The University Philosophical Society (the Phil) and the College Historical Society (the Hist) have teamed up to co-convene the Trinity Women’s Open: a competition available to all self-identifying women and non-binary individuals. In a very literal sense, it basically means that they close the Graduates Memorial Building (GMB) off to males for the day, but digging deeper, it’s also a day centred around women to help improve their debating skills and their confidence.
The competition was organised by the women of the Phil and the Hist, together. The three organisers – Debates Convener of the Hist, Julie Davis and Pro-Debates Conveners of the Phil, Sadhbh Nuanán Ní Dhonnabháin and Irene Fuentes McDonnell – have spent the past few months planning the event to the finest detail. The competition aimed to empower women and inspire the confidence within them to continue on with competitive debating.
Speaking to The University Times, Davis described debating as being classically being seen as a “boys game”. Because of this classic characterisation of debating, women tend to shy away from such activities. Even outside of the realm of debating, when a man is assertive or competitive, he is seen as strong and powerful, but when a woman exhibits such traits, she is considered to be bitchy. This often means that girls involved in university debating are more cautious about starting or even continuing with it when they see it’s so male-dominated.
Sexism in debating is often little spoken about, but not a totally invisible one. Many attendees of the competition spoke to The University Times about examples of sexism that they’ve experienced in debating. Most attested to “subtle hints” of sexism they’ve noticed during their debating careers. Kate Kleinle, Pro-Secretary of the Phil, shared an experience from her time in the debating circuit while she was in high school in the US and how the males “purposely” excluded her and tried to make her fail.
Kleinle discovered this by seeing screenshots from a Facebook group of men in her debating circuit called “The Good Ol’ Boys Club”. “It wasn’t outright sexism, but it was very telling”, she concluded.
In 2013, at the Glasgow Ancients debating competition, female speakers were heckled by male audience members. It was reported that some audience members commented on their chest sizes, how they were dressed and their general level of attractiveness, as well as shouting derogatory names and comments about their reactions. Not every example of sexism faced by female debaters is as palpable as this or Kleinle’s example, but they are sexism, nonetheless.
Davis explained that, for her, “it’s really cool to now organise the competition, having taken part in it for the past 2 years – often speaking with my best friends. What is great about being involved in Trinity Women’s Open is the support and help that every girl in the Hist and Phil offers – everyone has so much fun spending a girls-only day in the GMB that it’s nice to see so many giving back to younger years”.
The Women’s Open offers a chance for any non-male-identifying person to improve and have fun outside of the usually male-dominated competitions. There’s also a huge mix of women from all years of college and from across Europe, making it an extremely diverse competition. Davis describes it as “a lot of fun”, but that it’s “much more chill and laid back” than a typical debating competition. The Women’s Open is more about encouraging and empowering women, so everyone is there to have fun and enjoy themselves, even if there is a still huge competitive element to the competition.
In a report by the Monash Debating Review on sexism and the so-called “gender gap” in competitive debating, it was concluded that increasing female debaters’ experience and confidence could help solve the issue of sexism in debating. The world we live in is becoming more aware of the everyday sexism that women face, and competitions like the Trinity Women’s Open may not solve every problem, but it is definitely a step in the right direction.
