By Latasha Hoard
Copy Editor

After a conversation I had with a couple of friends last week about Denison’s annual celebration of the Vagina Monologues and the corresponding V-Day celebration on Feb. 14. it got me thinking about how Denison would respond if we had a P-Day.

I know that this may sound kind of strange to the ears of some of Denison’s hard-core feminists, but I believe that males on this campus would welcome a place where they are not constantly bashed and berated because they are simply male. In my opinion, especially as a woman on Denison’s campus, there seems to be a lack of solidarity of male empowerment, and not the type of male empowerment that takes place under the influence of alcohol, drugs, or sex.

Where do you see real men on this campus? This campus is not by any means at parity, with women having the upperhand at a 60:40 ratio. On this campus, women tend to be in the positions of power and influence. I understand that this may be a controversial topic and some may say, well “males have always had the higher place within our society” and some may even mention how it would take hundreds of years before parity is reached in positions of power between men and women within American government.

I introduce this radical idea of a P-Day, not because I want to take away from the work that Pro-Women groups on campus have done, because Denison has come a long way from where it has been within its 170+ years of existence. But in my own observations there is no place on this campus where men can really be men outside of sports and fraternities. They walk across this campus knowing that they will be bombarded with messages of hate rather than empowerment.

As a woman, I think that it is important to recognize that women are not the only ones that are insecure or that have a negative self-image of themselves. I believe that if Denison is as equal, fair and autonomous, as we like to tell others, why not celebrate men on this campus, for who they are and what they represent without thinking that while celebrating our other half, we are degrading or bashing the female. If it means that men will step up and stop “appearing” apathetic to the issues on this campus, then we might be able to eliminate the need for another way to segregate ourselves.