ABSTRACT

SUZANNE LACY: THREE WEEKS IN MAY

Suzanne Lacy’s continuous involvement in both the feminist and anti-rape movements during the 1970s helped raise social awareness on the subject of rape, an issue that was rarely taken seriously and often misunderstood. Beginning with a brief outline of the anti-rape movement and its feminist context, this paper will explore Lacy’s groundbreaking work, Three Weeks in May, a Los Angeles based event that addressed the issue of rape using a combination of art and social organization. This three week long event consisted of gallery installations, self- defense demonstrations, public speak-outs and street performances. In this thesis I will take into consideration the benefits of utilizing public art as a means to address social and political issues, and elucidate Three Weeks in May’s contribution to the anti-rape movement.

Emily Louise Krause May 2010

SUZANNE LACY: THREE WEEKS IN MAY

by Emily Louise Krause

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Art in the College of Arts and Humanities California State University, Fresno May 2010

© 2010 Emily Louise Krause APPROVED

For the Department of Art and Design:

We, the undersigned, certify that the thesis of the following student meets the required standards of scholarship, format, and style of the university and the student's graduate degree program for the awarding of the master's degree.

Emily Louise Krause Thesis Author

Keith Jordan (Chair) Art and Design

Laura Meyer Art and Design

Nancy Youdelman Art and Design

For the University Graduate Committee:

Dean, Division of Graduate Studies AUTHORIZATION FOR REPRODUCTION OF MASTER’S THESIS

X I grant permission for the reproduction of this thesis in part or in its entirety without further authorization from me, on the condition that the person or agency requesting reproduction absorbs the cost and provides proper acknowledgment of authorship.

Permission to reproduce this thesis in part or in its entirety must be obtained from me.

Signature of thesis author: ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to thank my parents for their continuous support and love and my thesis committee for their guidance and humor. Thank you especially to Suzanne Lacy, Leslie Labowitz-Starus, Aviva Rahmani, Cheri Gaulke, Anne Gauldin, Barbara Smith, Laurel Klick, Jan Lester-Martin and Nancy Youdelman for sharing their insight on this project.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page LIST OF FIGURES ...... ix Chapter

1. INTRODUCTION ...... 1 Violence Against Women ...... 1 Feminist Intervention ...... 2 Interviews and Sources...... 3 Thesis Organization ...... 5 2. SUZANNE LACY...... 8 Early Education...... 8 VISTA...... 10 Fresno State College...... 11 Judy Chicago and the Feminist Art Program . . . 11 CalArts and Allan Kaprow ...... 14 Ablutions, 1972...... 16 The Woman’s Building...... 22 One Woman Shows, 1973 ...... 23 3. FEMINISM AND THE ANTI-RAPE MOVEMENT ...... 26 The Awakening Feminist Conscious ...... 27 Anti-Rape Movement ...... 28 Historical Reference...... 29 Definitions of Rape ...... 31 Rape Myths...... 34 vii

Chapter Page

Rape Prevention and Feminist Mobilization . . . 36 Rape-Supportive Culture ...... 37 Post-Traumatic Stress and the Aftermath of Rape . 39 Three Weeks in May ...... 41 4. THREE WEEKS IN MAY SCHEDULE AND EVENTS . . . . . 43 Contributors ...... 43 Three Weeks in May Artists ...... 45 Schedule of Events ...... 47 Maps ...... 49 Workshops ...... 54 Performance Art...... 55 Cheri Gaulke and Barbara Smith’s Die Liebestod . 55 Anne Gauldin and Melissa Hoffman’s Breaking Silence ...... 57 Laurel Klick’s Exorcism ...... 59 Leslie Labowitz-Starus’s Myths of Rape . . . . 61 Leslie Labowitz-Starus’s The Rape ...... 63 Leslie Labowitz-Starus’s All Men Are Potential Rapists ...... 64 Leslie Labowitz-Starus’s Women Fight Back. . . . 66 Suzanne Lacy’s She Who Would Fly ...... 66 Guerilla Event ...... 69 Self-Defense Workshops ...... 70 Media Influence and Coverage ...... 71 Conclusion ...... 73 viii

Chapter Page

5. THREE WEEKS IN MAY DOCUMENTATION AND IMPACT . . . 75 Rape Law Reform ...... 76 Rape on Television and in Print ...... 77 Community Response and Further Work by Suzanne Lacy ...... 79 Suzanne Lacy: Activist and Artist ...... 80 Conclusion ...... 83 BIBLIOGRAPHY...... 86 APPENDICES ...... 90 A. THREE WEEKS IN MAY SCHEDULE PT. 1 ...... 91 B. THREE WEEKS IN MAY SCHEDULE PT. 2 ...... 93

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure Page

1. Ablutions, by the Performance Art Workshop of the Feminist Art Program, 1972 ...... 18 2. One Woman Shows, by Suzanne Lacy, 1973 . . . . . 25 3. Maps, Three Weeks in May, by Suzanne Lacy and Leslie Labowitz-Starus, 1977 ...... 51 4. Die Liebestod, by Cheri Gaulke and Barbara Smith, 1977 ...... 56 5. Breaking Silence, by Anne Gauldin and Melissa Hoffman, 1977 ...... 59 6. Myths of Rape, by Leslie Labowitz-Starus, 1977 . . 62 7. All Men Are Potential Rapists, by Leslie Labowitz- Starus, 1977 ...... 65 8. She Who Would Fly, by Suzanne Lacy, 1977 . . . . 68 9. She Who Would Fly, by Suzanne Lacy, 1977 . . . . 69 10. Guerilla event, by Suzanne Lacy, Melissa Hoffman, Phranc and Judith Loischild, 1977 ...... 70 11. Self-defense workshop, 1977 ...... 71

Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION

The 1960s through the 1980s were crucial years for women around the world, as the second wave of the Feminist Movement was gaining in strength and numbers. While their predecessors in the nineteenth and first half of the twentieth century had succeeded in achieving the right to vote, second wave feminists continued to address issues that women still faced, such as inequality in the workplace and reproductive rights. Along with fighting for these additional rights, second wave feminists also introduced women’s issues, including inequality in the workplace, homosexual relationships, sexual harassment, domestic violence, and rape to modern day society. While all of these issues were taken seriously by feminists, the last two subjects struck a major chord.

Violence Against Women During the late 1960s through the 1970s, violence against women in the form of domestic abuse and rape were rarely addressed by society. Marital and acquaintance rape were not considered crimes, and each state interpreted the definition of rape in different ways. During this time law enforcement and the court systems did not take the issue of 2 rape seriously, thus causing the rest of society to adopt the same attitude. Those who had not experienced rape had difficulty seeing past the physical act, as it appeared to be similar to consensual intercourse. What was not taken into consideration when viewing this crime was the fear and traumatizing effects that rape caused, similar to what war veterans and victims of child abuse experienced. This consistent ignorance on an issue that was affecting women at an alarming rate worried contemporary feminists, who viewed the act of rape as a violent assertion of power of a man over a woman instead of merely a sexual act. The combination of ignorance, lack of information, and wrong information about rape contributed to several rape myths, such as the belief that women secretly craved rape and that rape only occurred in low end areas of town. These myths often led to false stereotyping of victims and perpetrators.

Feminist Intervention Using a combination of different tactics, feminists rose to the challenge of exposing this growing social epidemic. While pushing legislatures to produce harsher punishment for rape was one goal, these women also hoped to better educate the public on the subject and offer a stronger support system for those who had already been victimized. 3

During the 1970s, violence against women reached its peak, yet society continued to turn a deaf ear on the subject. Thus, the anti-rape movement was born and lasted approximately from the 1960s and continues to present day. Groups and individuals from all levels of society, including public leaders and regular citizens, supported and contributed to this movement in numerous ways with the common goals of preventing violence against women and providing support for those who had already experienced it. Tactics used to gain support for this movement ranged from public addresses, various forms of written work, and also art, which will be the main focus of this thesis. While several feminist artists created visually effective work in support of this movement, it would be feminist artist Suzanne Lacy, along with her colleague, Leslie Labowitz-Starus, who would create a groundbreaking project called Three Weeks in May. This project, which consisted of three week’s worth of activities, public addresses, performance art and gallery installations, fulfilled the primary goals of the anti-rape movement and so much more.

Interviews and Sources While the positive changes that occurred in response to the anti-rape movement and the second wave of the feminist movement cannot be credited to any single group or person, the focus of this paper will be in what ways 4

Suzanne Lacy and Three Weeks in May contributed to the anti-rape movement and why both the project and movement was a success. An in-person interview with Lacy proved to be a pivotal source for the thesis, as it gave me better insight into the project and how it developed from a simple idea to a three-week-long event. The majority of my research, in the form of published books and articles, were located at the Henry Madden Library at California State University, Fresno, which is the same campus where the first Feminist Art Program began in 1970 thanks to feminist pioneer, Judy Chicago. Online articles were found using the Jstor database where past articles from art magazines, such as High Performance, NWSA, and TDR were useful. Articles that addressed the subject of rape and trauma were found in the American Art Therapy Associate Journal and a more recent article in the New York Times is included. An extensive interview with Suzanne Lacy that had been previously conducted by Moira Roth was a useful source as well, primarily focusing on Lacy’s background and thought process. I conducted personal interviews via e-mail with feminist artists Jan Lester-Martin, Laurel Klick, and Aviva Rahmani, who had worked with Lacy in previous pieces before Three Weeks in May, as well as artist Cheri Gaulke. After taking a graduate course about the Feminist Art Program that had been started at Fresno State, I had an 5 immediate interest in Suzanne Lacy. Her long and impressive career as an artist has been full of collaborative work with people of all ages, ethnicities, and social backgrounds. The idea of working with such large groups of people, whether it was aging women in the Crystal Quilt and Whisper Waves the Wind or African American teenagers in Oakland, appealed to me. Although Lacy insisted that her goals and artistic expectations were always upheld with each project, she also relied heavily on others’ input, particularly those who lived in the communities where her projects took place.

Thesis Organization This thesis is organized into six chapters. Chapter 1 gives a glimpse of life for women during the mid-to-late seventies, including the anti-rape and second wave feminist involvement. Chapter 2 gives a detailed background history of Lacy, beginning with her early interests and education, and continuing with her consistent involvement with the second wave of the feminist art movement throughout the 1970s. Accounts from other feminist artists, such as Jan Lester-Martin, Laurel Klick, and Aviva Rahmani who worked with Lacy during the early period of her work, provide a background to Lacy’s work. Several attempts were made to contact Leslie Labowitz-Starus regarding her biography, but they were unsuccessful. The chapter concludes with an 6 account of an early collaborative performance piece that Lacy participated in that deals with rape, which marks the beginning of using rape as a prevalent theme in her work. In chapter 3 I explain the anti-rape movement in further detail, beginning with its history before the 1960s and how it evolved and reached its climax during the 1970s. Definitions of rape that have been used throughout the years are introduced, along with different forms of rape, such as date-, acquaintance- and marital-rape. It also provides personal accounts of women’s experiences of sexual assault and how they were treated by law enforcement, medical staff, and counselors. Various examples of rape myths are described and discussed. Chapter 4 is dedicated to the Three Weeks in May project, with a day-by-day breakdown of events. While each event was crucial to the success of this three-week-long project, the performance art pieces created by Lacy, Labowitz-Starus, Cheri Gaulke, Barbara Smith, Laurel Klick, Melissa Hoffman, and Anne Gauldin are further described in more detail. A personal interview with Lacy, articles written by Lacy and art historian Vivien Green Fryd, and a visit to Lacy and Labowitz-Starus’s archives at the 18th St. Arts Center in Santa Monica provided the majority of information in this chapter. The thesis concludes in chapter 5 with the project’s documentation, community feedback and further addresses the 7 ways in which Three Weeks in May was beneficial to the anti-rape movement, including rape law reform and morale. I also further discuss the participating artists and other projects they were involved in. My thesis revolves around several questions that I wish to discuss and, as far as possible, to answer. What are the benefits of using art (more specifically, performance art, public art, and fine art found in gallery spaces) to convey a political message? In what ways did feminist artists add their support to the anti-rape movement? Why were collaborative efforts more effective to the movement then a single artist or group? How did the project affect its viewers and those who were involved? In what ways did Three Weeks in May help change the community’s view of rape and what changes in the legal system were seen after it had been shown? I also wish to discuss the new role that the audience was not just asked, but forced to play when it came to viewing feminist art during the 1970s. Chapter 2

SUZANNE LACY

Suzanne Lacy was born in 1945 in the small farming town of Wasco, California. Although her father came from a military background, he also enjoyed writing, drawing, and music. While he never took these hobbies to a professional level, he consistently exposed Lacy to various forms of creativity throughout her upbringing. After World War II, he held several jobs, which included electrician, refrigerator mechanic, and life insurance salesman. Lacy’s mother worked as a clerk for the Southern California Gas Company, and was “as much a friend as she was a mother.”1 Lacy has remained close with her parents and two other siblings throughout her life.

