Tonight We're Going to Party Like Its...1989

This is the second year the two groups I chair (Law Students for Choice and the Women's Caucus) hosted a dance to celebrate two decades of the Morgentaler decision, the court case that brought abortion rights out in the open in Canada. While this dance was a whole lot of work for me and ran me a bit ragged, I am so proud of this dance and the larger dialogue it sparks.

At Law Students for Choice, we have put on a lot of fun events that the whole school likes to attend and get involved in: a board game competition with root beer floats and prizes, condomgram delivery at Valentine's Day and this dress up dance. The "I Heart Henry" dance has been the highlight of the school year the last two years running. Last night, as the dance was winding down, one of the male participants told me he had pretty much given up on attending law school functions as, "They always end up in girls getting groped and crying." Having attended a few events myself, and being grobed before I firmly placed the man's hands away from my body,I concurr. It's really sad that this is happening to law student women, women who should have moved beyond this. who have worked very hard to get where they are and should feel, at the very least, more entitled to their own bodies than they do as it stands. They should be rolemodels for other women coming behind them.

But the greatest thing about having a feminist hosted event, besides the eighties music, the outfits, the dance competitions, is that those law students that feel entitled to non-consentual sexual grops pretty much stay away from our dance altogether. Our dance's attendees are made up of people who respect other people's consent. At our dance last night, the whole group gathered around in a circle and different people took turns dancing in the middle. It was so refreshing to see us encourage each other and respect each others talents instead of competing for the spotlight.

I hope some of the younger women who attend these events and see us self-declared feminists so happy in our lives and enthusiastically pursuing our dreams will realize that there is no stigma in feeling equal to other human beings.

I was happy a few of the law students used last night to announce to me that they are just realizing they are feminists, too. It's a privilege to be a part of that change.