The Women’s Resource Center at UWM Hosts a Feminist Flea Market

Students at UWM gather around the Union Concourse for an event held by the Women’s Resource Center. It is time for their annual Feminist Flea Market event. 

This event has a recent archive at the WRC, dating back to 2018, confirming a history of at least seven years. 

On Dec 2, over 20 local vendors, ranging from bakers to knitters, set up tables for the Feminist Flea Market, organized by Programming Manager Jenna Lassiter. 

“We made applications and started reaching out to people early in October, and then our vending applications closed at the end of October,” Lassiter said. “We had 20 vendor spots for this event, but well over 50 applications. Like somewhere between 50 and 60 initial applications.” 

Lassiter is a double major in communication and women and gender studies, also working on getting her LGBT Studies certificate at UWM. 

Working with others has always been a passion for Lassiter, and she mentioned how she “found a love for communication and for women and gender studies.” 

The entire staff works on going through applications and social media accounts for vendors. November was when the final decisions were made before reaching out and organizing specifics for the event. 

To know a rough estimate of students, the vendors reported how many sales they had made and gave the information to the WRC. Lassiter was confident that there would be at least 100 students. 

“The event was not all women vendors; we had women, non-binary, and queer vendors, prioritizing local and student-owned businesses,” said Lassiter through email. “And we had between 300 and 500 students!” 

Layla Schultz is a social work major with a psychology and women and gender studies minor. She is the programming coordinator at the WRC, and she loves the connections she has made.

Schultz is also the programming coordinator intern, and she helped put this event together.

“This is a very big picture event, so Jenna was in charge of that, but I did help with anything I could have, layouts, cards, coordinating people,” Schultz said. “It’s a lot of people working a lot of emails.”

Since this event is time-consuming and it takes a lot of communication, difficulties with reaching out, or last-minute cancellations, the pressure is not just on one person. Everyone helps when they are needed, the best they can. 

Kriscia Zelaya, the owner of KRISCANDLES, was a vendor selling soy wax candles and melts. She is a student at UWM getting her master’s in biomedical science.

“I graduated from here in 2020 with my bachelor’s, and then four years after that, I was kind of looking for a hobby, and I’m in the science department,” Zelaya said. “So, candles, it’s very sciency, and so I love candles, so I thought, why not?”

This was her first time as a vendor at UWM, but she has been a vendor in Kenosha, Racine, and Milwaukee before this event.

Her table had scented wax melts, room sprays, candles, and fragrance warmers, all handmade. Zelaya says the process can take one to three months, including the packaging and labels, when doing a new product. 

“I think the hardest part is creating a product and having a unique idea so that people can see you and feel like you are different and that your product is worth buying,” said Zelaya.

Throughout the years, KRISCANDLES has changed booth colors, logos, and added products. Her goal for this business is to bring products into local stores and have a pop-up shop in the next five years.

The WRC vision is to find community and focus on gender equality at UWM and build a safe environment for students. 

“I’ve never met a place like it, where I can just be myself and do anything, like any state of how I’m feeling is okay and accepted here,” Schultz said. 

The WRC is not just somewhere to go for free supplies or counseling; it’s where women can go to connect and clear their minds. Lassiter and Schultz both love the connections and opportunities they have received.

“I came there all the time just to have a safe space to study and make friends,” Lassiter said. “Meet people who have different perspectives and be able to have those conversations.”

This event was something they were both happy about, and it will happen again next year. It allowed vendors an opportunity to build connections and allowed students a chance to explore these businesses.