Posted on Jan. 7: Students bike, walk 24 non-stop hours for women

[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/walkandride.jpg” caption=”Walk and Ride for Women”]Beginning today at 9 a.m., Naomi Amaria will experience one of the most demanding challenges of her life.

The third-year women studies student is riding a stationary bike non-stop for the next 24 hours in an effort to raise awareness about women's studies.

She's joined by women's studies students Jim J|tte on a stationary bike and Kim Clarke on a treadmill, who are participating in the Walk and Ride for Women event in the McMaster University Student Centre. The challenge is presented by the newly created McMaster Student's Women's Studies Society.

“This is going to be one of the hardest physical challenges of my entire life,” says Amaria, “but it's a physical challenge. My emotions, my dignity, my pride and my self-esteem are not on the line this time.”

The trio began at 9 am this morning and will continue until 9 a.m. Thursday. In the meantime, they hope others will see them and be inspired. “We hope to raise awareness at McMaster and also in the community about women's issues and the need for the women's studies program,” J|tte says.

Many women suffer from emotional and verbal abuse, adds Amaria, saying it is never regarded as being as harmful as physical abuse. “I have taken on this physical challenge to represent the women who are trying to overcome emotional challenges that are not being recognized. I'm doing this because our society seems to only understand a physical sense of strength and the damage that it can do to another person. I'm physically going to push myself to the limits to represent those who are being pushed past the limit of their emotional well-being.”

For J|tte, the 24-hour ride is challenging, but he's used to testing himself. The 40-year-old father of six, who bikes to school each day from Flamborough, will also participate in a five-day walk and ride in April to help raise funds for the McMaster Children's Hospital. In August he will participate in a two-week bike ride from Windsor to North Bay to raise funds for air quality.

J|tte is passionate about McMaster's Women's Studies Program. He enrolled after taking just one course, realizing how little he knew about women's issues and was determined to learn more. He intends to apply to medical school after graduation.

Apart from raising awareness, the students also are raising funds for a women's studies scholarship. Donations can be made in front of the fireplace in the MUSC atrium.

Launched in September, the Women's Studies Society is the brainchild of fourth-year women's studies student Stephanie Bass. She created the society to provide a supportive network and information source for other women's studies students.

Photo caption: From left, women's studies students Jim J|tte, Naomi Amaria and Kim Clarke, participate in the Walk and Ride for Women event in the McMaster University Student Centre. Photo credit: Chantall Van Raay