After several years of "Vagina Monologues" and "Breastivals," Women's Initiative is marking "Muscle Bound," a seminar on male body imagery, on their calendar.
This fall is the first semester for Men's Outreach at AU. Sponsored by Women's Initiative, the group will explore pressures in the male community while aiding in female empowerment.
Women's Initiative Director JoAnna Smith said Women's Initiative is "showing everyone on campus, men and women, that men are an intricate part of women's issues."
Past complaints have deemed the group too focused on placing blame on men, Smith said.
"We're not blaming men for problems," Smith said. "We want to make them part of the solution."
The Men Can Stop Rape contract is a primary agenda piece for the men's assemblage, now led by Joe Colarusso. Campaigns like Men Can Stop Rape and Men Against Breast Cancer will serve the forefront of the new student group, Smith said. Posters inviting students to the "Muscle Bound" seminar will be posted on campus this November to kick off these awareness issues.
Smith cites the difficulty in solving women's interest problems due to the absence of a male voice.
"We can't solve HIV/AIDS for women without the help of men," she said.
Issues like the HIV/AIDS epidemic and date rape that compromise both sexes are expected to become more productive campaigns with the intensified involvement of men.
A rise in male participation is already apparent. Smith estimates male attendance at the Women's Initiative's first semester meeting at 20, about 15 percent of total attendance.
For years, Women's Initiative shrugged off jokes of starting a Men's Outreach, but Smith is hopeful of gaining more publicity of women's issues by expanding the organization. The group is also expanding sponsorships by collaborating with other student organizations. The College Republicans have been tapped to co-sponsor this year's Breastival on Oct. 7.
