nardiello said they are not an extremist group.
"We're not bra-burning men haters," she said. "We're about gender equality and awareness."
gonzalez@siu.edu 536-3311 ext. 266
