Peyton is a rising junior working with Sanctuary for Families, which provides shelter, advocacy and support to victims of domestic and sexual violence in NYC.
Women have empowered me for over 20 years. I grew up in an all-girls school. I was raised by female nannies. I was taught by female teachers. Despite the immeasurable empowerment I received, I never wondered why I received the encouragement I was given. After only a few days of living in New York City and working at Sanctuary for Families, I have started to consider the reasons.
Sanctuary for Families, a leading non-profit in New York State, is dedicated exclusively to serving domestic violence victims, sex trafficking victims, and their children. On Monday- my first day of work- I sat in the reception area between two mothers and their children. They didn’t work at Sanctuary. They were clients. And I couldn’t help but wonder what their stories were. Had their husbands beaten them? Had the little girl with pigtails been abused by her father? I didn’t know what their individual stories were, but I knew that they had one. These women and children embodied abuse, and I was reminded of how real and present domestic violence is today.
Boarding the subway after work, I watched businessmen push and shove through the masses of people – male and female. A Dallas native, I was raised in a community where even the most obscene men held the door for a woman. In New York City, such manners do not apply. The physical pushing and shoving and utter disregard for women on the subway reminded me of the abuse that Sanctuary’s clients encounter. Have you ever seen a woman shove a man to get ahead on a subway? How often do mothers beat fathers? Hardly ever. This compilation of observations revealed that throughout my childhood, women were preparing me for the subordination that I will ultimately face. It is inevitable and it is looming, and I’m hoping that it will not be a present phenomenon in my own household someday.
As such, my feminist identity can be placed within this category: I agree with some of the objectives of the feminist movement, but do not call myself a feminist. While I wholeheartedly disagree with the treatment of women in countless scenarios – professionally and domestically – I am not strong enough in my beliefs to declare myself a feminist.
In my opinion, Sanctuary for Family’s feminist identity is similar to my own. Sanctuary fights abuse and degradation to women, which I consider to be a feminist objective. After assisting with the Zero Tolerance Benefit, however, I observed that the donors who support Sanctuary might not support the stigma of radical feminism.
Just as I fear the judgment of my friends for being feminist, I fear the decrease in donations from conservative donors if Sanctuary was to declare itself feminist.
The summer is young, however, and although I doubt Sanctuary’s feminist position is subject to change, my mind is wide open and ready to absorb anything and everything. I can’t wait to see what lays ahead in the journey ahead!
