Brown University's 2020 FLAME Conference Review

On Saturday, March 7, Brown University hosted their sixth annual Feminist Leadership And Mentorship for Equality (or FLAME) Conference, which is aimed to educate and empower high school aged feminists of all genders. The day consisted of panels, creative activities, handouts, food, and even included transportation- all of which was entirely free of charge. This was a relief, as many conferences do charge an admission fee in order to attend, and FLAME was much more accessible for feminists who may not have been able to afford other events.

My experience began at around 9:20, when myself and a few other members of the She Speaks. team arrived at the Brown University campus. We were immediately greeted by members of “Feminists at Brown”, the group that put the entire conference together. Each participant in the conference had their own schedule that catered to their specific interests. My personal schedule was:

(10:30)-(11:20) : GRL Power

(11:30)-(12:20): Queer and Trans Health and

(12:30)-(1:20): Lunch break

(1:30)-(2:20): Guided Yoga

(2:30)-(3:10): Sexual Health Jeopardy

(3:10)-(4:00): Creating a Culture of Consent

GRL Power, led by Theresa Wagner and India Franklin, was a powerful discussion about what it truly means to be feminist. In an intimate group of five, plus our two leaders, we began our discussion with a talk about how commodification and capitalism negatively affects the face of feminism. Many large corporations that sell items with feminist slogans/ messages (think mugs, necklaces, t-shirts) exploit their own female workers and do not do anything to help feminist efforts with the money made using its image. This leads to “slacktivism”, which is when people believe that buying a short with a catchy slogan is the same as being an activist. We also discussed the difference between Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminism and true feminism. True feminism is the basis that all genders and gender identities are equal; we should all be paid the same for doing the same job, punished for crimes the same way, and provided equal opportunities. Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminists believe that feminism is based off of biology: if you are born biologically female, you’re better than everyone else. This message not only gives a bad name to the feminist movement, but it erases the experiences of trans women, male feminists, and feminists who do not conform to one gender. Theresa and India were both incredibly responsive to the group’s questions and were helpful in providing alternate outlooks when questions arose.

The Queer and Trans Health and Wellness panel was led by QPAAM, or Queer

People and Allies for the Advancement of Medicine. The Brown chapter of this group included our moderators: Emma, Stephen, Rachel, Claire, and Mady. Not only were we educated on the distinct health crises that target the queer community specifically, but also on LGBT history that I, as a queer teen, would have never learned in a classroom. We talked about the importance of LGBT+ sex ed, and how the lack of it in most schools is directly correlated to the amount of STI’s among young queer youth. We ended the panel by building a person- their race, religion, financial and insurance status, sexuality, and gender identity. We then put our generated people into different scenarios and compared how different aspects of their intersectionality affected their experiences.

The day was broken up by a time slot designated to a creative activity. My activity was a yoga workshop led by Miriam Rice. I was slightly apprehensive going in, as flexibility is not my strong suit. However, the entirety of the workshop was relaxing and consisted of positions that were just challenging enough to hold your full attention, but were simple enough to keep an atmosphere of calm.

From there we went to Sexual Health Jeopardy, led by SHAG (Sexual Health Awareness Group), where we split into two teams to see who truly knew more about sexual health. Each question was accompanied by a demonstration and explanation, which cleared up any confusion around STI protection and contraceptives that we may have had. At the end of the panel, we were all given as many condoms (male, female, flavored- the works) and dental dams as we needed.

Our final panel, called Creating a Culture of Consent, focused on ways to properly establish boundaries in relationships and identifying harmful types of relationship. We also went over different ways to show support and advocate for survivors of sexual assault, abuse, or harassment. I personally found this to be extremely powerful as someone who often is at a loss for words when confronted with such topics.

Overall, the conference was an extremely empowering and moving day where I learned more about myself, both from a health perspective and in finding out the true meanings behind my beliefs. I also was granted the opportunity to meet so many amazing feminists, both moderators and group mates. The moderators proved to be role models that I would love to be more like in my future. I felt even closer to my group mates during the Open Mic section, which ended the day. We each went onstage and shared feminist poems that we had written. I plan on returning to the FLAME conference for years to come because it was a truly life-changing experience. I would recommend any high school-aged feminist who lives close enough to Brown University to do the same.

- "Lucretia S"