Early Education Lacy was involved in numerous extracurricular activities in high school, such as student government, decorating for dances, and was a yell leader. While she was interested in both art and science, science became her chosen major after being told by her art teacher that she could only be a commercial artist or teacher with an art

1 Suzanne Lacy, interview by Moira Roth, 16 March 1990, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. 9 degree.2 After graduating from a small high school in Wasco, Lacy left her hometown for Bakersfield, where she received her Associate’s Degree at Bakersfield Junior College and was voted “outstanding premed student.”3 She then transferred to the University of California at Santa Barbara, where she began a major in philosophy, but in the end graduated with a degree in zoology and a minor in chemistry. Although Lacy’s scholarly foci were in the sciences, she also stayed involved with the arts, taking an additional year of college for dance and art classes. After graduating from UC Santa Barbara, Lacy began applying for medical school, but was slowly beginning to lose motivation, stating, “My compulsion to push through was weakening and I was starting to get a little bit nervous about what I was seeing in medical schools.”4 The ratio of female to male students in medical school was rather low and Lacy wished to keep her options open, as she still wished to pursue a doctorate degree in psychology. After applying to three different schools, Lacy realized she needed a break and joined the volunteer program, VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America).

2 Ibid., March 16, 1990.

3 Ibid., March 16, 1990.

4 Ibid., March 16, 1990. 10 VISTA Although Lacy had been an activist and volunteer at heart all her life, the first official volunteer program that she participated in was VISTA in Washington D.C., after receiving her undergraduate degree. This government- run program was in charge of placing volunteers in various communities for service. Lacy was placed in a community- organizing program directed by the Maryland School of Social Design. Her assignment revolved around working with rural African Americans in Virginia, specializing in patients’ medical rights. Even as a young child, Lacy had a talent for organizing social events and would often invent games or skits for the neighborhood children to be involved in. She also would help collect old clothing for the poor before she was even a teenager. Her work with VISTA furthered her interest and knowledge of organizing large groups of people, along with instigating changes in society.5 From when she first introduced herself as a performance artist and social organizer in 1972, through the present day, Lacy’s work as an artist and social organizer has centered around giving marginalized members of society a stronger voice.

5 Diana Burgess Fuller and Daniela Salvioni, eds. Art/Women/California 1950-2000 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002), 296. 11 Fresno State College After leaving VISTA, Lacy applied to and was accepted to Fresno State College in 1970 as a graduate student in psychology. Because of her strong science background, she was immediately asked to teach. While on the east coast during her VISTA involvement, Lacy had been exposed to feminism and began applying these ideas to her teaching in a new feminist psychology course. After meeting Faith Wilding, a graduate student in English Literature at Fresno State, they decided to hold a feminist meeting on campus. Much to Lacy’s and Wilding’s surprise, a large group of excited women showed up, marking the beginning of feminist organizing at Fresno State. Both women would eventually join Fresno State’s new Feminist Art Program that was created by professor Judy Chicago. After being introduced to Chicago, Lacy’s life would take a dramatic turn.

Judy Chicago and the Feminist Art Program Inspired by the second wave of the feminist movement during the 1960s, Chicago had grown tired of the male- dominated art world. She envisioned a space where female artists could work and freely discuss any subject without the distraction of patriarchal society. In 1970 this vision was finally realized after Chicago accepted a teaching position at Fresno State and was given permission 12

to develop an art department dedicated solely to women, which would later be known as the Feminist Art Program.6 Although Lacy had been a successful student in rigorous academic programs, she had begun to feel a bit alienated from her primarily male classmates. Having already been exposed to feminism, Lacy was eager to join Chicago’s Feminist Art Program and other female students who shared her goals and motivations.7 Chicago was adamant that her students be serious about pursuing a career in art and was reluctant to allow Lacy into her program, sensing that her life was too far down the medical track.8 In the end, however, Lacy was able to change Chicago’s mind, as she proved her interests were not merely confined to the sciences. Although she lacked a solid fine art background, Lacy became drawn to the idea of performance art, which Chicago enthusiastically encouraged. However, her background in psychology and the body would play a dominant role in her career as an artist who

6 Faith Wilding, “The Feminist Art Programs at Fresno and CalArts, 1970-75,” The Power of Feminist Art, ed. Norma Broude and Mary D. Garrard (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1994), 32. 7 Richard Newton, “She Who Would Fly: An Interview with Suzanne Lacy,” High Performance Magazine, Spring 1978, http://www.communityarts.net/readingroom/archivefiles/2002/09/ she_who_would_f.php

8 Gail Levin, Becoming Judy Chicago (New York: Harmony Books, 2007), 150. 13

addressed issues such as rape and gender roles.9 In the end, Lacy became one of Chicago’s most successful students and is now an internationally known artist. Even though Fresno State was distant from the rest of the exploding art world during the 1970s, Chicago insisted that her feminist art workshop space be located off-campus. This complete isolation would allow her students to focus more on their personal needs as female artists and avoid any patriarchal resistance.10 In order to promote a productive learning haven for her students, Chicago worked to create an entirely different type of educational curriculum. Finding a suitably sized space proved to be a task unto itself, as realtors did little to hide their skepticism about women wanting a space to work. In the meantime, the fifteen students who constituted the first Feminist Art class met at each other’s houses where they read aloud, held consciousness-raising sessions and shared their artwork. Eventually a 5,000 square foot studio space was acquired and rented for seven months, thanks to each student’s $25 a month contribution.11 In several interviews Lacy has named Chicago as one of her major inspirations throughout her career as a social

9 Newton, “She Who Would Fly.”

10 Wilding, “The Feminist Art Programs,” 32-34.

11 Ibid., 34. 14 artist and organizer, stating, “Judy’s a very, very fine teacher. She’s incredibly demanding, and she knows how to push through to the tenderest parts of your psyche, and she goes right for the jugular in her criticism, which I think is good.”12 In 1971, Chicago was hired to begin a feminist art program with artist Miriam Shapiro at CalArts (California Institution of Arts) in the town of Valencia. Because she was close to receiving her Master’s Degree in Psychology, Lacy was hesitant to leave Fresno State. In the end, however, thanks to the urging of Chicago, Lacy and several other students from Fresno State followed Chicago to continue on with their artwork.13 Growing up, Lacy did not plan on being an artist. If it had not been for the encouragement of Chicago and other instructors, Lacy stated that she probably would have become a doctor or social organizer.

CalArts and Allan Kaprow While many of Chicago’s original students joined her and Shapiro’s new Feminist Art Program at CalArts, Lacy took a different route, joining the feminist design program taught by Sheila de Bretteville, while also contributing as

12 Lacy, interview by Moira Roth, March 16, 1990.

13 Wilding, “The Feminist Art Programs,” 38. 15

a graduate teaching assistant. Although she was not directly involved in the famous Womanhouse production, she continued to take performance classes from Chicago. Lacy got along famously with de Bretteville, who had Lacy help teach elements of design that she presented to the classroom. Conceptual artist Allan Kaprow would also make a lasting impression on Lacy, teaching her:

that art could become politically meaningful by engaging directly in life by addressing significant issues, creating performances that demanded audience responses, and erasing the barrier between artwork and viewer to affect the participants’ (including both the “artists” and the “audience”) experiences.14 Kaprow was a pioneer of performance art in the United States, best known for his “Happenings” during the 1950s through 1960s. These works were tightly scripted performances that allowed for audience participation. Kaprow emphasized the distinction between indoor art, such as that found in museums, galleries, and magazines, and outdoor art, which could be found in the streets and other unconventional spaces in the community.15 It was the latter that Lacy and other feminist artists would use as the arena for their work, inevitably

14 Vivien Green Fryd, “Suzanne Lacy’s Three Weeks in May: Feminist Activist Performance Art as ‘Expanded Public Pedagogy,’” NWSA Journal 19, no. 1 (2007): 24.

15 Ibid., 24. 16

fulfilling Kaprow’s prophecy made in 1958, “that artists will disclose entirely unheard–of happenings and events, found in garbage cans, police files, hotel lobbies; seen in store windows and on the streets.”16 Interestingly enough, Lacy would later several of these exact locations and facilities for her work, specifically in Three Weeks in May. After studying under both Chicago and Kaprow, Lacy began to envision her work “as a combination of feminist activism and the conceptually oriented avant-garde, beginning with the futurists and constructivists, through happenings, to the present time.”17 Although Lacy’s focus lay in conceptual art rather than fine art, she also paid great attention to detail in her work, whether it be her performers wearing a specific color, moving to a carefully chosen soundtrack, or the number of performers chosen. Her talent for organization and communication would come in handy, as Lacy often worked with hundreds of people at a time.

Ablutions, 1972 Thanks to Chicago’s wide recognition in the art world, her students were able to show their work and perform in

16 Suzanne Lacy, “Affinities: Thoughts on an Incomplete History,” The Power of Feminist Art, ed. Norma Broude and Mary D. Garrard (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1994), 269.

17 Burgess Fuller and Salvioni, “Exchanges,” 302. 17

spaces outside of campus. During this time, CalArts offered a wide range of feminist courses that dealt with literature, fine art, sociology, and creative design. These innovative programs helped produce a new type of feminist artwork that addressed the female body, identity issues, relationships, and forms of violence.18 In 1972, the year Lacy was set to graduate from CalArts, Chicago, Lacy, Aviva Rahmani, and Sandra Orgel collaborated on a performance called Ablutions, which took place in a Venice studio. An audience of approximately seventy-five students and artists watched as a nude woman was led to a chair, seated, and slowly bandaged to the chair beginning with her feet (see Figure 1). Two other women took turns bathing in three large metal tubs that were filled with eggs, cow’s blood, and wet clay. After they had washed in all three tubs, they were wrapped in white sheets, placed on the ground, and then slowly tied with white rope to every object in the room, including the woman already in the chair.19

18 Burgess Fuller and Salvioni, “Exchanges,” 300.

19 Green Fryd, “Suzanne Lacy’s Three Weeks in May,” 27. 18

Figure 1. Ablutions by the Performance Workshop of the Feminist Art Program, 1972. (Source: Reprinted from http://womansbuilding.org/fromsitetovision/pdfs/Klein.pdf). November 9, 2009.

