Dear colleagues at the University of Toronto,
In the days since the posting of the kill feminist blog threats at your university, we have walked into our classrooms differently. Perhaps others would suspect we’ve allowed fear to dominate but what in fact we have been given is heightened purpose and commitment to what we teach and what we learn. We’ve always known that our field of research is a direct challenge to those who want very much to maintain their status in a social construct based on hurting those whose bodies don’t conform to the white, middle class, heterosexual cis gendered image of a good Canadian citizen.
While we share with you the daily experiences of fighting for the right to speak to persecution, your most recent experience is a jolting reminder of how fear can be used to close down the teaching and the learning of oppression. Like you, we are refusing to allow those fears the victory of having won our silence. This event, instead, is a recalibration of the importance of what we do and why we do it. We are standing with you and will support you in our conversations inside and outside the classroom. Our strength is collective and built through solidarity. Â
Yours truly,
The Women and Gender Studies Program, Wilfrid Laurier University