In a packed lecture hall, five women explained that they wear makeup for themselves.
Sisters of Lambda Theta Alpha Latin Sorority paired with numerous campus women’s organizations in a forum designed to highlight female empowerment Tuesday evening in the New Physics Building.
Alba Avila, a sister of Lambda Theta Alpha Latin Sorority, said the event brought women from organizations on campus to discuss the pressing issue of women’s empowerment within the UF community, something she said is often ignored.
“It is important to be around people who build you up and not tear you down,” Avila, a 21-year-old UF linguistics senior, said.
The forum was broken up into three sections: “I wear makeup for myself because I like it,” “a girl should be two things: who and what she wants” and “cut yourself from the pressure to be perfect.”
They interacted with the audience, welcoming their questions and comments about how to better empower themselves.
Katia Suarez, a UF anthropology senior, said the forum was important for women to support each other and learn about issues faced.
“We need to speak about the issues and raise questions on the issues in order to learn (about) how we can change what is going on,” Suarez, 21, said.
[A version of this story ran on page 5 on 3/11/2015 under the headline “UF student orgs host women forum to discuss empowerment”]
