Author: Tahareem Ali, Class of 2026
This summer, as a Digital Scholarship and Technology Services work-study student, I transcribed Womanspeak, an old Vassar editorial paper that championed women. Its aim was to uplift women’s perspectives in chronicling Vassar College campus issues and beyond. As a Women, Feminist, and Queer Studies major, I found the papers to be insightful and witty, balancing serious writing on oppression with tongue in cheek humor and personal narratives. A peak into a now historical Vassar, Womanspeak had articles on the transitional period of allowing men to attend, the outrage at the first male VSA president, and the pandering the institution began doing in order to equalize its gender ratio. I also found heartfelt poetry and short stories on sexuality, Asian American identity, and academic fatigue, among other topics. I learned Vassar used to have a “Woman’s Weekend” as well as multiple feminist collectives on campus. Womanspeak did not limit itself in topic but its general feminist themes and commitment to women’s voices made my campus job all the more engaging and fruitful.
This poem discussed the mental fatigue that not only racism and racialization impart, but how the awareness of one’s positionality and how one is being perceived can bleed into all aspects of life. The last line was especially moving to me and simply articulated the simple feminist reprieve to be “a woman with a name”.
Poem discussing the mental weight/fatigue of racialization. (Womanspeak, Camille Thomas, Volume 12, Number 3, May 1989)
I found that the art on this cover conveyed the tensions and nuances involved in domestic violence, particularly what it means to reach out for help, through the intense dark shading and composition of the tight grip of the hand on the device.
Cover of Womanspeak 12th volume with drawing of hand holding cell phone (Womanspeak, Volume 12, Number 2, March 1989)
Article about what the world would be like if men had menstrual cycles (Womanspeak, Mary Beth Caschetta, Volume 10, Number 1, April 1987)
I thought this article was amusing and captured the wide array of topics and moods illustrated in the Womanspeak paper.
Womanspeak 10th anniversary cover (Womanspeak, Volume 12, Number 3, May 1989)
This cover represented the decade anniversary of Womanspeak which signified how this editorial managed to sustain itself over the years through many changes at Vassar, even though it eventually stopped.
Tahareem Ali
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