Artemisia celebrates women

Prohibited from entering the Michigan Union, which at that time was a clubhouse for male students, female University students raised the funds to build the Michigan League in 1929.

In the late '50s, female students won full access to the Union, and 40 years later, both men and women gathered in the League to participate in an open forum on issues affecting women.

In celebration of the "feminine life principle," Artemisia, a weekend-long conference on women's issues, drew a crowd of almost 100 participants this past weekend to hear more than 65 women speak on topics including women in politics, women's health, gender roles and sexuality.

"This conference is a wonderful celebration of being a woman," said LSA junior Melissa Walsh, a conference participant.

"I feel a lot of times there tends to be a push for de-sexing of everyone in general," Walsh said.

Artemisia co-chairs and LSA seniors Puja Dhawan and Kiran Chaudhri, who have been planning the conference with the help of an executive board since fall, said they were overwhelmed by the positive feedback the weekend generated.

"I find it inspiring and motivating to see so many distinguished and active women supporting us and our future goals, and sharing their insights on how to accomplish them," Dhawan said.

Carol Hollenshead, director of the Center for the Education of Women, gave the keynote address following the dinner banquet held in the League Ballroom on Friday. Hollenshead's talk wove her personal battles against sexism with the challenges women have faced at the University throughout the years.

"Since the 1970s, efforts to push, pull and drag the University toward gender equality have continued as new groups of women provide leadership," Hollenshead said .

LSA Student Government President Lauren Shubow said Hollenshead's talk caused her to question where women stand today at the University.

"I think that on the surface we've made a lot of strides and we do have women in leadership positions, but in reality, only 22 percent of the faculty are women," Shubow said. "I've also attended several chair of directors meetings and it's a room filled with older, white men."

Hollenshead followed her talk with "Turn-About," a voiced-over slide show she helped produce while she was active in the women's movement on campus in the early '70s.

LSA sophomore Caitlin Klein said the blatant sexism the slide show highlighted has not been an issue for her.

"These concerns (of the slide show) don't even register for me," Klein said. "I'm not worried that I'm not going to get a job because I am a woman."

Saturday's panel on women's health featured women who said they work to provide the most comprehensive care to women during childbirth and throughout their lives.

"I am very interested in keeping women's options open and am a big advocate for letting women have choices of where to birth," said panelist and obstetrics and gynecology Dr. Elizabeth Shadigian.

Michigan resident Brandi Caruthers, who is training to become a midwife, said the panel on women's health was what brought her to the event.

"I came because my whole career choice is a choice of political activism," said Caruthers. "Proper birth care is just not available. Women do not know what's happening in their bodies, and doctors are still allowed to treat us like we're stupid."

The panel on women in politics turned the focus to women in leadership and was comprised of U.S. Rep. Lynn Rivers (D-Ann Arbor), state Sen. Alma Wheeler Smith (D-Salem Twp.), state Rep. Liz Brater (D-Ann Arbor) and Ann Arbor Mayor Ingrid Sheldon.

The legislators discussed the advantages and disadvantages women have while campaigning and holding office.

Despite societal messages that tell women they should not attempt to hold public offices, surveys show that women often start with a lead in political polls because they have higher credibility in certain areas, Smith said.

The three-day conference ended yesterday morning with a closing address by Provost Nancy Cantor.

03-16-98