By Gianna Mulvey
March is known as Women’s History Month, and Feminists Unite! hosted an exciting and engaging event to get the Western New England University campus in the mood to celebrate women’s achievements throughout history.
Smash the Norms originated in 2020 during the Covid pandemic as an idea to bring the community closer together during troubling times.
“Our former E-board member Sinetra Fraser came up with the idea!” said Eva Myers, President of Feminists Unite! “The idea for the event… [was] to help bring our community together during Covid when we had been isolated and social-distancing.”
For this year’s Smash the Norms, Feminists Unite! introduced a new activity that was previously not included in past year’s events, in addition to playing Super Smash Bros. on the Nintendo Switch and smashing a pinata.
“We… had a lot of people get excited about plate smashing, which was a new idea for this event. We are working with a whole new E-Board this year, so we get to come up with new and fun events to do!” Myers said.
Planning campus events takes a lot of hard work, brainstorming, and collaboration between club members to create a fun experience for everyone on campus and Feminists Unite! hit the mark here with Smash the Norms.
“This is our first event of the year and we wanted to make it exciting and engaging for new and old students to join our group! We were also hyper aware that our event was planned to take place right before Spring Break. We knew that students would likely be leaving early for the break, so we wanted to come up with fun activities that would attract students while also being worth their time the day before Spring Break began,” Myers said.
Not only did Smash the Norms have activities like plate smashing and playing Super Smash Bros., but there were giveaways for all students to enjoy.
“We also had free giveaways, including empowering feminist stickers and some of our club’s merch, and some fun raffles, including a Women’s History day-to-day calendar, a Women’s History puzzle, and an adorable Menstruation Crustacean heating pad,” Myers said.
Although this event was a great way to hang out with friends, play games, and enjoy the little time left on campus before Spring Break, Feminists Unite! wanted to use Smash the Norms to bring people together and provide learning opportunities about feminism and societal norms.
“We usually try to have different resources for students to learn about feminism and societal norms during our event, like hosting trivia or printing pamphlets. This year we wanted to take a different approach with the plate smashing. Part of plate-smashing events usually incorporates writing something that angers you on a plate to smash and get rid of,” Myers said.
Students who participated in this activity were given their own plate to write on about whatever societal norms that upset them, which they then were given the opportunity to smash.
“There are a lot of expectations that society has as to how women and people should act or look to please everyone, and this can be very frustrating. We encouraged students to write down these frustrations, no matter how vague or how personal, on a plate and then cheered them on as they smashed it,” Myers said.
Since March is Women’s History Month, Smash the Norms was also a way for Feminists Unite! to spread awareness of the importance of this month.
“Something that we’ve been talking a lot about in Feminists Unite! this year is our world and politics today and how we are moving backwards in terms of progress and inclusion. It can feel so hopeless to see women’s voices being silenced and ignored, and while it may seem like there is not a lot we can do on such a small scale, the most important thing we can do is inform and educate others about what is going on and encourage them to spread the word and to spread hope,” Myers said.
In addition to Smash the Norms, Feminists Unite! is also hosting a menstruation products drive in collaboration with a handful of other clubs on campus.
“While we are having discussions with faculty and staff on campus to get free and accessible products for everyone, the whole month of March, which is also Women’s History Month, Feminists Unite! is partnered with United & Mutually Equal, our Gender-Sexuality Alliance, and the Residence Hall Association to host a menstruation products drive on campus. We are accepting donations of products through the entire month, and these products will be put toward stocking the bathrooms of residence halls on campus,” Myers said.
If you are interested in learning more about feminism or want to join in on the fun, stop by Herman 302 at 5 pm on Mondays to check out more of what Feminists Unite! is all about.
