In the midst of Women’s History Month, an OU student kicked off her newly founded feminist organization in an inaugural Zoom meeting, but was met by “hijackers” attempting to derail it.
Political science and philosophy senior Zharina Nikko Tomas Casil said she founded OU Feminist Philosophy Advocates to highlight female scholars in “male-dominated” fields like philosophy and political science.
“The contents of what we learn are usually from the perspective of white male colonialist conception and experiences of the word,” Nikko said. “For me, that was the triggering point. Why does my learning space seem so unfamiliar?”
Nikko said the initiative also stemmed from a “sexist incident” during a philosophy class last year. She said her professor utilized a “he or she” teaching device whereas “rational” and “knowledge-based” characteristics were attributed to the “he” and “irrational” and “emotional” characteristics were attributed to the “she.”
“The best thing we could do at that moment was to ask him to reconsider his teaching device, which was obviously very sexist and grounded in so many gender stereotypes,” Nikko said. “That was a triggering point where I’m like, ‘Okay, this is it, it’s happening in my own classroom.’ It’s blatant and I cannot keep (allowing it)”
Nikko said anyone with a “deep interest” in learning more about feminism and feminist philosophy is allowed to join the organization. She said the mission of the organization is to “eradicate patriarchy” at OU and in academia.
“(Feminism) is not a historically perfect movement, like all other movements all around the world,” Nikko said. “But, I think we can make it into the most inclusive space it can be.”
Nikko said OU FemPhiAd held its first meeting Feb. 26 via Zoom, but was met with “trolls” who said “sexist” and “homophobic” remarks to the participants during the meeting. She said the hijack seemed organized, as the individuals entered the meeting consecutively.
“I was trying to kick them out, but they kept coming back so I was not that focused on hearing them out,” Nikko said. “But, one thing I remember (was) ‘Enough about gay rights — let’s talk about gay wrongs.’”
Nikko said she reported the incident to OU Information Technology. According to OU IT, the trolls did not appear to be OU students, but some of the internet protocol ranges were from other universities.
Nikko said the organization plans to put “better security guidelines” on their meetings including registration and specific login methods.
“How much hate can these people have to organize this thing and just ruin our space?” Nikko said. “I am scared because I don't know how far they'll go for such things. The hate that they showed is extreme. They were brave for their bigotry.”