During these events, Lacy and another CalArts student, Jan Lester-Martin, methodically nailed beef kidneys to the back wall of the studio, simulating a spinal column with the various organs surrounding it. Along with the noise produced from the pounding of nails, a background tape was played that had previous recordings of women recounting their experiences with rape.20 As remembered by Chicago, “Round and round the women walked, tying everything in neatly, like some obsessive

20 Ibid., 27. 19 housekeeping duty, until the performance area was like a spider web and all the figures caught, contained, bound by their circumstances.”21 At the end of the performance, a voice on the tape recording kept repeating, “I felt so helpless, so powerless, there was nothing I could do but lay there and cry softly.”22 The idea for this piece began about a year before it was performed. Lacy approached Chicago with the idea of playing tape recorded conversations of women who had been raped for an audience that would sit in a dark room. Because women who had been raped rarely shared their experience with their peers, let alone the police during the seventies, locating victims and getting them to share their experiences proved to be a challenge. In the end, seven women’s stories were used for the performance, all found and recorded by Chicago and Lacy. Achieving the goal of making “private experiences public,” Ablutions was a monumental piece, and was the first contemporary feminist artwork that addressed the subject of rape. This piece shocked the audience, both

21 Ibid., 27.

22 Ibid., 27. 20

from art and non-art backgrounds, as it was performed during a time when society did not talk about rape.23 Lacy later mentioned during an interview with Moira Roth that Jan Oxenberg, one of the women who bathed in the tubs, had a strong emotional reaction to the piece, as it was intended that she place herself in the mindset of a rape victim. Artist Cheri Gaulke, who would later contribute a performance piece to Lacy’s Three Weeks in May, stated, “Ablutions explored both internal and external constrictions on women through rape - how we are prisoners of our fear as well as the social system that supports rape.”24 This performance piece also opened up a dialogue for rape victims that had not previously existed. Collaborating artist Aviva Rahmani, who had directed her own performance group before CalArts and addressed the issue of rape in previous work before Ablutions, stated, “Often, people took me aside after those performances to confide their own experiences. In those days we had no

23 Cheri Gaulke, “Acting Like Women: Performance Art of the Woman’s Building,” High Performance Magazine, Fall/Winter 1980. http://www.communityarts.net/readingroom/archivefiles/ 2002/09/acting_like_wom.php. 24 Ibid. 21 language for any of this and few could talk about it openly.”25 Lacy considered Ablutions as a “kind of exit performance for us. It was moving from CalArts to Los Angeles. It was moving from graduate school into the professional community, so that our relationships then would be closer to Womanspace, as opposed to the school.”26 Jan Lester-Martin stated,

I thought it was an elegant piece, and very intelligent, just like all of Suzanne’s work. But by this time, we were all so involved in numerous projects that I don’t think I was able to absorb all its nuances. When I look back, I can see how powerful it really was.27 Although Lacy would address other issues that pertained to contemporary women throughout her career, such as race and class discrimination, prostitution, and the aging process, violence against women, especially rape, would remain a dominant factor in her work.28 In an interview with Moira Roth, Lacy stated, “For some reason, I was always very conscious about violence – I believe it has to do with my relationship to being in a body and with

25 Aviva Rahmani, e-mail message to author, May 31, 2009.

26 Lacy, interview by Moira Roth.

27 Jan Martin-Lester, e-mail message to author, June 18, 2009.

28 Burgess Fuller and Salvioni, “Exchanges,” 300-301. 22 understanding sexual violence as an invasion of the body as a sacred space.”29

The Woman’s Building Lacy received her M.F.A. from CalArts in 1972 and that same year the Los Angeles Woman’s Building was created by Judy Chicago, Sheila de Bretteville, and Arlene Raven, which hosted the first Feminist Studio Workshop. At this time there was not enough money available to hire Lacy as an instructor, so she began a new job working long hours as a carpenter, which she managed to fuse with a conceptual form of art:

I began framing things, so to speak. I “framed” a bathroom that I was doing as a work of art, so that you could come visit it on certain days while I was doing the carpentry. I was also working on bridging that gap between what I always felt to be the strangely esoteric and elitist environment of Cal Arts with the real world. I felt, as a working-class kid, like I was from the real world. I would sit at Cal Arts and listen to kids talking about going to the Bahamas for Easter vacation. Their frames of reference were very different.30 A year later, after expanding their programs, this building consisted of the Feminist Studio Workshop and numerous gallery spaces, including the Womanspace Gallery. The Feminist Studio Workshop provided classes for creative writing, graphic design, performance art, print, and video

29 Lacy, interview by Moira Roth.

30 Ibid. 23 art.31 Lacy was eventually brought on as a faculty member as a performance instructor and also held various workshops in carpentry. For extra money, Lacy also trained as an emergency medical technician and continued her work as a carpenter.

One Woman Shows, 1973 Even with this busy schedule Lacy continued to focus on her own work as an artist, joining the cooperative Grandview Galleries. Each artist was given the space for their own show and when it came for her turn, Lacy named it One-Woman Shows. After nearly a month of organizing, Lacy carefully chose three women to perform with: art historian Arlene Raven; Mary Holden, who was a librarian and friend of Lacy’s; and artist Laurel Klick. While these three women were near and dear to her heart, they were not familiar with performance art. Lacy’s goal was to teach them to perform and for them to pass the knowledge along to another group of women.32 Lacy’s performance consisted of all three women sitting down in front of her. Using black paint, Lacy covered her entire body and began to refer to herself as a woman who had been raped, a prostitute, and a lesbian, all

31 Green Fryd, “Suzanne Lacy’s Three Weeks in May,” 28.

32 Lacy, interview by Moira Roth. 24 types of women who were often marginalized and misunderstood by society (see Figure 2). After reading a list of rape reports, which came from the Los Angeles Police Department, Lacy threw herself onto the white gallery wall leaving a distinct black imprint of her body. Lacy ended the piece by taking blood out of her arm with a syringe, a skill she had mastered thanks to her medical training, and injecting it into a grapefruit. After finishing her performance for the three women, Raven, Holden, and Klick separated into three different parts of the gallery space and began to perform for their own selected audiences, which were another three specifically chosen females. What began as a single show turned into a large event with women performing and communicating with each other. This early piece in Lacy’s career would emphasize her talent for large scale organizing and communication.33 While working at the Woman’s Building, Lacy, along with other feminist artists during this time, began to focus more on their audience: who they were, where they were located, what issues they wanted to portray, and how they would respond. After realizing that gallery spaces only reached a certain type of audience, Lacy began to look

33 Ibid. 25

Figure 2. One Woman Shows by Suzanne Lacy, 1973. (Source: Reprinted from http://womansbuilding.org/wb/imagedisplay. php?dir=disc0014&img=ot141016.jpg). Nov. 9, 2009.

outside of the box and branch out into the community. 34 In the mid-seventies, Lacy and several other feminist artists became involved with the anti-rape movement, as both supporters and artists. This movement is further described in the following chapter, addressing its historical content and impact on the second wave of feminism.

34 Ibid. Chapter 3

FEMINISM AND THE ANTI-RAPE MOVEMENT

From the 1960s to 1980s, the second wave of the feminist movement started up where the first left off, as well as addressing new issues that contemporary women faced. The first movement was often criticized for only advocating rights for middle class Caucasian women, and excluding women of color, lower income backgrounds, and lesbians. The second wave focused on sensitive issues such as abortion rights, sexual harassment in the workplace, and various forms of violence against women, particularly rape. Rape was not a major issue to the first feminist movement’s political agenda, yet it was often covertly mentioned. While the idea of marital rape would not be introduced until the 1970s, it was the first movement that began to point out that marriage “made the wife the legal sexual servant of her husband.”1 The first movement’s primary goal was to achieve suffrage, the female right to vote, which was eventually accomplished in 1920 when the 19th Amendment was added to the Constitution. This movement was also referred to as the Suffragist Movement and had a

1 Maria Bevacqua, Rape on the Public Agenda: Feminism and the Politics of Sexual Assault (Boston: Northeastern University Press, 2000), 27. 27 long run, spanning from the nineteenth to early twentieth century. Although the second feminist movement addressed different issues that pertained to women, the first gave it a strong support base. “The personal is political” became the new slogan for second wave feminists and artists, who also began to serve as activists in their communities.2 Using their talents for visual propaganda, feminist artists found themselves rallying for causes that affected the female population, namely domestic violence, incest, and rape. Feminist art made a strong contribution to the movement by providing powerful aesthetic work in the form of traditional fine art, performance and conceptual art.

The Awakening Feminist Conscious Second wave feminist artists such as Suzanne Lacy began to integrate themes including rape and violence against women into their work. Instead of viewing rape as something inescapable for contemporary women, Lacy and other second wave feminists dug deeper, critiquing the media’s portrayal of violence against women, and examining the role that social and economic factors often played.

2 Norma Broude and Mary D. Garrard, “Introduction: Feminism and Art in the Twentieth Century,” The Power of Feminist Art (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1994), 12. 28

During my personal interview with Lacy, she recalled fellow Fresno State student Nancy Youdelman coming to class in the fall of 1970 mentioning a dream she had. While she was asleep in her bed a man entered her room and slipped his hands underneath the covers to touch her. “I could barely see him but was chilled to the bone and very scared- --so scared that I couldn’t move or say anything. I felt a strong sense of violation.”3 After hearing this, a consciousness-raising session of the students’ own experiences with rape and sexual abuse took place in the classroom. Out of that small group several women admitted that they had been raped before, one even by her doctor after he had performed an abortion. Realizing that this was a common problem that women faced, feminist students such as Lacy participated in the anti-rape movement working to create an environment where women felt comfortable enough to share their experiences with rape without shame and guilt.4

Anti-Rape Movement Maria Bevacqua, author of Rape on the Public Agenda, references the anti-rape movement as a sub-movement within

3 Nancy Youdelman, e-mail message to author, September 27, 2009.

4 Faith Wilding, “The Feminist Art Programs at Fresno and CalArts, 1970-75,” The Power of Feminist Art, ed. Norma Broude and Mary D. Garrard (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1994), 38. 29 a larger movement, the second wave of feminism. While this form of categorization is not meant to detract from the accomplishments and success that the anti-rape movement achieved, it is important to note that it was brought onto the public agenda during this specific time period.5 While it reached its peak in the 1970s, the anti-rape movement has not been given a definitive beginning and end date, as it still continues to this day with its members continuing to raise awareness on the issue. Using the term “anti-rape movement” implies that there was a pro-rape movement, which is technically untrue. While history has never documented an official pro-rape movement, society’s silence and ignorance on the subject had created a frightening tolerance of violence against women during the 1970s. Irina Anderson and Kathy Doherty, authors of Accounting for Rape, referred to this as a “rape-supportive” culture, which is further described in this chapter.6

Historical Reference During the 1970s rape was considered a taboo subject and rarely talked about, yet it was not a new phenomenon to

5 Bevacqua, Rape on the Public Agenda, 27.

6 Irina Anderson and Kathy Doherty, Accounting for Rape: Psychology, Feminism and Discourse Analysis in the Study of Sexual Violence (London: Routledge, 2008), 9. 30 society. Rape had been addressed as early as ancient civilization, as well as in Jewish and Christian scripture and was strictly prohibited. It is important to note, however, that these ancient rules were not in place to protect women from physical and emotional harm, but to protect a man’s property rights. The idea of blaming women for being raped has been recorded as early as the Middle Ages, which is another social phenomenon that will be discussed in the Rape Myths segment of this chapter.7 Over the years, scholars have noted various forms of sexual violence against women all over the world, ranging from rape to forced prostitution to genital mutilation. While a number of feminists and anti-rape supporters worked overseas to draw attention to these issues, the main focus of this thesis will be on sexual violence in the United States, specifically in southern California. Contemporary culture had been aware of the issue of rape, but it did not arrive on the American public agenda until the nineteenth century. Before the emancipation of slaves and even after legal emancipation, slave rape was a common occurrence. White male landowners continuously took sexual advantage of black female slaves or threatened to, using both fear and violence to establish racial and sexual dominance. Female slaves were considered property and

