New Feminism Club at Ida Crown Makes Her-story
By Bayli Alter
Starting this year, Ida Crown is offering a new club to its students: the Feminism Club. Feminism maintains that both men and women should be allowed equal rights under the law. Started by senior Tamar Chavel at the beginning of the 2018-19 school year, the club has quickly gained around 50 members through recruitment at the ICJA club fair on October 11. With Mrs. Arons as the teacher advisor and Tamar Chavel as the club’s founder and president, the club is ready to make a difference in our school.
Over the summer, Chavel had had a discussion with her sister about the possibility of a Feminism Club at the Academy. “I’ve always been really passionate about feminism,” said Chavel. “[so] at the end of last year, I mentioned the idea to Mrs. Arons and over the summer I started working on presentations and a club proposal [to show to Rabbi Matanky and Mr. Harris].”
The club has two missions: education and empowerment. Chavel plans to hold monthly breakfast meetings with regards to the educational aspect. In terms of empowerment, Chavel’s main goal is to “empower the females of our school to overcome societal norms, standards, and attitudes towards women and feminism [through education and unique, soon-to-be-announced events.]”
Mrs. Arons, the teacher-advisor to the club, has complete confidence in Chavel and her abilities to run the cub: “I’m not there to guide discussions, I’m there to help and to facilitate… [and to] buy pizza,” Mrs. Arons says. “In the times that we live in, especially with everything that is happening in the news with regard to women finding voices to discuss things that in the past have been accepted and quiet… [students need] to be exposed to these kinds of disparate issues.”
The population of the Feminism club is very diverse, both in terms of grades and in terms of gender. Junior Avi Pullin was interested in gaining a new outlook on feminism. “I… wanted to learn more about feminist issues form actual feminists,” says Pullin. “I read articles from more right [wing] sources, and I wanted to get a different perspective.”
Overall, Pullin was impressed by the presentation made at the club’s first meeting on October 24, that discussed the wage gap.
He was, however, frustrated by the studies that were brought up. “Some of the points [made] were based on studies conducted by more left [wing], biased organizations,” comments Pullin. “I know that the club… is focused on educating the student body on feminist issues, but I would have liked [to see] some counter points included… even for the purpose of shooting them down.”
In contrast to Pullin, sophomore Simone Miller thought that the presentation made by club leader Tamar Chavel was organized and informative. “It’s really important to be up to date on what is going on today [regarding feminist issues], because if we want to change anything, we need to be educated on the issues first,” Miller clarifies.
After just one small conversation with her sister and a little bit of hard work, Tamar Chavel successfully created a new club at Ida Crown. If you have an idea for a club that doesn’t yet exist at Ida Crown, draw up a proposal and show it to administration. The club is open to both men and women; if you want to join the Feminism Club, contact Tamar Chavel at tamar.chavel@icja.org.
This article originally appeared in The Crown Prints student newspaper and was posted here with permission.