Only women take SWAG classes. This has become a common stereotype at the University in recent years. Looking into the not-so-distant past, however, one can see that it was not always so. A typical classroom for SWAG, or studies in women and gender, was split in half in terms of gender in the 1970s, according to Ann Lane, professor of studies in women and gender and history. But, as society has gotten more conservative, the number of men in SWAG classrooms has greatly diminished, she added.
Although few in number, some University students, including Tristan Bridges, a fifth-year graduate student in the College and first male SWAG teacher's assistant at the University, are showing feminist issues still cross the gender divide.
Teaching SWAG 210
Bridges said he became interested in women and gender studies when he was an undergraduate at Colorado College. He said he was influenced by both the pro-feminist march and vigil, Take Back the Night, and a class titled "Women and the Body."
Although having previously been a teacher's assistant in the sociology department, this is Bridges' first year as a SWAG TA. He is a TA for SWAG 210, "Women's Lives in Myth and Reality," taught by Lane.
"When he came to apply for the position I was somewhat reluctant," Lane said. She said she told him the class would involve people with different levels of emotion looking at women and gender issues for the first time, and she was unsure of how comfortable they would be discussing the issues with a man.
Lane did not stay uncertain for long.
"We talked for an hour and I said, 'You know what, Tristan, you can do this' and I'm sure he is," Lane said.
Some students have spoken about their positive experiences working with Bridges.
Alexander Houck, second-year College student in Bridge's discussion section, said it is refreshing to hear from an older student who is passionate about SWAG.
"He's just committed to it, and I think that's the best part about it," he said.
Fourth-year College student Anya Good, although not currently in SWAG 210, said he was her instructor in two sociology classes and was involved in her independent study on gender and the body.
"He really makes you question a lot of things that you either always assumed or always just have been very comfortable with," she said.
Good added that Bridges is very funny, which she said is important when talking about issues in SWAG.
"The way that he jokes about things has you sort of ease into a very ... deep or serious discussion without maybe realizing it," she said.
She also added that the simple fact that Bridges, a male, is teaching SWAG is a step in the right direction.
"I think that for guys seeing a male TA on the SWAG listing... they're probably more inclined to take the class, which I also see as a benefit because I think that more guys should take SWAG classes," she said.
Calling all men
Good said the topics discussed and studied in SWAG are not specific to women.
"They're issues that are for any person, and so the more people working towards not necessarily solving them but at least beginning a discussion and really engaging in a discourse, the better," she said.
Lane said they try to get more men involved in SWAG but that word of mouth is basically the only way of doing it.
"I actually think that having Tristan as a ... TA in a big class may send word out," she added.
Good said she thinks the course title, "Studies in Women and Gender," deters male students from participating in the program and would need to change to get more of them involved.
"From the outset, it's probably not going to be appealing to most men, which is unfortunate," she said.
Bridges, however, said he is not sure if the SWAG program itself should be saddled with the responsibility of getting more men involved.
"I wish there were more cultural forces at large that were pulling men into classes like this," he said.
Stereotypes and stigmas
A cultural force that could be working against male involvement in SWAG is the stigma attached to men studying gender and women's issues. Although Bridges said he has not really encountered a stigma for being a man involved in SWAG, others have had different experiences.
Second-year College student Tim Thompson said he plans to major in SWAG. He said some of his friends have asked him, "'You're going to do SWAG? Isn't that for girls?'"
Houck said he has faced grief from his friends about his participation in SWAG as well. He also said, when he introduces himself by name, year, and college in clubs and groups, he has gotten laughs for saying he studies SWAG.
"I think there is a very big stigma for men in a SWAG program, especially for SWAG majors ... that you're probably gay," he said.
He said he's been asked if he's gay before since he's in the SWAG department.
"I'm like no, I'm a heterosexual male taking this class because I'm interested in ... female thoughts and perspectives," he said.
Both Thompson and Houck said they do not let such stereotypes bother them.
"I would never let anybody's opinions ever stop me from doing something I want to do," Thompson said.
Majoring in men?
While SWAG includes the study of both genders, some may wonder why no men's studies program is offered alongside the women's studies program.
"I think that that's a very similar thing to when you hear people in February say, 'Black history month? When is white history month?' And of course, white history month is the other 11 months," Bridges said. "So I think that ... the history that we're taught outside of feminist histories or women's histories ... are typically men's histories."
Houck argued a similar point.
"History has been dominated and written by white men," he said. "They've had their say."
Others have more positive views regarding men's studies.
"In reference to having a men's studies, I say go for it," Thompson said.
He said he thinks the University should start all kinds of majors; however, Thomspon added that eliminating the women's studies program is not the way to address the fact that there is no men's studies program.
"I don't think that they ever should say that one major should be here and another major shouldn't because one's male- and one's female-driven," he said. "That makes no sense at all."
Lane said if more men got involved with SWAG, she thinks the program name would change to something like "Gender Studies," or "Men, Women and Gender Studies."
While she said men commonly don't think of themselves as a gender but there are some men, like Tristan, who study men in that context
"I think it would be great if we kept moving in that direction," she said.
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