By Amy Lynd

At Georgetown University, a new student group is tackling the F-word head-on. Organizers of “United Feminists” want to answer questions such as “Isn’t feminism over?”  “Why is feminism important?” and “What does this generation of feminism mean?”
“Saying you are a feminist is like using a cuss word,” said sophomore Marion Cory, a
co-founder of United Feminists.  Cory began talking with her friends, senior Shamisa Zvoma and sophomore Kristina Mitchell, last December about feminism on campus.  The friends agreed that the feminist voice is underrepresented and that there is a need for a cohesive group that can unite and address women’s issues, as well as deconstruct the stigma surrounding the words “feminism” and “feminist”.   
            It turns out that these three women are not alone in their thinking.  Since its first meeting in January, United Feminists has grown to a current membership of about 40 students and faculty supporters.  The group now encompasses members of other campus organizations which focus on women’s issues, including the Women’s Center, Take Back the Night, GU Pride, H*yas for Choice, and the Women and Gender Studies Program.  Together, these different types of feminists—men and women, political conservatives and liberals, radical feminists and liberal feminists, will work towards a common goal.
             “We have to make feminism not negative and not scary,” said senior Katy Hewett, a member of United Feminists and a board member of H*yas for Choice. 
Hemly Ordonez, a senior who is the only paid student staffer at the Women’s Center, says she believes feminist concerns will become a reality once students enter the workforce.  “A lot of senior women begin to realize the obstacles they have to face due to their gender.  That’s why the group needs to start: to bring these issues to the forefront,” Ordonez said. 
Other United Feminists members see the crucial need for a forum in which to discuss what should happen in cases of sexual discrimination and harassment.  Cory cited a personal example of a professor who made a sexist remark during class.  “At the time, I had nowhere to go with it.  If we had had the group, then I would have been able to say, ‘Look, this happened.  What should we do about it?’” Cory said..
Members also point to inadequate academic resources in the areas of women and gender studies.  They point to the fact that the Women and Gender Studies Program does not possess university department status and has a limited number of full-time professors and course offerings.  United Feminists members say that their group will be a touch-point for such issues and a base of operations for action in the areas of education and activism.
Although United Feminists considers itself to be an umbrella under which all Georgetown feminists can come together, one subject the group cannot touch is abortion.  The university, as a Jesuit institution with a Catholic stance on abortion, forbids student groups from advocating reproductive rights or an abortion rights agenda.  The group must follow these rules to gain the benefits of university recognition and funding.
United Feminists’ members, including those who also belong to H*yas for Choice, a campus organization which supports abortion rights and is not recognized by the university, do not see this restriction as a weakness.  “I’m glad that United Feminists is going to be able to get funding.  It will be able to do a lot of things that H*yas for Choice can’t do because we lack the resources,” said senior Lily Nathan, a H*yas for Choice board member, who looks forward to collaborating with United Feminists members.    
Some United Feminists members believe that this university-imposed restriction might actually open the group up to more members and reinforce the basic goal of bringing together all types of feminists on campus.  During a recent meeting, United Feminists member Suria Bahadue, a sophomore, told the group that a student who is anti-abortion had emailed her asking if she was welcome to join the group.  “We are not trying to send the message that by being feminist you are inherently pro-choice.  Everyone is welcome,” said Bahadue. 
United Feminists says it will use the rest of this semester to work toward obtaining official university recognition and funding.  The group has started to plan the three events it must cosponsor with existing university-recognized organizations or departments; all three events will take place this spring.  Its first educational event will be a “Feminism 101” seminar, which will include speaker Jessica Valenti from the feminist blog Feministing.com.  United Feminists will also cosponsor a movie event with GU Pride and South Asian Society and then partner with the Women’s Center to host Women’s Week in March.  United Feminists hopes to draft its constitution and obtain official university recognition by the fall of 2008.