What are FORCE and the WGRC?
FORCE (Feminists Organized to Resist, Create, and Empower
FORCE is a for-credit internship within the Women and Gender Resource Center that encourages the exploration, development, and empowerment of a scholar-activist identity through the lens of intersectional feminism, autonomy, and social justice.
WGRC (Women and Gender Resource Center)
The WGRC is an inclusive on-campus student center that strives to create change on campus in response to sexism and misogyny, doing social justice work at the intersection of many identities such as sex, gender identity, gender expression, race, class, sexual orientation, ethnicity, and disability. It is located on the 4th floor of the Student Unions Memorial Center (SUMC).
What Does FORCE Do?
Sip n' Bitches
Sip n' Bitches are events held in the WGRC run by both FORCE interns and their directors. You can run them by yourself, with another person, or with a group! They are required as a part of being an intern and can be on whatever the person wants to do. It can be an intimate discussion, an activity, creating artwork, watching a movie, etc. As long as it relates back to the aims of FORCE and the WGRC there is complete autonomy. All are welcome to the events and each last an hour in length.
The Feminist Pharmacy
Within the WGRC is what is known as the "Feminist Pharmacy." It is essentially a large bookshelf containing various containers offering everyone free menstrual and sexual wellness products. The pharmacy includes tampons, pads, liners, various condoms (latex, latex-free, internal), lube, band-aids, pregnancy tests, and Plan B if you ask a desk assistant. Everything is always free, no questions asked. It is located right inside the center on the left-hand side when you walk into the WGRC.
Other Events!
Along with Sip n' Bitches, FORCE interns also work with other organizations like the WGRC and the LGBTQ+ Resource Center to hold events for students related to their missions and for people to have fun!
Some examples are holding an Encanto movie night to celebrate Colombian heritage, Plant Palooza to bring a stress-free environment to students and provide them with goodies for the end of the semester, and the Women's Herstory Month Market, where we had local POC vendors come to promote small businesses and to bring about a feminist and community-centered dialogue.
What Can You Learn by Being a Part of FORCE?
I have learned so much by being a part of FORCE. But two things stand out from my experience. The first is the true meaning of intersectionality and its application in the real world and everyday life. Going into FORCE, I had a vague idea of what intersectionality meant, but being in FORCE has opened my eyes to it. I have found intersectionality in my peers by listening to what they have experienced due to their different backgrounds. I have learned daily about the hardships other minority groups face. I have heard first-hand accounts of blatant racism, sexism, and homophobia. I have learned first-hand how cruel the world can be and how amazing and resilient it is from these amazing people. These people have fought so hard for so many generations, and it shows. They are tough yet vulnerable and continue to show the world that they belong here and matter more than they know.
Another important thing I have learned is how to unlearn biases. Education and being involved with a group of people with diverse and different backgrounds than me has taught me a lot about myself and my unconscious biases. As someone from a predominately white, cisgender, heteronormative background, I have a lot of inherited privilege. And while I may not agree with a majority of my descendants, I did share some of their biases. Because with privilege comes bias. However, I have been able to identify them through the help of others and recognize that they have been rooted in me from an oppressive system. With this identification, I have been able to identify my biases in real-time and easily and actively worked on fixing them.
How Will You Learn These Things and How Do They Apply?
A lot of the things you learn in FORCE are done so both actively and subconsciously. It happens over time in a variety of manners. Examples include: going to and actively engaging yourself and others in meetings, getting to know your fellow interns and directors, going to events -especially Sip n' Bitches to learn about topics you may know little about- and through required readings.
Doing so will give you a wide range of perspectives. This process can especially be seen when we did required readings for class during Black History Month, where we read excerpts by Black, femme, and feminists. Some readings include All About Love by Bell Hooks, Women, Race, and Class by Angela Davis, and The Uses of Anger by Audre Lorde. These readings truly opened my eyes to the history and struggle of Black feminists. They changed the meaning of how I saw the history and role of Black women in the United States and had me rethink concepts such as love, hate, anger, social justice, and how history is written to highlight the privileged rather than to highlight the accomplishments of those who have less.