7 Bevacqua, Rape on the Public Agenda, 18. 31 these crimes went without reprimand. However, if a black man was even suspected of raping a white woman, they would be immediately lynched without trial or questioning. Unfortunately, these early forms of racism would carry over into the twentieth century, where rapists were believed to be men of color and of low income.8 Racial stereotyping would continue to bloom thanks to the imaginations of European writers and misconstrued ideas from those who traveled to the near and far East and Africa. Unlike the dress of Europe and America, foreign women were often semi-nude, which was mistaken for promiscuity. These misunderstandings also created the view that women of color were highly sexualized, lustful and could not be trusted.9

Definitions of Rape Author Susan Brownmiller best defined the act of rape as “nothing more or less than a conscious process of intimidation by which all men keep all women in a state of fear” in her breakthrough book on rape.10 While historically the legal definition of rape varied from state

8 Ibid., 21-22.

9 Ibid., 23.

10 Susan Brownmiller, Against Our Will: Men, Women, and Rape (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1975), 15. 32 to state, and still does to this day, the majority have defined it as vaginal or anal penetration without consent.11 Lack of consent is what makes rape a felony. Consensual intercourse is with a willing partner who is fully conscious, not on drugs or under the influence of alcohol, and not physically coerced or threatened. Because the legal definition of rape involved the physical act of intercourse, law enforcement and medical assistants often overlooked the traumatizing and humiliating aspects that the victim had experienced, believing that it was just sex. Unfortunately this is often still the case. Various types of rape have been recorded throughout the years, such as stranger rape where the female victim has never met the male perpetrator, marital rape which involves the victim’s spouse, date rape when the victim and perpetrator are either in a relationship or on a date, and acquaintance rape when both parties know each other. Out of these four types of rape scenarios, only the first had a chance at making it to trial. If, for example, a woman had been raped by a stranger who followed her into an alley or hid under a staircase wielding a weapon, it was universally viewed as a horrific

11 Theresa A. Gannon and others, “Rape: Psychology, Theory and Treatment,” Clinical Psychology Review 28 (2008), 983. 33 crime and if found, the rapist was prosecuted.12 A woman only maintained her credibility if could be proven that she did all within her power to fight the rapist off. If the rapist was unarmed and an acquaintance of the victim, or if the woman was unmarried and not a virgin, her credibility and character would be questioned.13 An open dialogue about rape began in the late 1960s and women began to realize their own misconstrued definitions of rape. Numerous women began to realize that they were victims of date and acquaintance rape. One woman reported, “I remember an occasion where he wouldn’t let me get up, and he was very strong. He pulled my arms above my head; I didn’t put up much of a struggle. I mean I wouldn’t have seen that as rape because I associated rape with strangers, dark, night and struggle.”14 While watching the movie The Bell Jar, Lacy recalled having similar experiences with attempted date rape that the main female character faced, yet admitted that it was “the kind of pressure that you wouldn’t ever describe as attempted rape in the fifties and sixties.”15

12 Ibid., 14.

13 Ibid., 13.

14 Ibid., 14.

15 Suzanne Lacy, interview by Moira Roth, March 16, 1990, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. 34 Rape Myths There are several types of rape myths that have been applied to rapists, rape victims, and prevailing definitions of rape. Society had a tendency to racially stereotype rapists as being men of color, particularly African American and those who came from low-income backgrounds. Famous psychiatrist and sexologist Richard Freiherr von Krafft-Ebing only briefly mentioned rape in his book, Psychopathia Sexualis, to report that rapists were usually “degenerate, imbecilic men.”16 It was ignorant and uneducated statements such as these that made society believe that rapists were always strangers to their victims and that “normal” men were not rapists, only over- sexualized psychopaths.17 Other renowned psychologists such as Carl Jung rarely addressed rape at all in their studies or published work. Sigmund Freud briefly delved into child sexual abuse and rape, only to come to the conclusion that “they were only fantasies which my patients had made up.”18 This lack of and often wrong information on rape made the myths easier to believe. It was believed that if a woman did not want to be raped she would be able to fight a man off. Some even

16 Brownmiller, Against Our Will, 11.

17 Ibid.

18 Judith Lewis Herman. Trauma and Recovery (New York: BasicBooks, 1992), 14. 35 believed that it was impossible for a conscious woman to be raped, therefore denying the existence of rape. Women who dressed provocatively, especially in certain neighborhoods, or who walked alone at night, or invited dates or male acquaintances into their homes, were thought to secretly crave rape or were “asking for trouble.”19 Believing these myths, women often felt that they were safe from rape if they dressed modestly, were not overly attractive or young, and walked in groups at night, yet they still became victims. Frustrated over the silence, lack of information, and wrong information about rape, second wave feminists worked to dismantle these myths, showing that rape could occur anytime and anywhere. Rapists came in many forms, even the boy next door or a trusted friend or relative. The age of rape victims ranged from as young as four to as old as senior citizen status. Rape could occur at a crowded party, in a parking lot, and even in your own home in broad daylight. It was evident that no woman was safe from rape.20

19 Anderson and Doherty, Accounting for Rape, 37.

20 Suzanne Lacy, “Three Weeks in May: Speaking Out on Rape, a Political Art Piece,” Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies 2, no. 1 (1977): 67. 36 Rape Prevention and Feminist Mobilization Along with redefining rape and making the public more aware of the subject, second wave feminists also worked to provide better services for rape victims. The first rape crisis center in the United States was started in 1971 in Oakland, California and for the next decade numerous centers and hotlines began to spring up all over the nation. In addition to creating rape crisis centers, women from various occupational backgrounds began to offer other forms of support for rape victims, whether it was from a legal or emotional standpoint. In order to make sure the victims were treated with respect and dignity, volunteers from the crisis centers would often go with them to the hospitals, police stations, and the courtroom. Various support groups began to spring up across the country, such as the Women Against Rape organization in Cambridge, Massachusetts and Berkeley’s Bay Area Women Against Rape in California. After a female member of the Crenshaw Women’s Center had been raped, an anti-rape squad and rape hotline were formed in Los Angeles in 1972.21 The Feminist Alliance Against Rape was formed in 1974 after combining various groups that focused on anti-rape projects. The National Center for the Prevention and Control of Rape was created in 1975, the same year that Susan Brownmiller’s Against Our

21 Bevacqua, Rape on the Public Agenda, 31-33. 37

Will was published. In 1978 the National Coalition Against Sexual Assault was founded and held its first conference a year later in Wisconsin.22 Through consciousness-raising, a method of conversation commonly used during the second wave of feminism that enabled women to talk openly about private and painful experiences, women began to realize that rape was a common occurrence and began to mobilize in an effort to prevent it from happening.23 While some rapists carried weapons in order to subdue women, many simply relied on their strength alone. Self-defense classes began to be offered to women during the 1970s as a means of protection by pinpointing a man’s weak spots on the body, namely the eyes, groin, knees, and nose.24 Along with volunteering their time at these support centers and classes for women, feminists helped create marketing strategies for the anti- rape movement, providing positive images for women.

Rape-Supportive Culture During the 1970s men were often forgiven for acts of rape on account of what was referred to as their

22 Ibid., 204-05.

23 Ibid., 30.

24 Ibid., 66-69. 38 uncontrollable “primal biological sex drive.”25 If a woman did not forcefully say no to a man’s sexual advances, then he was not believed to be at fault for continuing them. It was believed that once a man was sexually aroused, he was incapable of controlling himself. Feminists wished to change this ideology and prove that men, no matter how aroused they became or how much they wanted sex, should be able to control themselves and be held accountable for their actions. Because rape was such a personal violation to the female body, the majority of rape victims did not report the crime out of embarrassment, shame, and guilt. Rape victims who were brave enough to report the crime would usually find themselves victimized again by law enforcement, the court systems, counselors, and health care, who had a long history of showing little sympathy for these cases. There were also cases when a woman reported a rape only to be dismissed as a “man-hater,” prostitute, or gold digger, and the accused would walk free.26 Even though rape statistics continued to grow, rape was not taken seriously and even joked about at times. During the Three Weeks in May project, Lacy would overhear men asking, “Is this where the action is?” or “Now you women know where to

25 Anderson and Doherty, Accounting for Rape, 8.

26 Ibid., 3. 39 hang out” when approaching the maps that indicated where rapes had occurred.27 Another important factor that played a prevalent role in contributing to the rape-supportive culture during this time was the role of pornography, which frequently depicted images of violence against women and the women enjoying it. The content included women being beaten, raped, and bound in order to fulfill a man’s sexual desires. This degrading form of entertainment enraged feminists such as Lacy, who felt that if society condoned this on film, then they were also condoning it in real life.28

Post-Traumatic Stress and the Aftermath of Rape Rape victims of all ages have been studied by psychologists and therapists who found that the majority experience similar symptoms. Also known as rape trauma syndrome, the symptoms were comparable to those of post- traumatic stress disorder, which is commonly seen in war veterans or those who have experienced an overwhelming stressful event in their lives. These symptoms include, but are not limited to, anxiety, nausea, nightmares,

27 Suzanne Lacy, “Speech Delivered at Closing Ceremonies and Rally,” May 28, 1977, box 18, 18th St. Arts Center Archives, Santa Monica.

28 Bevacqua, Rape on the Public Agenda, 178-79. 40 numbness, and overall dissociation from everyday life.29 Those who viewed rape merely as a sexual act did not realize the magnitude to which these women’s lives would be changed forever. Non-consensual sex meant physical force, which caused various forms of physical damage to a woman’s body, whether it was her reproductive organs or outer extremities. Victims were often impregnated or given a sexually transmitted disease from rape, which they were forced to live with forever. Particularly in other non- American cultures, where a woman’s virginity is essential in order to be married, rape made them unmarriageable and subjected them to family and community stigmatisms. Psychological damage was also prevalent, as the victims often feared that they would be killed or mutilated in some way during the rape. Some feared to report it or even talk about it for fear that the rapist would return. While the majority of rape victims did live through the event, many wished they had died instead of living the rest of their life with these horrible memories, both mentally and physically.30 After speaking with rape victims, psychologists came to the conclusion that those who remained calm and resilient during the incident were often able to maneuver

29 Herman, Trauma and Recovery, 31.

30 Ibid., 30-31. 41 themselves out of the situation. If the rape occurred anyway, they had less guilt and self-reproach afterwards, knowing that they had done everything in their power to stop it. On the opposite end, those who became paralyzed by their fear and did not fight back often placed blame on themselves for having let the rape happen.31 They began to question themselves and ended up believing the rape myths. Feminists and members of the anti-rape movement used this information wisely, helping women find ways to defend themselves, as mentioned before, and to show them that rape was not their fault.

Three Weeks in May In early 1977 Lacy met performance artist and feminist Leslie Labowitz-Starus, who had just returned from studying art abroad in Germany. The two formed an immediate bond and Labowitz-Starus agreed to collaborate with Lacy on a project called Three Weeks in May. Together they created a powerful piece they believed proved that rape deserved to be on the public agenda. As the following chapter will illustrate, Lacy’s Three Weeks in May project fully encompassed all of the anti-rape movement’s strategies to exposing the growing problem of violence against women. One-on-one conversation, group

31 Ibid., 59. 42 consciousness-raising, communication within the artist and activist community, and self-defense classes are just a few aspects of this internationally exhibited piece. What makes Three Weeks in May stand out from the rest of the anti-rape movement’s achievements is its ability to convey this important message through art. While presenting her ideas for the piece to anti-rape organizers and feminists at the Women’s Coalition Luncheon, Lacy was accused of “just making art” to help the problem of rape, which I completely disagree with.32 After reading about Lacy’s, Labowitz-Starus’s, Laurel Klick’s, and several other feminist artist performances that contributed to this piece, I believe you, the reader, will feel the same way.

