We don’t get the binary, either.

This week’s SGA meeting was all abuzz with talk of the upcoming Town Hall event, which will address the many ways of being a woman at Barnard. Two representatives from FemSex stopped by and refreshed us on the difference between gender and sex. Barnard Bearoness Lauren Beltrone reports.

Before the discussion of Town Hall began, there were a few maintenance announcements that needed to be made. As I’m sure you’ve taken immediate note of, SGA has started sending their weekly emails on Sunday night instead of Monday morning. Now as your inbox gets inundated with a flood of “HAPPY MONDAY” emails, remember that SGA cares about you and does not contribute to your early-week email stress. In other news, Rep for Academic Affairs Malvina Kefalas (BC ’14) successfully lobbied for an adviser category to be added to the Student Leadership Award Nominations. If you haven’t already, go nominate people! Be civically engaged! Appreciate! The form closes on March 1st.

Another cool thing that SGA has been up to is increasing Barnard representation in the “Our Blue” spirit campaign. Maybe you watched the first video and thought, “Wow—I’ve never wondered what Butler/John Jay looks like from the perspective of a snake, but now I know!” or maybe you thought, “Wow—I wish there were more shots of the Nard.” Either way, expect to see more Barnard faces and places in the upcoming videos.

After the general announcement phase of the meeting ended, two representatives from FemSex came in, armed with a drawing board, markers, and the knowledge to tackle difficult questions about the gender binary. FemSex’s presentation was so informative and fascinating that the SGA reps proposed a movement to add 10 minutes onto the meeting to accommodate for a Q&A sesh. A commonly touched-upon topic was PGPs. One rep asked, for example, “When someone’s PGPs are they-them-theirs, do you use plural or singular verb conjugations?” FemSex said usually plural, but that you can always ask for their preference!

The last phase of the meeting involved splitting up into groups and discussing plans for the Town Hall meeting on March 28th. In short, the Town Hall will focus on the multiplicity of types of women and genders at Barnard. Referencing the points FemSex just emphasized, the individual groups discussed how to make Town Hall a safe space for all and shared issues they want to be addressed at the event.

Because there were only five stock image results for “gender binary” here’s literal binary via Shutterstock.