{"id":292,"date":"2021-08-02T15:16:50","date_gmt":"2021-08-02T15:16:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sca.bowdoin.edu\/women-at-bowdoin\/?page_id=292"},"modified":"2021-08-12T17:59:23","modified_gmt":"2021-08-12T17:59:23","slug":"fifty-years-of-coeducation","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sca.bowdoin.edu\/women-at-bowdoin\/fifty-years-of-coeducation\/","title":{"rendered":"Fifty Years of Coeducation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A Men\u2019s College With Women? Over 50 Years of Women\u2019s Leadership and Education at Bowdoin College <\/em>shares the experiences of women both preceding and following the implementation of coeducation in 1971. Founded in 1794, Bowdoin built a reputation as a men\u2019s college for more than 175 years before admitting women into the student body. Despite this, the historical record preserved in the College Archives illuminates the valuable role of women in the Bowdoin community long before they were welcomed as students: faculty wives, donors, honorary degree recipients, Brunswick community members, students in non-traditional programs, and later, faculty and staff. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The introduction of coeducation to Bowdoin led to a vast expansion of women\u2019s leadership at all levels \u2014 student, faculty, staff, and administration \u2014 as these women created a space for themselves in a school of men.\u00a0
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The exhibit documents women at the College from before they were students to today, when 51.5% of Bowdoin\u2019s student population identifies as women. This transformation is due in part to the women of the 1960s and 70s who fought for their place in higher education as Bowdoin, and many other eastern liberal arts colleges, began the process of coeducation. With the integration of genders came unforeseen challenges such as inadequate healthcare services and campus safety protocols. The exhibit highlights women as leaders in campus life, faculty and staff perspectives, and contemporary issues of gender on campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Note On Terms<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Though many documents from the Archives use the terms man<\/em> and male <\/em>or woman<\/em> and female<\/em> interchangeably, we have chosen to adopt Judith Butler\u2019s conception of the difference between sex and gender. Butler refers to \u201csex\u201d as a person\u2019s biological characteristics while \u201cgender\u201d is a socially constructed act performed by an individual. In this exhibit, texts that differentiate between genders use man<\/em> or woman<\/em> rather than male<\/em> and female<\/em> to acknowledge the distinction between biological characteristics and social identity. This may lead to phrases like woman professor<\/em> which may sound awkward at first. But, as Emma Kellogg articulates in her 2020 thesis about performed masculinity, \u201cask yourself, what assumptions are betrayed by this discomfort?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also important to note the cis- and binary gender expressions represented in the historical documents on view throughout this exhibition and the regular usage of outdated and derogatory stereotypes within these documents. It is the work of scholars at all levels to interpret, contextualize, and help us better understand our history through these materials. We recognize that today the College seeks to support all students, regardless of gender, and that the challenge to create an inclusive space for all gender expressions and identities persists. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Return to Exhibit Home Page<\/a> | Explore Before They Were Students<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Men\u2019s College With Women? Over 50 Years of Women\u2019s Leadership and Education at Bowdoin College shares the experiences of women both preceding and following the implementation of coeducation in 1971. Founded in 1794, Bowdoin built a reputation as a men\u2019s college for more than 175 years before admitting women into the student body. Despite […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":{"0":"post-292","1":"page","2":"type-page","3":"status-publish","5":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sca.bowdoin.edu\/women-at-bowdoin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/292","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sca.bowdoin.edu\/women-at-bowdoin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sca.bowdoin.edu\/women-at-bowdoin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sca.bowdoin.edu\/women-at-bowdoin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sca.bowdoin.edu\/women-at-bowdoin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=292"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/sca.bowdoin.edu\/women-at-bowdoin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/292\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":701,"href":"https:\/\/sca.bowdoin.edu\/women-at-bowdoin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/292\/revisions\/701"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sca.bowdoin.edu\/women-at-bowdoin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=292"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}