32 Suzanne Lacy, interview with author, July 5, 2009. Chapter 4

THREE WEEKS IN MAY SCHEDULE AND EVENTS

The idea for Three Weeks in May began in the winter of 1976 for Suzanne Lacy. In an interview with art historian Moira Roth, she recalled:

I remember my own natural progression in Three Weeks in May from thinking, “I want to talk about rape,” to “Who do I want to talk about rape to? Well, I want artists to see it, but I also want it to become much more influential in the culture at large. Therefore it doesn’t make any sense to put it in a gallery.”1 Ideas concerning the project continued to evolve up until the official opening in May of 1977. This chapter follows the progression of Three Weeks in May from a single map piece to a three-week-long project that was filled with performance art and anti-rape activism.

Contributors While Three Weeks in May was originally Lacy’s idea, it would not have taken place without plenty of support. For those who could not contribute monetarily, they did in the spirit of volunteerism. Events for the project revolved around volunteers who were interested in specific themes, such as senior citizen self-defense and the Latina

1 Suzanne Lacy, interview by Moira Roth, March 16, 1990, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. 44 rape victim’s workshop. The Studio Watts Workshop in Los Angeles, a community-based art organization, sponsored Three Weeks in May, donating both money and space for the performance artists to organize and exhibit their work. The Woman’s Building helped pay the mailing fees and contributed numerous volunteers. The city picked up the expenses for the maps to be created and installed at the mall. Labowitz-Starus was a co-coordinator and collaborator with Lacy, and also contributed four performance pieces. Lacy also named Melissa Hoffman, who coordinated the events and co-coordinated the performance, Breaking Silence; Barbara Cohen, the publicity director; and Jill Soderholm, who assisted Lacy in developing the maps, as integral to the project’s success.2 To help ensure the project’s credibility to the public, endorsement from political leaders in the community, such as Mayor Tom Bradley, City Attorney Burt Pines, and Councilwoman Pat Russell, was necessary and achieved. While it was suspected that some offered their support only because they did not want to appear unsympathetic to women’s issues and to promote a better

2 Vivien Green Fryd, “Suzanne Lacy’s Three Weeks in May: Feminist Activist Performance Art as ‘Expanded Public Pedagogy,’” NWSA Journal 19, no. 1 (2007), 28. 45 public image, their endorsement drew positive attention to the project.3

Three Weeks in May Artists Three Weeks in May brought together old friends and also forged new friendships and collaborations within the feminist art community. After the project had been completed, artist Cheri Gaulke continued her work in performance art and co-founded Sisters of Survival, a group of women who wore nuns’ habits in the colors of the rainbow to demonstrate their anti-nuclear protesting. The rainbow was a symbol of “our sisterhood of hope, humor and

diversity.”4 Gaulke had already co-founded the Feminist Art Workers before participating in Three Weeks in May, a performance group that was known for “challenging conventional female roles and images,” such as waitresses, Cinderella, and nuns. Artist Anne Gauldin participated in this performance group, as well as co-founding The Waitresses in 1977. This collaborative performance group originated in Los Angeles and consisted of female artists who were also waitresses and explored the stereotypes that surrounded working women.

3 Suzanne Lacy, “Chronology, Three Weeks in May,” box 18, 18th St. Arts Center Archives, Santa Monica.

4 Nancy Youdelman, e-mail message to author, January 18, 2010. 46

Artist Laurel Klick was an active member of The Feminist Art Workers and one of the original members of the Sisters of Survival group. Klick had previously worked with Lacy in 1975 as a participant in her One Woman Shows and also contributed to a piece organized by Barbara Smith that was held at the Woman’s Building for the College Art Association convention in 1977. Smith’s piece, Pucker Painting, consisted of audience members applying strange colors of lipstick to their lips and kissing her white- painted body, which served as a blank easel.5 Three Weeks in May not only affected these feminist artists’ careers, but their personal lives as well. For artist Melissa Hoffman, the project marked an important time in her life, stating to a reporter, “I was raped when I was 8 years old. I never told my parents and, until recently, I didn’t tell anybody about it. I came from a place of not mentioning it to a place where I can now talk about it.”6 Laurel Klick’s Exorcism piece, which involved both personal reflection and reaching out to others for comfort, gave her the opportunity to deal with her prior experience with rape.

5 Cheri Gaulke, “Acting Like Women: Performance Art of the Woman’s Building,” High Performance, Fall/Winter 1980, http://www.communityarts.net/readingroom/archivefiles/2002/09/ acting_like_wom.php.

6 Slater, Jack. “Helping to Stamp Out Rape,” View section, Los Angeles Times, May 23, 1977. 47

Artist Leslie Labowitz-Starus continued collaborating with Lacy through the late seventies, as well as creating her own work. Together they created another moving performance piece called In Mourning and in Rage in December of 1977. This body of work focused on the media’s coverage of the Hillside Strangler case in Los Angeles, using it as an example of its frequent sensationalism of violence against women. Labowitz-Starus also created Record Companies Drag Their Feet in August of 1977, a protest against the recording industry’s frequent usage of violent images of women on their record covers. This piece was similar to the Women Against Violence Against Women’s workshop that had been held during Three Weeks in May that is mentioned later in chapter 4.

Schedule of Events Three Weeks in May officially began on Mother’s Day, May 8th, 1977 and ended on May 28th. These next three weeks were filled with events, such as radio addresses, public speak outs and protesting, self-defense demonstrations, gallery installations, and interviews with the artists involved with the project (see Appendices A and B for complete schedule). Not every event was organized by Lacy and team members. For example, the Battered Women: A Time for Action and Women’s Pursepower Jobs events, had been previously scheduled by other activist groups. However, 48

Lacy obtained their permission to advertise these events in conjunction with Three Weeks in May, which led to an increased attendance and created an open communication with other groups who had similar goals.7 Three events were also held that addressed primarily an art audience. Students from the Feminist Studio Workshop were able to meet the participating artists on May 11th at the City Mall where the maps were located. This informal talk gave the artists the opportunity to discuss the project from an artistic perspective. On May 15th the artists set up a collection of diagrams, photographs, and notes on how the project had been organized, which remained up for the three weeks. This information gave other aspiring artists ideas for their own artwork. The third event was a panel discussion moderated by Lacy herself at the Bonaventure Hotel. Martha Rosler, Helen Harrison, Bonnie Sherk, political artists, and feminist art critic Arlene Raven were present at this panel and conversed about socially responsive art. The end of the panel discussion was followed by a champagne reception at the maps’ location.

7 Suzanne Lacy, Three Weeks in May (Los Angeles: Suzanne Lacy, 1980), 52. 49 Maps The idea for Three Weeks in May originally began as a single map of Los Angeles that would be posted in a gallery space. Lacy had been living and teaching in Los Angeles

and because it had recently been dubbed the “rape capital of the nation” she felt that it was an appropriate location for the piece.8 In 1975 alone, Los Angeles had more reported rapes than forty eight other states in the nation combined.9 Every day for three weeks, Lacy reported to the Los Angeles Police Department in the afternoon, asking for the number of reported rapes from the previous day and what vicinity they occurred in. After receiving this information, Lacy’s original plan was to return to the gallery and place white postcards on the map where these incidents had occurred.10 Lacy’s former instructor from CalArts Sheila de Bretteville, was very instrumental in the creation of Three Weeks in May. She encouraged Lacy to think further outside the box in order to connect with a wider audience. Months before opening day, Lacy tried to arrange for the map to be placed outdoors in the middle of the Arco Plaza in downtown

8 Green Fryd, “Suzanne Lacy’s Three Weeks in May,” 28.

9 “Three Weeks in May: A Public Informational Art Project on the Rape of Women in Los Angeles,” box 18, 18th St. Arts Center Archives, Santa Monica.

10 Lacy, interview by Moira Roth, March 16, 1990. 50

Los Angeles, instead of keeping the map inside a gallery. When asked why she chose that specific location, Lacy responded, “I was concerned with the irony of the daily life of people shopping juxtaposed to the on-going tragedy of violence that was happening at the same time.”11 It was anything but easy trying to convince the Plaza shop owners to allow this piece to be installed, as they feared it would scare away their customers. Lacy wrote letters to various people asking for permission but was eventually turned down by the shop owners. In the end a friend’s father, who was in charge of the Los Angeles Public Works and supportive of the piece, stepped in and arranged for it to be installed in the City Hall Mall, below and to the left of City Hall itself. Having the maps placed sublevel to the general public “indicated both the visibility and invisibility of rape in American culture.”12 This location proved to be beneficial as residents, tourists, and City Hall employees frequently passed by this area. Lacy also made the decision to further change the piece by replacing the white postcards with a red inked stamp that was imprinted with the word “RAPE” to mark the locations of both reported rapes and attempted rapes.

11 Ibid., March 16, 1990.

12 Green Fryd, “Suzanne Lacy’s Three Weeks in May,” 30. 51

Because authorities estimated that approximately 75%-90% of rapes were not reported at all, Lacy lightly stamped nine times around the single official report to show a more realistic count (see Figure 3). Rape reports were highest in the Wilshire District, Skid Row, and other high prostitution areas. However, there were also rape reports in neighborhoods that had been considered safe and around the college campuses. Convincing the police department to give out the rape reports to a random civilian also proved to be a challenge. In the end, Lacy was able to convince them, although they gave the reports rather grudgingly.

Figure 3. Maps, Three Weeks in May by Suzanne Lacy and Leslie Labowitz-Starus, 1977. (Source: Reprinted from http://www.womansbuilding.org/wb/imagedisplay.php?dir= disc0004&img=ot041027.jpg). Nov. 9, 2009.

