Women expand male role in rally

Nearly 30 years after first taking to the streets in San Francisco, participants in "Take Back the Night" will come together again in Bloomington tonight. While the chants to end rape and domestic violence will be the same, the voices heard might be slightly more masculine.\nThis year, men are being encouraged to come out in great numbers to show support in helping to end the cycle of violence.\n"While men have been involved in the past, at this year's event, they will play a more integral and pro-active role," said Suzanne Enck-Wanzer, a doctoral student who helped plan the event. "This is vital because we are never going to solve the problem of domestic violence unless the other half, men, become involved in the process."\n"Take Back the Night" encourages awareness of and protests against rape and domestic violence in the Bloomington community and IU campus, Enck-Wanzer said.\nThe event is co-sponsored by The Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance, Middle Way House, Delta Sigma Pi, Rise! and the Women's Student Association.\nCarol McCord, assistant dean in the Office of Women's Affairs said this year's event is an "experiment."\n"It is a challenge to men to do more than just walk with the women," McCord said. "That is to really look at issues that affect them."\nAll participants will meet at 6:30 p.m. to commence the event with a rally and vigil in Dunn Meadow. At 7:15 p.m., women will march the streets of Bloomington and take part in a "speak out" where they will reveal personal encounters of violence. As a means of respect and self-discovery, men are invited to attend a workshop during this time.\nEnck-Wanzer said the workshop is a first for "Take Back the Night" and will begin with a panel consisting of Middle Way House members, along with current IU students, speaking to the audience about their roles as males to end gender violence. The short film "Tough Guise," which explores masculinity in popular culture, will be shown in collaboration with a discussion panel. \n"We have created a separate activity for the men to attend, not to exclude, but to provide a forum to educate on the responsibilities men have involving violence and assault and how they can become pro-active on campus," said Nigel Pizzini, a consultant on Men's Programming at the Office of Women's Affairs.\nYet, Pizzini said the workshop will promote a different group to attend "Take Back the Night" and provide men with the education to help them come to the forefront of leadership on campus and throughout the Bloomington community. \n"Any change can cause a difference of opinion, but that causes people to talk," Enck-Wanzer said. "A dialogue is what we want and can often be the best tool." \nAt the end of the "speak out" and workshop, both sexes will join again at 9 p.m. in Woodburn Hall for a vigil. They also will come together once again in April for a march.\n"We ask that people do more than just walk," McCord said.\n-- Contact staff writer Joanna Penn at jlpenn@indiana.edu.