Helen Sterk, professor of communication arts at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich., will discuss 鈥淕ender Partnership: A Care Theory Perspective鈥� Wednesday, Oct. 6, at 7 p.m. in Hieronymus Lounge inside 蜜桃传媒鈥檚 Kerrwood Hall. The Erasmus Society lecture is free and open to the public.
Sterk, who earned a doctorate in rhetorical studies from the University of Iowa, says we seem to have entered a post-feminist era, or even a feminized era. 鈥淲omen outnumber men in colleges and universities, in law schools, the church pews and many careers,鈥� she says. 鈥淗owever, a significant wage gap remains; few women sit in seats of American government; men far outnumber women in business leadership.鈥�
On average, Sterk says that women still spend far more time and energy with family care than men. 鈥淧opular culture images polarize femininity and masculinity,鈥� she says.
Sterk鈥檚 talk will examine ways that these situations may change for the better, leading to equity in gender relations. 鈥淐are theory offers intriguing possibilities for transforming gender hierarchy into gender coordination,鈥� she says. 鈥淲hen you balance what is good for oneself with what is good for others, your decision-making, family life, education, government and work life all improve.鈥�
Sterk co-authored a book, 鈥淕ender, Culture, and Physicality: Paradoxes and Taboos鈥� (Lexington Press, 2009).