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A cake-eating contest, workshops featuring sex toys and self-defense will help the Student Women’s Association “open the box” and define beauty at the seventh annual Beautiful Project Saturday, April 19 in Donald P. Corbett Business Building.
“Summer is coming, and when it gets hot, women should know that they don’t have to change themselves to wear a bathing suit,” Rachel Warner, co-chair of SWA, said.
Wendy Chapkis, author of “Beauty Secrets,” will kick off the day at 9 a.m. with the keynote speech, followed by sessions discussing perspectives on objectification, fat activism, abortion and a knitting workshop titled “Stitch and Bitch.” A drag show and lesbian burlesque will be performed at night, and folk-rocker Melissa Ferrick and the Princesses of Porn and the Dukes of Dykedom, both of Boston, will finish the event around 11 p.m. with musical performances. The event is free of charge, and both men and women are welcome, Warner said.
“Males are welcome to all parts of Beautiful Project,” Beth Bryant, a senior education major, said. “While planning the event we keep the benefit of women in mind, but all are welcome.”
Representatives of Pussywhipped Productions and members of the Princesses of Porn and the Dukes of Dykedom will lead two workshops, and other workshops will be led by members of Bangor’s National Organization for Women and UMaine students, Warner said.
“The speakers are going to be really open about topics that aren’t usually discussed or are discussed with a red face,” said Sarah Brasslett, co-chair of SWA. “I think it’s fabulous.”
Media portrayal of women is a major stimulus for the event, along with peer pressure and parental pressure.
“The way the media portray women sends subtle messages to tell them to question their beauty,” said Brasslett, a senior women’s studies and child development major. “Feminists are portrayed as bra-burning, man-hating feminists, so people are afraid to call themselves feminists.”
The Beautiful Wall, which last year featured a series of photographs of women’s bellies, will display illustrations, poetry and prose that express a view of beauty separate from the media perspective. The wall will be displayed in the atrium of D.P.C. Business Building. Any student who wishes to contribute to the wall should e-mail Sarah Brasslett on FirstClass.
“We’re sending the message that there is a lot of diversity among women and it’s OK to be who you want to be,” Warner, a sophomore women’s studies and social work major said.
SWA hopes for a bigger turnout this year than past years, when the event was scheduled on the same day as the HOPE festival, an event held in Brewer to celebrate Earth Day, Warner said.
Other workshops at the conference include a discussion of sorority women in feminism led by members of Alpha Phi, a session about treatment of women in car garages led by a female mechanic, and a pro-choice talk by a Planned Parenthood intern.
“Anyone who comes will find something they’re interested in,” Brasslett said. “Maybe you don’t feel comfortable talking about abortion, but you want to learn how to fix a car.”
Child care will be available free of charge, which will be staffed by students. A couple of workshops will be designed for a mature audience, but most of the event is appropriate for all ages. Flyers with more details will be posted soon, Warner said.
“Our goal is to tell women, ‘you are good enough,’ and to empower them to know they can change their own oil and feel OK about buying a vibrator,” Brasslett said.
Bangor Daily News