There’s a popular feminist saying that “the personal is political.” In context, this phrase means that individual problems are oft caused by larger, systemic issues – that it is impossible to separate our personal lives from the larger politics of society.
One of the most personal things, in my opinion, is art – it is a deeply important mirror that can reflect our desires, our fears, and how we view the world as individuals. Art has also been closely tied to politics – from the great Renaissance artists being commissioned by powerful families, to the McCarthy era blacklists, society has always seen art as not only a medium for expression, but also as a method to develop and express political opinion.
Over the course of this March, I had the honor of being a part of two extremely political acts of art. The first, which occurred over one weekend, was a building-approved graffiti project inside two bathrooms in the Studio Arts building. The second, which took more than a month of rehearsal and much more than that in planning, was V-DAY’s performance of “The Vagina Monologues.”
One Saturday, a friend of mine posted on Facebook and said that they were working on a trans-rights related art project. I was obviously interested, and later that day I had made my way up to the Studio Arts building (if you don’t know where it is, it’s past McDowell). I walked in, and suddenly was met with a cacophony of activity and voices – many of which I knew! Over the course of that weekend, the group of us took both the Men’s and Women’s bathrooms and transformed them into gender-neutral ones, with almost every available surface covered in words, pictures, and phrases that promoted transgender advocacy and awareness. One of my favorite pieces that we put up was a beautiful portrait of Marsha “Pay It No Mind” Johnson, a transgender activist credited with the instigation of the Stonewall uprising. This weekend will honestly always be one of my cherished memories – I was doing something I loved (writing political statements) while being surrounded by people I love, and I was truly happy during that time. It was a process of taking feelings that all of us had – feelings of hurt, or solidarity, or respect – and transforming those feelings into a visual representation that could leave an impact on others.
Opposed to the seemingly-impulsive act of vandalism previously mentioned, the Vagina Monologues have been running as an annual performance at UD for a while now. I remember the first time I’d heard about the Vagina Monologues – I had come up to campus for a weekend with an Honors Program event, and the Vagina Monologues happened to be running. I was paired with a current student, and we decided to catch the tail end of the show together. Despite my initial impressions from the title (as a transgender woman, I have issues with equating the vagina to womanhood), I found that I loved every one of the monologues, crafted from interviews with real women and read by volunteers. I was determined to be involved when I came to UD, and when auditions started in December, I came forward. What I found as a member of the #UDVagMon2017 cast was a community of people who strived to advocate for all women, and be as inclusive and respectful as possible. I was personally part of a monologue that highlighted the struggles that transgender women face, and during our rehearsals we had discussions about the problematic aspects of the Vagina Monologues’ official script. V-DAY’s commitment to inclusion went so far as to write a piece for The Review about the history of the Vagina Monologues, its problems, and how this year’s cast acted to correct them. With a performance that covers extremely sensitive issues such as gender-based violence, rape, and sexual harassment, I was glad to know that everyone involved was committed to a truly progressive political message.
Art can, and is, and will always be, in some form, political. Whether you’re defacing a public space to send a message, or giving a voice to the voiceless in a powerful venue, or even creating something intimate, something personal, something that only your eyes will ever see, you are making a statement. What your statement is may depend on your own intentions, or it might depend on who’s consuming your art, but hopefully, your message will be a good one. So let’s all work, together, to make more art, make more statements, and most importantly, make more memories.