After realizing that this single map would soon be covered in “RAPE” stamps and do little to boost the female morale, Lacy began to think of ways to both present the 52 problem and offer solutions. In the end, a second map of

Los Angeles was created that mirrored the first.13 While the first map was proof that rape could happen anywhere, the second map served as a beacon of hope and support. Instead of “RAPE” stamps, it was filled with the locations of rape crisis centers, rape hotlines, police departments, and hospitals. It also included the locations of the various events that Three Weeks in May would produce.14 Both maps were street-sign yellow and black, another suggestion from Sheila de Bretteville, who advised Lacy to “Make it look like a road. Make it look like something people travel through that’s very much part of their experience.”15 Passersby’s reactions to these twenty-five foot by six-foot maps varied. Numerous times men had seen the maps and joked, “Now women know where to get their fun” or “Is this where the action is?” One younger man was overheard claiming, “Last night I struck there, and there, and there!”16 These insensitive remarks only reiterated

13 Green Fryd, “Suzanne Lacy’s Three Weeks in May,” 30.

14 Ibid., 30.

15 Lacy, interview with Moira Roth, March 16, 1990.

16 Suzanne Lacy, “Three Weeks in May: Speaking Out on Rape, a Political Art Piece.” Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies 2, no. 1 (1977):67. 53 society’s refusal to take the issue of rape seriously. However, due to the public location and media coverage, the maps drew a lot of positive attention as well and were the staging arena for several of the events. The city commissioner of the Status of Women in Los Angeles refused to support the maps, but did endorse the project as a whole. Believing the rape myths, she feared that the “RAPE” stamps would only show up in minority and low end neighborhoods, which would instigate racism. Lacy, who had already done plenty of research on the subject and seen where the rapes were occurring, knew that this would not be the case.17 What shoppers and pedestrians were seeing on these maps were reported rapes in their own neighborhoods. The youngest age of a victim was five, while the oldest was a senior citizen. Women were being raped in their own homes and one had even been raped by her bus driver. While the first map was not meant to frighten society or create panic, it showed that rape could happen to anyone and that further research and attention to the issue was necessary.18

17 Suzanne Lacy, interview with author, July 5, 2009.

18 Lacy, “Three Weeks in May,” 67. 54 Workshops Various workshops were held throughout Three Weeks in May that enabled groups of women to come together and share their experiences of rape. Each workshop lasted approximately one hour and was conducted by volunteers. A video and tape recording workshop was made available for women who wished to put their experiences on record. They had the choice of being filmed on camera or recording only their voices on tape. These recordings eventually assisted

in further educating the public, especially legislators.19 Two workshops were held for rape victims of specific ethnicities. The Latina women’s workshop addressed the family pressures of maintaining their virginity and the social stigma of rape and offered suggestions on how to better deal with this. The African American women’s workshop addressed several of the issues that were mentioned in chapter 3 on rape and racism and how to overcome these obstacles.20 Well-known anti-rape movement supporters, Women Against Violence Against Women (WAVAW), held a workshop that focused on the prevalent use of violent images of women in the media for advertising purposes and the effects that it had on society. Their current argument was with

19 “Workshops,” box 18, 18th St. Arts Center Archives, Santa Monica.

20 Ibid. 55 the recording industry’s portrayal of women on their cover art, specifically Warner, Atlantic, and Electra. The Alternative Actions workshop helped rape victims who had already reported to the police, and felt that not enough was being done. This workshop offered other solutions to victims, such as educating the public and confronting the issue with others.21

Performance Art In addition to Labowitz-Starus, Lacy asked five other feminist artists to participate in Three Weeks in May by creating their own performance pieces to add to the calendar of events. These women were Lacy’s current students, former students or colleagues.

Cheri Gaulke and Barbara Smith’s Die Liebestod The first performance activity during Three Weeks in May was held on May 9th and designed by artists Cheri Gaulke and Barbara Smith for a private audience. Gaulke had recently relocated to Los Angeles to attend the Feminist Studio Workshop at the Woman’s Building, while Smith had already established herself as a local performance artist. Lacy asked the two women to host a dinner party for women who were involved in various rape prevention groups, such

21 Ibid. 56 as the Sheriff’s Department and the Ocean Park Battered Women’s Shelter. The dinner party was held at Gaulke and Smith’s studio in Old Town Pasadena, which gave the women the opportunity to get to know one another in a close-knit setting.22 Gaulke and Smith’s performance, named Die Liebestod, after Richard Wagner’s opera, took place while they served food to their guests and addressed restrictions on women’s freedom from various cultures. One part of the performance consisted of Smith binding Gaulke’s feet in cloth, referring to the ancient tradition of Chinese foot-binding (see Figure 4.) After they had been bound, Smith assisted Gaulke in fitting her feet into red high heels and helping her hobble out of the room in obvious pain and discomfort.23

Figure 4. Die Liebestod by Cheri Gaulke and Barbara Smith, 1977. (Source: Reprinted from http://www.womansbuilding.org/wb/imagedisplay.php?dir= disc0004&img=ot041027.jpg). Nov. 9, 2009.

22 Lacy, Three Weeks in May, 50.

23 Ibid., 50. 57

One of Gaulke’s strongest recollections of Die Liebestod was the end: “We served flaming cherries (a reference to female sexuality, of course). We were in white and we stood holding the dish with a film of fire projected onto our bodies (perhaps referencing Indian widow burning or sati).”24 After the performance was over the women all shared their experiences with rape and why they were committed to educating the public and fostering a community that would not accept violence against women.25

Anne Gauldin and Melissa Hoffman’s Breaking Silence On May 15th feminist artists Anne Gauldin and Melissa Hoffman held a ritual performance in a private studio in Pasadena. Both women had previous experiences with rape and decided that their performance would have a greater impact on a smaller audience of women. Hoffman played the role of the rapist, throwing Gauldin to the floor and proceeded to symbolically rape her by surrounding her body with red paint. Gauldin began to slide out of the red paint lines into a fetal position while an audio tape of her voice played overhead, talking about how she had dissociated from her body during her rape. Afterwards, Gauldin and Hoffman each took turns playing the rapist and

24 Cheri Gaulke, e-mail message to author, September 7, 2009.

25 Lacy, Three Weeks in May, 51. 58 the victim using different visual elements, such as weapons and white bandages, and voiced their emotions as victims.26 The next segment of the performance consisted of both artists sharing their personal experience with rape, from the actual occurrence, their emotions afterwards, and how they eventually came to creating this performance. Breaking Silence began with a series of violent images pertaining to women and on a more positive note, ended with a self-healing ritual for the audience to participate in. The weapons were replaced by a circle of twelve lit candles and Gauldin and Hoffman led a guided fantasy meditation, where each audience member could envision their personal power.27 Four women were chosen to enter the circle for the symbolic healing segment, while the rest formed their own groups under Gauldin and Hoffman’s guidance. Gauldin’s group, which included her mother, was asked to remove any negative feelings from within their body and replace them with feelings of love. Hoffman’s directions to her group were similar, asking them to lift away any negative feelings and replace them with healing light (see Figure 5.) After each audience member had felt that their healing

26 Anne Gauldin, “Breaking Silence,” Quest through the Matrix, 1977, 142-43.

27 Ibid., 142-43. 59 session was complete, they sat in the circle and said, “I now claim my own power” and left the room.28

Figure 5. Breaking Silence by Anne Gauldin and Melissa Hoffman, 1977. (Source: Reprinted from “The Waitresses Unpeeled” by Jerri Allen and Anne Gauldin, p. 32). Jan. 30, 2010.

Gauldin wrote about her experience with creating Breaking Silence with Hoffman in her own thesis, stating:

We came out feeling on top of our rape experiences; we felt whole, powerful and creative. Much of our success was due to the degree of honesty we were able to attain in dealing with our particular experiences. One reason this performance worked as a ritual, was that it involved the participation of the audience in a direct, experiential way.29

Laurel Klick’s Exorcism Artist Laurel Klick took a similar route in her performance piece, choosing to address a personal and painful event. A few months before Three Weeks in May took

28 Ibid., 143-44.

29 Ibid., 144. 60 place, an intruder had broken into her apartment and raped her. Klick moved out of the apartment soon after and decided to create an Exorcism in her new home which lasted for five days. She created a list of things to do with the intention of making her new home a safer place and helping her mind and body heal from this horrible experience. While some of the items on the list were simple household safety tips, such as keeping lights on all night and making sure that the windows were securely locked from the outside, the majority were purely symbolic. Klick buried “sacred objects” around her house, ranging from a lock of her hair to her favorite book.30 She shaved the hair on her body except for her head and planned to grow a “crop of virgin hair.”31 To help heal her body physically, Klick rubbed oil over her stomach and genitals along with drinking herb tea. She saw a doctor, bought vitamins and supplements, and practiced running in case she needed to escape from an attacker. In order to heal her mind, Klick returned to the apartment where she had been raped, walking around it in circles thinking about the event. This was not for the purpose of dwelling on the incident longer than necessary

30 “Exorcism: A Private Ritual by Performance Artist Laurel Klick,” box 17, 18th St. Arts Center Archives, Santa Monica.

31 Ibid. 61 but to come to terms with it. She also made sure to talk to someone each day about her experience so she would not feel alone. This culmination of events became Klick’s ritual of self-healing and was not performed in front of an audience but described on paper for Lacy.32

Leslie Labowtiz-Starus’s Myths of Rape Along with assisting Lacy throughout the Three Weeks in May project, Labowitz-Starus contributed four performance pieces that were held outdoors during the lunch hour so that the working population could watch and participate as well. All four pieces took place at the Los Angeles Mall. The first performance, Myths, took place on

May 19th and exposed various myths surrounding rape. Six seated women dressed in white were blindfolded by a seventh woman, who had the word “society” painted in black on her arm and hand. This was meant to symbolize society’s blindness to the actual facts about rape. The seventh woman helped them out of their seats and faced them towards six white signs, each with one written rape myth and a list of statistics that disproved it (see Figure 6).

32 Ibid. 62

Figure 6. Myths of Rape by Leslie Labowitz-Starus, 1977. (Source: Reprinted from http://womansbuilding.org/wb/ imagedisplay.php?dir=disc0014&img=ot141016.jpg). Nov. 9, 2009.

The women’s movements were synchronized so that when one was facing a sign the next was facing the audience and so on. Each woman also came up with various self-defense positions that she felt would ward off a rapist. After all six women completed their movements, some kept their blindfolds on while others removed them, then tore down the rape myth signs and carried them through the Los Angeles Mall and neighboring streets. During the end, informational leaflets created by the Rape Crisis Hotline were passed out to the public.33

33 Leslie Labowitz-Starus, “Myths,” box 18, 18th St. Arts Center Archives, Santa Monica. 63 Leslie Labowitz-Starus’s The Rape Labowitz-Starus’s second performance on May 20th also involved the Women against Rape, Men against Rape organization. One woman played the part of the rape victim and was encircled by ten performers who were dressed in black robes and hats. Ten names were written in white lettering on the performers’ robes, such as Social Rape, Medical Rape, Legal Rape, Media Rape, etc. Each title stood for a social institution where a form of rape could occur. The last two performers played the part of rapists. The performers held hands and slowly encircled the victim, then stopped and pointed silently to the crowd. Different performers came from the audience and began to wrap the victim in white gauze beginning with her feet, while she began to yell, “Help! Why doesn’t anybody hear me?”34 Eventually the gauze reached her mouth and her cries for help were muffled. The victim was then carried out on a stretcher and paraded through the Los Angeles Mall and neighboring streets, while the performers whispered, “Seduction.”35 Meanwhile, Labowitz-Starus handed out information on the performance. In order to explain the abstraction that was often used in her work, Labowitz- Starus stated, “What I try to do is backup my performances

34 Lacy, Three Weeks in May, 53.

35 Ibid., 53. 64 if they seem obscure or symbolic by using graphic material to support the message I want to communicate. Either the graphic element is integrated into the performance itself or I give out a statement after the performance.”36

Leslie Labowitz-Starus’s All Men Are Potential Rapists Labowitz-Starus’s third outdoor performance on May 21st involved two men from the Los Angeles Men’s Collective. Both men brought examples of various materials that were prevalent in a man’s life from childhood to adulthood, such as a comic book, toy gun, sports equipment, and Playboy magazine and placed it in a pile on the staging area. The men put a large sign up that read, “Rape is an act of violence fostered by the ‘masculine aggression’ men cultivate and value in this society” and then held up smaller signs that read, “I am a normal man” to demonstrate that rapists come in all forms, not just the insane37 (see Figure 7).

36 Leslie Labowitz-Starus, “Statement,” box 18, 18th St. Arts Center Archives, Santa Monica.

37 Leslie Labowitz-Starus, “All Men Are Potential Rapists,” box 18, 18th St. Arts Center Archives, Santa Monica. 65

Figure 7. All Men Are Potential Rapists by Leslie Labowitz- Starus, 1977. (Source: Reprinted from http://www.womansbuilding.org/wb/searchresults.php?keyword= &offset=32) Nov. 9, 2009.

