HowlRound: Does a feminist activist theater performance automatically imply a left-leaning, patriarchy-smashing, liberal, “bra-burning” political event? What happens when teenage girls and adult women collaborate and discover that their political beliefs about feminism today teeter precariously on a squiggly line? In response to the HowlRound thread investigating the if and how artists of different political beliefs make and experience theater, I present a case study of a troupe of women who entered a theater process seemingly sharing ideals and political values under a banner of “feminism.” I share the creation process of BodyVOX!, a feminist-activist production written and performed by nine teenage girls, and co-directed by Fordham professor Aimee Cox and myself in New York in May 2013. We discovered through our process that a unified, feminist call to action might be as challenging (and painful) as running a marathon in six-inch heels. - See more at: http://www.howlround.com/wobbling-on-the-political-lines-in-6-inch-heels-creating-feminist-theater-with-girls#sthash.D13kq9Vu.dpuf
6 comments:
I took a break from writing a paper on the women's health movement of the 1970s, just to find this article waiting to snatch me up. It is fascinating how, over forty years after that movement began, women are still facing such stereotypes and degradation of our bodies. It is wonderful that these young ladies can express themselves and their very differing opinions and feel liberated in just being who they are. It is definitely quite a challenge to address all political views and all ethnicities when trying to support women in their freedom; the issue of a "universal woman" was brought up in the 80s by women who rejected the idea that all women should be on the exact same playing field, because no matter how much we are objectified, we are all different. Some of us feel wonderful in six inch heels and form-fitting clothing, while others prefer jeans, a loose tshirt, and flip flops. Neither way is right or wrong, and both are equally beautiful and should be treated as such. And it's alright that some girls enjoy cat-calls while others find them rude and frightening - we are all different and are entitled to feel however we want. That these women had the opportunity to express these preferences, the things that make each of them so unique, should be congratulated and emulated.
Being a girl myself, I oddly enough don't understand this kind of feminism. I mean, these people putting on the show are all performers. Performers are supposed to be looked at, otherwise the show would be a total flop. The whole thing with the costumes and having to change them from leggings is a little silly. If the costumes weren't eye catching and tight, then the dance isn't as easy to enjoy. To see the moves, the audience has to be able to see the body. I have struggled with this while costuming before; the choreography that the directors put in don't read at all in the costumes so it ends up being changed.
Some women just need to be more confident in themselves and not shy away from cat calls. That is a way for men to show that they appreciate beauty. Sure it is bad for men to think that women are things to be admired, but that allows for girls to manipulate guys that much easier. If you take away men's pornography, then there will probably be more sexual assault cases because they need to get their rocks off somehow and masturbation to porn is sometimes the way to go instead of having real sex. The girls in the pron videos aren't being raped, they are paid for that.
I'm glad that there are groups such as these working to create performances about feminism, in all its forms. It's so important for young people to be aware of these stereotypes, customs, habits -- whatever you may call them -- surrounding our day to day lives. There are so many complications in a young girls life including an emerging sexuality, fashion pressures…just plain growing up and it's hard to know what is right or wrong, good or bad. I don't really think there is a clear path or list of beliefs someone can follow, making it even more confusing. It's so important for girls to learn to be comfortable with themselves, not feel like they have to love wearing high heels or that they have to hate high heels. I think we get a little carried away with things sometimes -- I completely agree about the whole costume issue being a bit silly. If it was what the girls chose to wear and if they felt comfortable with it, then it seems like that was the appropriate choice. We get so carried away sometimes by political correctness, or overanalyzing every little thing, when in the end what matters is the piece as a whole -- if this is what they created and wished to portray, then that is the way it should be. That in itself is quite an accomplishment. I think it's important sometimes just to step back a moment and really look at what has been accomplished. There will always be struggles and contradictions, but we can't get too caught up in them all the time or we miss the bigger picture.
This article pinpoints a very important fact about feminism: it is not a unique, one-mind body of angry, ugly, men-hating, bitter lesbians (that's how the stereotype goes, right?). Feminism is composed of as many facets and aspects as there are women. There are feminists in bikinis and heels and other in hijabs, some in hot pink and others in all black. The article does a great job of explaining how those different factions interact, sometimes with some conflict, but often with the same interests in mind. I find it sad when women are afraid to say that they are feminists because of the nasty connotation associated with the word.
What matters is the actual goal of feminism: establishing equality between men and women in every aspect of our lives. The keyword here is equality. Too often I read articles calling for female superiority; that makes me uncomfortable because they claim to be feminists, when really they are disillusioned and misguided. Making men the enemies of feminism is just about the best way to perpetuate gender inequality. This article focuses on body issues and societal expectations, and there is a lot to be said about that on the men’s side of the picture too, but I won’t go into detail about this right now. All I will say is that men and women must work together to give women a status equal to that of men all over the world as well as to get rid of the unfair societal pressure set upon both genders.
Initiatives like the one described in this article are great; getting young girls to talk about their femininity, sexuality, and the conflict in their lives that stems from those two things is a brave, beautiful endeavor. Theater and the arts in general are the perfect vehicle for crafting and carrying a powerful message like this one.
I think that Edell was wrong and shouldn’t have changed the girls’ costume, but I respect her decision, because I understand that feminism comes in so many different shapes and colors, and if mine isn’t quite like hers, that’s ok. What is important is that the girls took away from the experience a sense of empowerment, of respect for (all) others and greater knowledge about what they like and who they want to be. Because that, to me, is what feminism is about.
So, this article was incomplete for me. I applaud the open safe environment that they created to start these kinds of conversations. But I think this article would be more compelling if we knew more about how audiences reacted to it, and how the project will progress and move forward. It's definitely an interesting juxtaposition of ideas "I feel sexy when/I feel sexualized when...", and I would love to learn more about the outcome of what was learned. And more importantly, what is going to happen with this information. I think Camille makes a great point: This identifies that feminism means different things to different people.
I think as a male feminist I should weigh in on my opinion of this article, I think this article was trying to make a point, but missed it. The article and theatre troupe seemed to make a point about sexy v.s. sexualized and by doing so turn the whole debate in to a dichotomy. When really the issue is so personal that every point changes person to person and really this article did a poor job at making that know it simply stuck to responsive of sexualized and sexy. It is important to realize that there are a million different responsive to every women's issue and if you have a right to have one side you have the right to the other and other six sides not seen. It is important to realize that all feminism is, is the believe that man and women are equal. Although it seems as if I am boiling down that argument that is the base belief in feminism. Men and women having every choice that the other sex has, and dichotomizing them is a misconstruction of feminism.
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