A week of events will give students a chance to learn about the social norms surrounding women.
During the final week of Women's History Month, Ball State will celebrate with its annual Women's Week.
Women's Week is an event full of presentations and seminars planned by the Women's and Gender Studies Program to honor the achievements of women.
Lisa Pellerin, director of the program, said Women's Week is beneficial to the community.
"Women's Week is important because it celebrates the accomplishments and experiences of women," she said.
One of the events included in the week is a women's self-defense seminar, which will be led by Ball State Martial Arts Club president Lance Watkins on Wednesday.
Watkins said the focus of the presentation is women's self-defense against an assault from a stranger.
"The seminar's aim is to empower women and help them take the first steps toward standing up and defending themselves," Watkins said.
Watkins said the presentation will provide key information on surviving an assault.
"Assault is a topic that most don't like to talk about," he said. "But it is important that this topic is discussed and information shared."
Watkins said the seminar will help women be safer in their daily lives.
"All of the information is very helpful to women and helps to build a safer community at Ball State," he said.
Other Women's Week events include performances by the Belly Dance Club, a discussion called "Why Do Nice Guys Finish Last?" and a presentation about female masculinity.
Laura Wiesner, one of the student presenters, said the event will discuss existing gender systems and analyze female masculinity.
"Currently, gender is valued within a binary of masculine and feminine, as evidenced by the way we divide bathrooms, discuss individuals, assign roles and decide who is ‘normal' and who is not," she said. "Outside of Coach Beiste from ‘Glee,' masculine women are largely kept from the public eye."
Weisner said the presentation will discuss how people perceive gender and explore ways to be more inclusive.
"The class is about masculinities, and in it we often find ourselves discussing gender roles for both men and women," she said.
Pellerin said the Women's Week events are not only good for the students and faculty attending, but also for the people giving the presentations.
"We are proud that Women's Week provides performances and service opportunities for student groups," she said.
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