Taking turns, each man placed the smaller signs below the larger one on the wall and began to make certain movements that coincided with the items he picked up, such as, “I learn to be tough” and then putting on a pair of boxing gloves and shadow boxing. The end of the performance consisted of both men reading the Playboy magazine, joking, “There is only one kind of doll I learn to play with.” The last sign that was held read, “I learn to see women as objects.”38 What Labowitz-Starus wished to express to the audience was how culture valued masculinity and toughness in men but were therefore creating men who used violence and had no sensitivity toward women.

38 Lacy, Three Weeks in May, 53. 66 Leslie Labowitz-Starus’s Women Fight Back The fourth performance was held during the closing

rally for Three Weeks in May on May 22nd and again on May 26th and involved members of the Woman’s Building where Lacy was currently teaching. Phrases such as “Gouge eyes” and “Turn fear into anger” were written on large traffic cones, while women were crouched down and attempting to break free from these barriers.39 Meanwhile, a woman outside of the cones was being slowly bound by people dressed in dark clothing. The women eventually broke loose from the cones and ran to rescue the half-bound woman. The focus of this performance was to reinstate positive images of women fighting back and giving them a sense of hope.40

Suzanne Lacy’s She Who Would Fly On the weekend of May 20th and 21st Lacy directed and participated in a performance called She Who Would Fly that was held in the Studio Watts Workshop’s Garage Gallery. This performance was separated into three different parts, beginning with Talking to Women. This segment consisted of gallery visitors sharing their experiences with sexual assault with Lacy and then writing their stories on pieces of paper. These discussions lasted approximately four

39 Lacy, Three Weeks in May, 53.

40 Ibid., 53. 67 hours as the women addressed similar feelings of shame, disgust, and guilt.41 The second segment, Ceremonies and Constructions, involved four performers, Nancy Angelo, Laurel Klick, Melissa Hoffman, and Cheryl Williams, who had previous experiences with rape. These women, along with Lacy, created their own private ritual in the Garage Gallery during closed hours. They ate together, prepped the gallery space, and then took turns painting each other’s nude bodies using red grease paint. After writing down their own experiences, they stuck their pieces of paper on a long map that had been attached to the gallery walls. Wherever their papers were attached to the map indicated where the incident had occurred.42 On the night of May 21st, the Garage Gallery was opened and the final segment, She Who Would Fly, could be viewed by the public. Only a few visitors were allowed in the gallery at a time and after entering they began to read the women’s stories on the walls. In the center of the gallery hung a large lamb cadaver with white wings attached to its back (see Figure 8). Eventually the visitors became aware that they were not alone in the room. Perched on the ledge above the main entrance were the five women sitting in a

41 Green Fryd, “Suzanne Lacy’s Three Weeks in May,” 30.

42 Ibid., 30-31. 68 crouched position, nude and painted red (see Figures 8 and 9). Lacy envisioned these women and herself as “avenging Valkyries, or avenging angels, metaphors for a woman’s consciousness that often splits from her body as it is raped.”43 Their strange stance also symbolized a form of protection against their visitors from “further violation and patriarchal relations of looking.”44 The audience was deeply moved and rather shocked by the images of women as predators, who remained silent throughout the performance.

Figure 8. She Who Would Fly by Suzanne Lacy, 1977. (Source: Reprinted from http://womansbuilding.org/wb/ imagedisplay.php?dir=disc0014&img=ot141010.jpg). Nov. 9, 2009.

43 Ibid., 31.

44 Ibid. 69

Figure 9. She Who Would Fly by Suzanne Lacy, 1977. (Source: Reprinted from http://www.womansbuilding.org/wb/ imagedisplay.php?dir=disc0004&img=ot041028.jpg) Nov. 9, 2009.

Guerilla Event Guerilla events were a common occurrence during the second wave of feminism with one being included in Three Weeks in May in addition to the scheduled events. These events consisted of illegal activities, and were often conducted during late or early hours in order to maintain anonymity. After viewing the various locations of where rapes had been reported, Lacy, Hoffman, Phranc, and Judith Loischild marked a sidewalk with “a woman was raped near here” using red chalk45 (see Figure 10). They also drew the outline of a women’s body and left behind a flower, which was reminiscent of a murder scene. This act was done early in the morning to avoid a citation for marking public

45 Lacy, Three Weeks in May, 56. 70 property. This rather shocking statement and image forced the public to see that rape was happening all around them, whether they wanted to admit it or not.46 Months later, Lacy and others involved in the piece began to hear news that other feminist groups were marking sidewalks as well.

Figure 10. Guerrilla event, Three Weeks in May by Suzanne Lacy, Melissa Hoffman, Phranc and Judith Loischild, 1977. (Source: Reprinted from http://www.suzannelacy.com/ 1970sviolence_3weeks.htm). Nov. 9, 2009.

Self-Defense Workshops Self-defense strategies were addressed in Labowitz- Starus’s Myths of Rape performance along with events that focused solely on the subject (see Figure 11). Several volunteers helped lead these events. Dr. Mary Conroy led two demonstrations during Three Weeks in May and because of the positive responses the first two received, a third

46 Ibid., 56. 71 demonstration after the project had ended.47 Betty Brooks, along with Cathy Barbar, who organized a rape speak-out afterwards, led a self-defense demonstration at the Los Angeles Trade Technical School, which was sponsored by Women’s Pursepower Jobs.48 Led by Tommy Lenard, another self-defense demonstration was designed specifically for senior citizens and held at the Los Angeles Mall.49

Figure 11. Self-defense workshop, Three Weeks in May, 1977. (Source: Reprinted from http://womansbuilding.org/wb/ imagedisplay.php?dir=disc0014&img=ot141008.jpg). Nov. 9, 2009.

Media Influence and Coverage Lacy and Labowitz-Starus often identified the media as a contributor to the problem of violence against women. It

47 Ibid., 54.

48 Ibid., 68.

49 Ibid., 55. 72 was known for producing sensationalized headlines and images, instead of digging deeper to identify the cause of violence against women. Fortunately, the media were often easily manipulated and would cover anything as long as they felt it would boost their ratings. Using this weakness to their advantage, those who were involved in Three Weeks in May made sure to include the media in every way possible, knowing that media coverage in the form of radio, print, and television was crucial to the success of Three Weeks in May. Media coverage was sparse as was the audience on the day of the project’s official installation ceremony, consisting primarily of curious City Hall employees returning from lunch. The opening day was covered by one television and two radio stations, along with one local newspaper. Thanks to the media and word of mouth, over the next three weeks, the public grew more interested curious in the project. During the middle of the project CLOSE radio, which had a program designated for artist’s audio works, gave Lacy on-air time to read the daily rape reports from the prior day, which took approximately fifteen minutes to complete. Because residents were not accustomed to outdoor activities in this area of town, the performance pieces, rape speak-outs, and self-defense demonstrations drew curiosity and were well-attended. Attendance was 73 significantly higher at the closing ceremony and covered by three television stations and several newspapers.50

Conclusion The closing ceremony was held on May 26th, three days before the maps would be removed and the project was officially over. The ceremony consisted of a large rally that was covered by television stations and newspapers. This ceremony was dedicated to a woman who had been raped upstairs close to the maps’ location two days prior to the ceremony.51 Labowitz-Starus’s performance, Women Fight Back, was held for a second time, and several public figures, such as Councilwoman Pat Russell, Sue Embry, from the Commission on the Status of Women, and Lacy spoke to a much larger crowd compared to the attendance of the opening ceremony. The maps were presented to the Los Angeles City Commission on the Status of Women, and the closing event consisted of a final self-defense demonstration led by Betty Brooks and Cathy Barbar to a crowd of nearly one hundred women, which was photographed and featured on the front page of the Los Angeles Examiner.52 In her closing speech Lacy reported that there had been eighty-six

50 Lacy, Three Weeks in May, 50-56.

51 Suzanne Lacy, “Speech Delivered at Closing Ceremonies and Rally.” May 28, 1977, box 18, 18th St. Arts Center Archives, Santa Monica.

52 Lacy, Three Weeks in May, 55. 74 reported rapes since May 8th, amounting to approximately five a day. The number of actual rapes that had occurred was likely much higher in number. Shocking statistics such as these proved the need for more awareness on the subject and for projects such as this. Lacy summed up her goals and motivation for creating Three Weeks in May stating:

What this map, and the whole Three Weeks in May project is about, is women speaking out to each other, sharing the reality of their experience. By exposing the fact of our rapes---the numbers of them, the events surrounding, when they are happening, where, and who is doing it, we begin to break down the myths that support the rape culture.53

53 Lacy, “Speech.” Chapter 5

THREE WEEKS IN MAY DOCUMENTATION AND IMPACT

After the project officially ended, a vote was passed by the Los Angeles City Council to have the two RAPE maps temporarily installed in the lobby of City Hall in June of 1977 for several weeks. Lacy then traveled with the maps to the Bologna Arts Fair where she read the rape reports aloud in English and Italian.1 Anti-rape movement supporters had also been active in Italy during this time, as female immigrants were often targets for rape. Documentation of the project has been shown in numerous museums both local and international, such as the Bologna Museum of Contemporary Art in 1977, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in 1978, Chicago’s Artemisia Gallery in 1980, and the London Institute of Contemporary Art in 1986. Physical documentation of the project still exists in the form of color and black and white photographs at Lacy’s and Labowitz-Starus’s archival studio at the 18th St. Arts Center in Santa Monica, California, as well as written work that illustrates the extensive organizing that was involved.

1 Suzanne Lacy, Three Weeks in May (Los Angeles: Suzanne Lacy, 1980), 55-56. 76

Lacy went on to self-publish an artist book in 1980, Three Weeks in May, which encompasses everything, including her original ideas for the project, how it transformed over time and its aftermath. This book, which is not available to the general public, was an important resource throughout my research and was also located at Lacy and Labowitz- Starus’s archival studio. Since its completion, Three Weeks in May has been mentioned in several art and feminist journals, such as the National Women’s Studies Association Journal and Frontiers Journal. Other artwork by Lacy has been mentioned in art history books as well, including the

5th edition of World of Art, a textbook by Henry M. Sayre used at California State University, Fresno, where Lacy began her graduate work.

Rape Law Reform It is important to note that while Three Weeks in May alone did not instigate legislative changes regarding rape, rape law reform was strongly influenced by second wave feminists and members of the anti-rape movement through the 1970s until the late twentieth century. While there were several landmark decisions made regarding the legal treatment of rape, I will only mention those that occurred around the same time Three Weeks in May took place. Important to note is the Rape Prevention and Control Act of 1975. This federal act pushed state legislature to not 77 only broaden its definitions of rape, but to actively do something about it, which included continuing research on rape: why it occurred, where, and the effects it had on victims.2 New York representative Elizabeth Holtzman introduced a Privacy Protection bill for rape victims in 1976 to Congress, which would be officially signed by President Jimmy Carter later in 1978. Rape victims were often treated badly by law enforcement and the court system, and activists pushed for laws to be passed that would prevent victims from being “raped again” in the courtroom.3 Plaintiffs would often find themselves on trial instead of the defendant, with their entire sexual history being broadcasted to the court, addressing past relationships and sexual encounters. Also referred to as rape shield laws, this bill prohibited the court system from using a victim’s past sexual history against her case.4

Rape on Television and in Print During the same year that Three Weeks in May took place, the public began to be exposed to the topic of rape

2 Maria Bevacqua, Rape on the Public Agenda: Feminism and the Politics of Sexual Assault (Boston: Northeastern University Press, 2000), appendix 3.

3 Lis Wiehl, “Lis on Law: Rape Shield Laws,” July 25, 2009, http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,194369,00.html.

