The Role of Artivism in Exposing the Sexist-Ableist Nexus in Campus Rape Culture

Acts of Public Survival: The Role of Artivism in Exposing the Sexist-Ableist Nexus in Campus Rape Culture Thesis Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Tess Elizabeth Cumpstone, MA Graduate Program in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies The Ohio State University 2018 Thesis Committee: Dr. Guisela Latorre, Advisor Dr. Margaret Price Copyright by Tess Elizabeth Cumpstone 2018 2 Abstract “Acts of Public Survival” analyzes how community-based, anti-rape art projects on college campuses challenge the sexist-ableist rhetorical maneuvers that pathologize survivors and position them as outliers requiring special treatment. This violent rhetoric is evident in messages that have been circulated by prominent public figures, as well as entrenched in the policies and administrative responses addressing sexual violence on college campuses. The impact of such rhetoric is the perpetuation and affirmation of the sub-humanization of survivors of sexual trauma. In this thesis, I put disability studies scholarship in conversation with feminist theories on sexual violence and public art in order to highlight the interconnected history of sexism-ableism in the U.S. and the function of anti-rape art projects as artivist practices on college campuses. Specifically, I will be considering Duke University’s Breaking Out Campaign, the University of Chicago’s Clothesline Project, and Emma Sulkowicz’s Mattress Performance (undertaken at Columbia University). I use grounded theory and discourse analysis to interpret digital articles written in reaction to the art projects and to track three common trends in sexist-ableist campus community responses: the narrative of special treatment, the narrative of pathology, and the narrative of willful ignorance. All three of these rhetorical maneuvers attempt to shift accountability away from school administrators and perpetrators through the use of sexist-ableist stereotypes and dominant narratives. Analysis of the above articles, as well as photographs of the campaigns, also reveal that these student-driven, anti-rape art projects actively contest such harmful narratives of stigmatization and blame. Thus, I conclude that survivors and allies use collective art as a way to create activist communities, craft counter- ii hegemonic narratives of survivorship and victimization, and expose the sexist-ableist rhetoric that administrators employ to shift accountability. iii Acknowledgments I would first like to thank my wonderful committee members and advisors who were on board with me throughout this undertaking: Dr. Guisela Latorre of the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Department and Dr. Margaret Price in the English Department. This project has been living in my head for a long time, and I could not have brought it to life without your invaluable guidance and belief in my work. I would also like to thank all of my professors and colleagues in the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Department at the Ohio State University, who pushed me to be a better scholar and made my time in this Master’s program memorable. Special thanks to my academic family who listened to rants, helped me hone arguments, fielded endless questions, and always pointed me in the right direction: Deja Beamon, Saidah Isoke, and Jaclyn Serpico. It would also be remiss to not acknowledge my biggest supporters in Colgate University’s Women’s Studies Program, Dr. Meika Loe and Dr. Susan Thomson, who started me on this path. Additionally, to my friends and family outside of academia (you know who you are): your unwavering belief in me throughout this often bumpy journey will always motivate me to reach new heights. Finally, this thesis would not have been possible without the incredible student activists, artists, and survivors who have inspired it (with a particular shout out to Neha Sharma and Dana Raphael). Your resilience and bravery is stunning and unbounded. iv Vita May 2011……………………………………….Kenston High School 2015……………………………………….........B.A. Women’s Studies, Colgate University 2016 to present………………………………....Graduate Teaching Associate, Department of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, The Ohio State University Publications Loe, Meika, Tess Cumpstone, and Susan B. Miller. “Feminist Parenting Online: Community, Contestation, and Change.” Taking the Village Online: Mothers, Motherhood, and Social Media. Ed. Lorin B. Arnold and BettyAnn Martin. Bradford, Ontario: Demeter Press 2016. Print. Fields of Study Major Field: Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies v Table of Contents Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………................ii Acknowledgments………………………………………………………………………………..iv Vita……………………………………………………………………………………...................v List of Figures…………………………………………………………………………................vii Chapter 1: Introduction…………………………………………………………………................1 Chapter 2: Theoretical Framework………………………………………………………………..5 Chapter 3: Methodology…………………………………………………………………………21 Chapter 4: Artivist Contestation of Sexist-Ableist Rhetoric……………………………………..29 Chapter 5: Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………71 References………………………………………………………………………………………..74 Appendix: Photographs from Anti-Rape Artivist Campaigns…...………………………………80 vi List of Figures Figure 1: 2014 Breaking Out Campaign Participant……………………………………………..80 Figure 2: Mattress Performance Collective Carry……………………………………………….81 Figure 3: 2017 Clothesline Project Shirt…………………………………………………………82 Figure 4: Another Participant from the 2014 Breaking Out Campaign………………………….83 Figure 5: 2014 Clothesline Project Shirt…………………………………………………………84 vii Introduction On April 4, 2011, the Office for Civil Rights released a statement known as the “Dear Colleague” letter, which reinterpreted Title IX to hold all 7,000 federally funded colleges and universities in the United States accountable for meeting government requirements for sexual assault procedures (Johnson and Taylor). The following year, Angie Epifano wrote a piece for an Amherst College newspaper, detailing how she had been repeatedly failed by her institution after reporting her assault. Epifano’s statement was circulated widely and set off a wave of protests and increased student interest in their schools’ Title IX policies. That year (2012), Neha Sharma from Duke University and Patty Fernandez of University of Chicago launched two separate public art projects at their respective universities in an effort to shed light on the sexual assault happening there. These were Duke’s Breaking Out Campaign and Chicago’s Clothesline Project. Two years later, in 2014, Emma Sulkowicz would begin her senior thesis in the form of an endurance performance piece, known as Mattress Performance or Carry that Weight. Each of these student-led, anti-rape campaigns were founded by women of color and imbued with an artivist praxis. According to Chela Sandoval and Guisela Latorre, “artivism is a hybrid neologism that signifies work created by individuals who see an organic relationship between art and activism” (82). Besides a social justice lens, artivism is also characterized by community involvement that generates networks of activists, solidifies community bonds, and mends internalized violence. Furthermore, instead of waiting for space to be provided, artivists carve out room in the spaces 1 through which they already move to craft and uplift previously marginalized narratives. At the heart of the public art projects that I analyze, this community engagement, desire to address social injustices, and creation of counter-hegemonic narratives, spaces, and networks is apparent. For example, all three campaigns have activist origins and seek to change the campus culture and Title IX policies at their universities. They have also inspired the creation of other artivist movements and anti-rape student groups within and beyond their home universities. Finally, these projects destabilize the common narratives around survivors which seek to pathologize, ignore, and/or frame them as seeking special treatment. In this thesis, I will be building upon past interventions in discussions of sexual violence and trauma made by disability studies and feminist scholars. These scholars have pointed out that the material and discursive responses to people who experience trauma are often framed in academic spaces as if they are seeking special treatment rather than basic access needs. Disability studies scholarship is also critical for understanding the response to survivors on college campuses, because it creates opportunities to think differently about bodies and minds and highlights how certain processes themselves are disabling. Additionally, a more nuanced understanding of disability and access reveals how ideas of the normate are encoded in the rhetorical frames that college administrations and community actors apply to survivorship narratives. In other words, dominant ideologies that dictate what types of bodies and minds are accepted in public spaces (and are therefore considered normate) also impact how we respond to survivors who speak publicly about their experiences. Such a discussion of survivorship narratives is direly needed in today’s political and social climate. We have a President of the United States who is a self-described sexual predator, bragging about grabbing women by the genitals and doing whatever he wants with them. Under 2 Trump’s administration, we also have a Secretary of Education who has rescinded prior Title IX standards and met with men’s rights

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