Who-Stole-Feminism.-How-Women-Have-Betrayed-Women

88 WHO STOLE FEMINISM?took place early one evening when she was alone in a Laundromat: "Thelaundromat was brightly lit; and my car was the only one in the lot.Anyone passing by could readily see that I was alone and isolated. Knowingthat rape is a crime of opportunity, I became terrified." Ms. Sheffieldleft her laundry in the washer and dashed back to her car, sitting in itwith the doors locked and the windows up. "When the wash was completed,I dashed in, threw the clothes into the drier, and ran back out tomy car. When the clothes were dry, I tossed them recklessly into thebasket and hurriedly drove away to fold them in the security of my home.Although I was not victimized in a direct, physical way or by objective ormeasurable standards, I felt victimized. It was, for me, a terrifying experience."At home, her terror subsides and turns to anger: "Mostly I wasangry at being unfree: a hostage of a culture that, for the most part,encourages violence against females, instructs men in the methodology ofsexual violence, and provides them with ready justification for their violence.. . . Following my experience at the Laundromat, I talked with mystudents about terrorization." 2Any course (be it on Baroque art, English composition, or Frenchdrama) can be taught in this "women-centered" way. Committed instructorsspeak of their "feminist classrooms" as "liberated zones" or "safespaces" where "silenced women" will be free for the first time to speakout in a secure gynocentric ambience. This is a pedagogy that aims aboveall to teach the student to unmask the inimical workings of the patriarchy.We get a good idea of what students experience in the feminist classroomby looking at a "model" introductory women's studies course developedby twelve Rutgers University professors. 3One of the stated goalsof the course is to "challenge and change the social institutions andpractices that create and perpetuate systems of oppression." Forty percentof the student's grade is to come from:1. performing some "outrageous" and "liberating" act outside of classand then sharing feelings and reactions with the class;2. keeping a journal of "narratives of personal experience, expressionsof emotion, dream accounts, poetry, doodles, etc."; and3. forming small in-class consciousness-raising groups.The professors in the Rutgers course hand out a list of mandatoryclassroom "ground rules." According to one of these rules, students agreeto "create a safe atmosphere for open discussion. If members of the classwish to make comments that they do not want repeated outside theclassroom, they can preface their remarks with a request and the class