4 Bevacqua, Rape on the Public Agenda, appendix 3. 78 through the media and print. In a controversial one hour show of All in the Family, a popular family sitcom, viewers were startled as the attempted rape of Edith Bunker, the television wife of Archie Bunker, was depicted. Also in 1977, author Richard Peck published his first edition of Are You in the House Alone?, where a sixteen-year-old girl is raped by a prominent member of town. Because she was not a virgin and was already using birth control, the community and even the rapist places blame on her, claiming that she was asking for it. While this was a fictional novel, it mirrored how victims of rape were treated and was a critique of rape myths and the legal perception of rape that were predominant during the seventies. Similar to the legislative changes seen during the late seventies, I cannot say that the subject of rape was integrated into the media because of Three Weeks in May. However, I do believe that the anti-rape movement as a whole helped introduce the subject of rape to society using whatever means possible. Whether or not Richard Peck or the screen writers for All in the Family felt that the issue should be addressed or were simply looking for controversial subject matter to boost their sales and ratings is beside the point. The anti-rape movement’s primary goal was to make society more aware of rape and that is what we began to see in the late seventies. 79 Community Response and Further Work by Suzanne Lacy While Three Weeks in May has been internationally documented, it is important to note the impact that it had on the local community as well. In her written chronology of the project, Lacy mentioned that “I get calls from women talking about the piece, and during it many women began talking more openly, or perhaps for the first time, about

their rapes.”5 That an art piece had this capability is to be commended. The end of Three Weeks in May did not mark the end of Lacy’s fight against violence against women. On the contrary, she went on to create other pieces that related directly to sexual assault, referred to as the “Violence Series” that lasted through the early 1980s. Making it Safe took place in Santa Monica, Reverence to Rape to Respect and Voices in the Desert took place in Las Vegas, and Lacy helped create a float for the first Take Back the Night rally in San Francisco. This protest rally was sponsored by Women Against Violence in Pornography and Media and consisted of a candlelit march through the red- light district. Later in 1993 Lacy would collaborate with Carol Kuwata in Underground, a piece done in Pittsburgh that focused on domestic abuse against women.

5 Suzanne Lacy, “Chronology, Three Weeks in May,” box 18, 18th St. Arts Center Archives, Santa Monica. 80

Lacy and Labowitz-Starus co-founded Ariadne in 1978 after they had begun to collaborate on projects that focused on violence against women, such as In Mourning and in Rage. This “social art network” helped provide artists who were interested in creating work that addressed violence against women with financial support and advice, as well as producing written work that addressed the various theories that feminist artists were trying to integrate into their work at the time.6 Three years later, Ariadne would co-found the Incest Awareness Project with the Women's Resources Program of the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Community Services Center.

Suzanne Lacy: Activist and Artist Suzanne Lacy has been given numerous titles and has played many roles throughout her career, ranging from social organizer, feminist, and activist, yet she is first and forever an artist. Using her talent for creating visually moving work and her networking skills, Lacy managed to create a piece that reached a wide audience of both the artistic and non-artistic community. The powerful imagery and performance art was well received by the art community and by placing the maps in a public space, painting neighborhood sidewalks, and holding performances

6 Suzanne Lacy, interview by Moira Roth, March 16, 1990, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. 81 outdoors, Lacy was able to force the everyday public into the audience sphere as well. Those who witnessed any of the events throughout Three Weeks in May, whether it was while shopping at the mall or stopping to watch a self- defense workshop, became a part of history. Most importantly, Lacy did not allow the abstractions and visual elements to distract from her message that violence against women in any form should not be tolerated. Although Three Weeks in May only lasted three weeks, its results were astounding and to a certain extent, immeasurable. This piece of work broke the art tradition of measuring its success by how much it was worth or could be sold for. A complex piece such as this, filled with interpersonal connections and collaboration on several levels, is impossible to compare to traditional artwork that can be found in museums or galleries. While it could be determined approximately how much money was needed to fund the project, its monetary worth would be trivial in comparison to the support and strength that it gave victims of rape and to the anti-rape movement as a whole. In an article in the Civic-Center News, Lacy stated, “I think the definition of art is the ability of a piece to reach a large segment of the audience and change it.”7 While

7 “‘Three Weeks’ to Dispel Myths, Alleviate Guilt for Rape Victims,” Civic Center News, May 10-23, 1977. 82

I have often heard people claim that their lives were changed after seeing a certain piece of art, such as Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa or Monet’s Waterlilies, I believe that Three Weeks in May encompassed Lacy’s statement more so than ever. Through organization, clear and concise messages, and strong visual elements, Lacy was able to give a community that had been plagued with rape myths, fear, and ignorance a reason to hope and the ability to fight back against sexual violence. While working to convey the need for change towards the perception of sexual violence against women, Lacy managed to serve as a voice for women who had been silent too long, yet was also able to maintain her personal goals as an artist. Using her talent as an image creator, Lacy gave female victims of rape and violence a voice that may not have been heard. At the end of chapter 3 I mentioned an incident where Lacy was accused of “just making art”8 to help solve the problem of rape. Clearly this is not the case. Three Weeks in May fostered new relationships with city officials and established important media contacts through print, television, and radio, which would aid in both the second wave feminists and anti-rape movement’s cause. I believe that the diversity of Three Weeks in May and group

8 Suzanne Lacy, interview with author, July 5, 2009. 83 collaboration is also what made it successful. While the people who organized it primarily came from artistic backgrounds, its supporters came from all walks of life with many things to offer. Most importantly, this project gained the trust of the public, who had previously been skeptical of performance art’s ability to instigate change on any level. Suzanne Lacy continues to be involved in the arts as both a creator and instructor, serving as both chair and instructor of the Graduate Public Practice Program at Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles, California. Although Three Weeks in May took place three decades ago, she is still being recognized as an outstanding artist, and has been nominated by the College Art Associate to receive the 2010 Award for Distinction.

Conclusion In concluding this thesis, the next question that I must pose is in regards to the longevity of Three Weeks in May. In 2010, thirty three years later, is rape taken seriously? The answer to this question would depend on who you ask. While rape is still a punishable offense, I would have to assert that rape is not taken as seriously as it should be. As a woman in her mid-twenties, rape is still something feared and present in society. At a young age I was taught to survey my surroundings, lock the car and 84 house doors once I was inside, and to not be out late at night. The anti-rape movement and women like Suzanne Lacy were successful in building awareness of rape in society, but it is still a problem. Drugs that were originally intended to serve as a surgical anesthetic, such as GHB (gamma-hydroxybutyric acid) or Rohypnol (roofies), have been misused over the years, causing both sedation and memory loss. These effects are convenient for rapists, as the victim is completely unaware of what happened, making it impossible to identify the rapist or to determine if intercourse was consensual.9 While studies indicate that rape statistics have decreased since the early 1990s, this does not necessarily mean that the problem of rape is getting better. RAINN (Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network) reported in 2007 that still only four out of ten victims will report their rape.10 Rape is still joked about and taken lightly by both men and women at times. Rape victims are still blamed for the perpetrator’s crime.

9 Paul M. Gahlinger, “Club Drugs: MDMA, Gamma-Hydroxybutyrate (GHB), Rohypnol, and Ketamine,” American Family Physician Journal 69 (2004), http://www.aafp.org/afp/2004/0601/p2619.html.

10 “Forcible Rapes Reported to Police Fell 4.3% in 2007,” RAINN, June 12, 2008, http://www.rainn.org/news-room/sexual-assault-news/forcible- rapes-reported-fell-in-2007. 85

The anti-rape movement does not have an official end date, because there are still many things to be done regarding the legal treatment and society’s overall view of rape. While rape is still considered a felony, and the same laws remain in place as mentioned in the “Rape Law Reform” segment of this chapter, it is the overall attitude towards rape that needs to continue to change. It is up to all generations, both men and women, to treat the issue of rape seriously, as a crime, and an inhumane act. BIBLIOGRAPHY BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Broude, Norma, and Mary D. Garrard. “Introduction: Feminism and Art in the Twentieth Century.” The Power of Feminist Art, 10-29. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1994.

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Burgess Fuller, Diana, and Daniela Salvioni, eds. Art, Women, California 1950-70: Parallels and Intersections. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002.

“Exorcism: A Private Ritual by Performance Artist Laurel Klick.” Box 17, 18th St. Art Center Archives, Santa Monica.

“Forcible Rapes Reported to Police Fell 4.3% in 2007.” RAIIN, June 12, 2008. http://www.rainn.org/news- room/sexual-assault-news/forcible-rapes-reported-fell- in-2007.

Gahlinger, Paul M. “Club Drugs: MDMA, Gamma-Hydroxybutyrate (GHB), Rohypnol, and Ketamine.” American Family Physician Journal 69 (2004): 2619–2627. http://www.aafp.org/afp/2004/0601/p2619.html.

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Gauldin, Anne. “Breaking Silence.” Quest through the Matrix, 1977. 88 Gaulke, Cheri. “Acting like Women: Performance Art of the Woman’s Building.” High Performance, Fall/Winter 1980. http://www.communityarts.net/readingroom/archivefiles/ 2002/09/acting_like_wom.php.

Green Fryd, Vivien. “Suzanne Lacy’s Three Weeks in May: Feminist Activist Performance Art as ‘Expanded Public Pedagogy.’” NWSA Journal 19, no. 1 (2007): 24-37.

Herman, Judith Lewis. Trauma and Recovery. New York: BasicBooks, 1992.

Labowitz-Starus, Leslie. “All Men Are Potential Rapists.” Box 18, 18th St. Arts Center Archives, Santa Monica.

———. “Myths.” Box 18, 18th St. Arts Center Archives, Santa Monica.

———. “Statement.” Box 18, 18th St. Art Center Archives, Santa Monica.

Lacy, Suzanne. “Affinities: Thoughts on an Incomplete History.” The Power of Feminist Art, edited by Norma Broude and Mary D. Garrard, 264-275. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1994.

———. “Chronology, Three Weeks in May.” Box 18, 18th St. Art Center Archives, Santa Monica.

———. Interview by Moira Roth, 16 March 1990. Tape recording, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

———. “Speech Delivered at Closing Ceremonies and Rally.” May 28, 1977. Box 18, 18th St. Arts Center Archives, Santa Monica.

———. “Three Weeks in May: Speaking Out on Rape, a Political Art Piece.” Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies 2, no. 1 (1977): 66-70.

———. Three Weeks in May. Los Angeles: Suzanne Lacy, 1980.

Levin, Gail. Becoming Judy Chicago. New York: Harmony Books, 2007. 89 Newton, Richard. “She Who Would Fly: An Interview with Suzanne Lacy.” High Performance Magazine, Spring 1978. http://www.communityarts.net/readingroom/archivefiles/ 2002/09/she_who_would_f.php.

Slater, Jack. “Helping to Stamp Out Rape,” View section, Los Angeles Times, May 23, 1977.

“Three Weeks in May: A Public Informational Art Project on the Rape of Women in Los Angeles.” Box 18, 18th St. Arts Center Archives, Santa Monica.

“‘Three Weeks’ to Dispel Myths, Alleviate Guilt for Rape Victims,” Civic Center News, May 10-23, 1977.

Wiehl, Lis. “Lis on Law: Rape Shield Laws.” July 25, 2009 http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,194369,00.html.

Wilding, Faith. “The Feminist Art Programs at Fresno and CalArts, 1970-75.” The Power of Feminist Art. Edited by Norma Broude and Mary D. Garrard. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1994.

“Workshops.” Box 18, 18th St. Arts Center Archives, Santa Monica.

APPENDICES APPENDIX A THREE WEEKS IN MAY SCHEDULE PT. 1 92 APPENDIX B THREE WEEKS IN MAY SCHEDULE PT. 2 94

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