S.H.E. Speaks and Fine Arts Ink hosted a gender justice open mic night in Lydia’s Lounge on Oct. 25. Students performed and listened to poetry that detailed experiences about and brought awareness to gender justice.
Three students shared their work as the audience listened and snapped after every performance.
“This event was so people could share their experiences with gender justice issues,” sophomore biomedical science with a pre-med concentration and a member of S.H.E. Speaks Zoie Roach-King said. “Through poetry, art or any form of art, they [students] can feel heard.”
Roach-King shared two original poems, including one titled “Yes I Am” and an untitled poem
“Yes I Am” discussed the stigma against periods and the idea of a “loud and angry woman.”
“I have always been told that I’m too loud and angry,” Roach-King said. “You get asked ‘oh are you just on your period?’”
Roach-King’s untitled piece discussed the idea of excusing boys’ actions around sexual assault because of the notion that “boys are just boys.”
“I wrote this poem to show others that they aren’t alone and that this idea needs to stop because [boys] will keep getting away with it,” Roach-King said.
Junior English secondary education major and member of Fine Arts Ink Sarah Hazenfield recited two pieces from the book, “A Whore’s Manifesto: An Anthology of Writing and Artwork by Sex Workers.” She performed “Late Nights And Lap Dances” and “Did You Think We Wouldn’t Come For You: For Stormy Daniels.”
Each piece dove into the life of a sex worker and how it isn’t as easy as the media makes it seem, discussing their experiences with disgusting comments and actions toward them.
Hazenfield also recited a poem titled “In The House With No Doors,” which she performed as a tribute to her roommates and the similar bond they share to those in the poem. She explained they were able to share all their secrets with one another, though secrets weren’t very common with the close vicinity that they shared.
S.H.E. Speaks is a feminist club that focuses on important topics of feminism and equality, and Fine Arts Ink is a writers and artists workshop organization that helps students improve their creative works to share with others.
“Fine Arts Ink gets together as a community of writers and artists in order to give each other feedback,” Hazenfield said. “We brainstorm new piece ideas or just hold a productive artistic space to work in.”
Fine Arts Ink meets every Thursday at 6 p.m. in Bradley Hall room 100, and hosts a Discord that anyone can join to discuss and display their work. For more information, visit Fine Art Ink’s Instagram.
S.H.E. Speaks meets every Monday at 5 p.m. in the Student Center’s Gargoyle Room, where members host informational meetings and discussions about important topics surrounding the LGBTQ+ community and women’s rights. For more information, visit S.H.E. Speak’s Instagram.
Both organizations offer a safe space for everyone to show their work and discuss meaningful topics and issues and hope that students use events like the gender justice open mic to share their stories and shine a light on inequality.
