About Women's Studies Online

Why?

Women’s studies has been replaced by gender studies in universities across Canada and elsewhere. Postmodern, queer, and other academic theories are confusing and hard to understand. Don’t worry though, it’s not you.
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Feminist women who centre women in research, education, and action and who organize as part of the women’s liberation movement need an autonomous feminist alternative to academic manstitutions and their man studies.

About Us

Based in Canada with global reach, Women’s Studies Online (WMST) is a platform for decolonizing feminist research, education, action, and community-building. Through short courses, workshops, challenges, and lectures delivered in a learning community, we provide women with theoretical tools, practical skills, and a feminist political network where we can further our thinking, organizing, and action.

All women are entitled to learn about, consider, and build feminist theory; think critically; ask questions; learn about issues that impact us; and take action with women for our collective liberation. Theory needs to make sense and apply to our lives. Otherwise, what’s the point?
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We recognize the very real short and long-term impacts of patriarchy on the lives of women and girls as an oppressed class of people. To help remedy these systemic impacts, WMST is for women who have survived and who are surviving male violence, the threat of male violence, and all other forms of sex-based discrimination and oppression.
WMST is informed and inspired by the radical feminist politics that initially guided the creation of Women’s Studies programs in universities across Canada and elsewhere. We build on feminist theory to help women make sense of our lives and take action by organizing with women for our collective liberation. We provide women with theoretical tools, practical skills, and a political network where we can further our feminist thinking, organizing, and action.

Inspired by previous feminist theorizing and action,

we build confidence in ourselves, each other, and in the women’s liberation movement today as we work toward a better future for all women and girls through:

Our Mission

  • To research, educate, and build upon the initial revolutionary potential of Women’s Studies by providing women with theoretical tools, practical skills, and a political network that can be used in our struggle for women’s liberation;

  • To engage in ongoing research on and action against male violence against women and girls in Canada with a particular focus on Indigenous women and girls;
  • To ensure that Indigenous and women of colour, poor women, disabled women, lesbian women, and other women facing intersectional oppression can learn, teach, research, and take action in a feminist environment;
  • Inspired by previous feminist theorizing and action, we build confidence in ourselves, each other, and in the women’s liberation movement today as we work toward a better future for all women and girls.

Our Principles

The oppression of women by race, class, and sexuality is just as important as women’s sex-based oppression;
Feminism means radical feminism and radical means root;
Education takes many forms;
Feminist theory, organizing, strategizing, and action is learned;
Consciousness-raising is an essential tool to further women’s liberation;
The material conditions of women’s lives inform feminist theory;
Feminist theory informs our political actions;
Women’s Studies grew out of the women’s liberation movement;
Women’s Studies has a responsibility to further feminist theory and action and is accountable to the women’s liberation movement;
Women’s Studies is for all women and girls, not just for students in universities;
Women’s Studies Online is for women who are surviving patriarchy, racism, capitalism, homophobia, and colonization;
Joy, laughter, and fun sustains ourselves and our movement.