Pierson High School Women's Issues Club To Host Feminism Seminar

The Pierson High School Women’s Issues Club will present a free panel discussion called “Feminism Now: Issues, Ideas, and Inspiration” on Friday, May 5, at the high school auditorium from 7 to 9 p.m.

The program will be led by Liz Abzug, a professor of Urban Studies and Women and Leadership at Barnard College and the founder and president of the Bella Abzug Leadership Institute, a nonprofit leadership training organization for women named after her mother, who was a U.S. representative and one of the most acclaimed feminists of the 20th century. Ms. Abzug will be joined by a panel of local women who’ve made positive impacts on the community, including April Gornik, vice president of the Sag Harbor Partnership, Kathleen King, founder and owner of Tate’s Bake Shop, and Minerva Perez, executive director of the Organización Latino-Americana of Eastern Long Island, or OLA.

According to Laura Perrotti, parent volunteer and mother of club founder and Pierson junior Natalie Sepp, the idea for the forum came up after the club came under controversy this past February when members began making and selling pink hats at Pierson Middle/High School to raise money for The Retreat, the East Hampton nonprofit organization that supports victims of domestic violence. The hats were also meant to be a representation of the Pussyhat Project, a global movement to support women’s rights. Parents of some Pierson students voiced concerns over social media, saying they thought selling the hats was inappropriate for the school.

“It became quite obvious to the club, myself and other supporters that stepped up to the plate that people don’t understand feminism,” Ms. Perrotti said over the phone on Monday. “We have said a component of the club would be for education and it only became more apparent with the controversy that education was needed.”

Ms. Perrotti said that the program will start with Ms. Abzug presenting a history of feminism, how it has progressed over the years and what still needs to be accomplished. From there, Ms. Abzug will sit with the panelists to talk to them about how they achieved success and their personal journeys as feminists. This is the second program the club has put on this year after hosting fitness guru Tracy Anderson this past March for a program on the importance of fitness and diet for teens.

The club’s Facebook page, named Pierson Feminists United, has a post with a definition of feminism: “A belief in the social, political and economic equality of the sexes.” Ms. Perrotti said club members have discussed that definition at length and concluded that it’s not as rigid or as extreme as some might think.

“It’s just a person. It could be a woman, a man, a child, anyone who believes in the social, political and economic equality of the sexes,” she said. “People do not understand that that’s what a feminist is. I’ve literally been in discussions with mothers whose sons have come home and are bashing the club. They say to them, ‘If you don’t support feminists, then you don’t support me.’ It’s all about equality, it isn’t hating or preference over one gender or another, or one sexual orientation, or one economic situation.”

Registration for the May 5 event is with Ms. Perrotti at lperrotti@optonline.net.