Men included in women’s studies
■ Men who take classes in
the department may find an
atmosphere of tolerance and
new perspectives
By Simone Ripke
Oregon Daily Emerald
Billy Solis, a sophomore major
ing in biochemistry, explored mil
itary science last year, and, in an
effort to get as broad a liberal arts
education as possible, he is taking
Women’s Studies 101 this term.
As one of only a few men in the
class, Solis is studying issues
ranging from women and eco
nomics to the female body image
and abortion.
“In the beginning, I felt a little
out of place,” Solis said.
After almost a term, however,
he said he is glad to be in the
class, which offers some new per
spectives.
“It’s definitely a viewpoint that
I haven’t seen in any other class
es,” he said.
Solis said at first it was difficult
to look at the issues, rather than
getting stuck on gender stereo
types. He said that although some
of the topics and presentations in
class offended him as a male, he
generally felt accepted by his fe
male peers.
Solis said when a women’s
health services organization pre
sented a home abortion kit in the
class, he felt offended by the pre
sentation, but not by his peers.
“I never really felt that the actu
al people didn’t want me there,”
Solis said.
Martha Ravits, an assistant pro
fessor in the women’s studies de
partment, said that usually about
a fifth of students taking introduc
tory women’s studies classes are
male.
Ravits said men take the class
for a variety of reasons. While
some take the class because it ful
fills a particular requirement or
just happens to fit into their class
schedule, others are there for per
sonal reasons. For many years,
several male students identified
themselves as men whose single
mothers raised them alone or who
were victims of domestic vio
lence, Ravits said.
“They wanted to learn more
about women in this culture and
the economic injustice done to
them,” she said.
According to Ravits, men are
generally interested in the issues
covered in class but are also often
skeptical at the beginning of the
term. Ravits said some male stu
dents have to convince them
selves of the legitimacy of the
class before they get involved in
the issues covered in it.
Mike Lundeen is a senior ma
joring in journalism and has not
only taken WST 101 but also fa
cilitated a discussion group for
the class.
Lundeen signed up for the class
after friends recommended it and
sparked his curiosity about it. He
said he expected to be under a mi
croscope among his female peers,
but that was not the case once he
came to class.
He said the male students in
the class try to be especially sen
sitive to the issues discussed.
“It wasn’t like any other class,
and I don’t think any male going
into a women’s studies class
would approach it like that,” Lun
deen said.
Solis and Lundeen both felt
that the class offered them a
whole new way of analyzing is
sues.
“It provided another, more fo
cused way of looking at the world
we live in,” Lundeen said.
He said he became aware of a
whole new set of issues and rec
ognized that “things are not al
ways the way they seem.”
Even when Lundeen facilitated
a discussion group with both fe
male and male students, he said
he felt fully accepted and appre
ciated for his contributions to the
class. He said female students
were always interested in the
male perspective as well.
Mall lifts ban on promoting e-commerce
By Jeffery McMurray
The Associated Press
RICHMOND HEIGHTS, Mo. —
A suburban shopping mall that
hoped to fight off online competi
tion by forbidding retailers to pro
mote e-commerce has backed
down from the ban.
One toy store had threatened to
sue the upscale Galleria in this St.
Louis suburb, and many of the
170 tenants expressed their dis
pleasure after learning about the
ban. It prohibited signs, decals,
advertising or displays promoting
the purchase of merchandise over
the Internet.
Industry experts said they
knew of no other malls taking
such an action.
“In our continued effort to
make your Galleria store the most
productive in your company, we
went overboard,” said a letter
signed by Mark H. Zorensky,
president of Hycel Properties Co.,
which owns the Galleria.
Still, Zorensky said the original
intent was good.
‘‘We felt if our stores redirected
their shoppers to an alternate
sales channel through e-com
merce promotion, it would not
only hurt the individual store
sales but all retailers at Saint
Louis Galleria,” he said.
Many store owners treated
Zorensky’s second letter with
shrugged shoulders, much as they
did his first. Few, if any, stores
took down e-commerce advertise
ments at all, saying they take their
orders from the corporate head
quarters, not the mall.
Reginald Garth, a salesman at
Brookstone, said the Internet is
but one of many ways a store can
advertise. He said it makes no
sense to ban that method but not
others.
“So many stores advertise any
way,” he said. “They advertise
their merchandise in newspapers,
television, so why not on the
Web?”
While e-commerce still makes
up only a fraction of retail sales,
that fraction is getting much larg
er each year. Experts are predict
ing anywhere from $3 billion to
$8 billion in holiday e-commerce
sales this year.
Calendar
Thursday, Dec. 2
National Student Exchange
Program Informational meeting.
Application procedures and pro
gram basics discussed, 3:30 - 4:30
p.m. 461 Oregon Hall. For more
information call Academic Advis
ing at 346-3211.
Registration for EMU Craft Cen
ter winter art classes opens. Sign
up for workshops in jewelry, ce
ramics, woodworking, photogra
phy, weaving, stained glass, bike
repair, drawing, painting and
more. Continues 10 a.m.-lO p.m.
weekdays until classes begin or
fill. Craft Center, EMU, 1222 E.
13th Ave. For cost, class sched
ules and other information,
browse craftcenter.uoregon.edu
or call 346-4361.
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