麻豆传媒

By Wanda Haskel on April 3, 2019

Sweatpants and a T-shirt, a school uniform, a sundress.

These aren鈥檛 just clothes. They鈥檙e what real people were wearing when they were sexually assaulted.

Outfits like these, along with survivors鈥� stories, will be on display in Towson University鈥檚 Cook Library and at pop-up locations around campus throughout the month of April as part of an exhibit titled What Were You Wearing?: Weaving a New Narrative.

Curated by Associate Professor Julie Potter and theatre arts graduate Molly Cohen 鈥�18, the installation challenges the myth that wardrobe choices 鈥渃ause鈥� sexual violence.

And unravels it at the seams.

鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 matter what you鈥檙e wearing,鈥� says Potter. 鈥淐lothing does not cause rape. Rapists do.鈥�

The clothing is accompanied by stories culled from conversations with college students as well as local newspaper accounts dating back to the 1880s.

What Were You Wearing? also explores rape culture, which Cohen argues is knitted into society through the portrayal of gender roles in media such as magazines and television. She aims to arm visitors with awareness and give them the tools to support survivors and become active in preventing sexual violence.

The goal, says Cohen, is to 鈥渇oster agents of change in every visitor鈥�to unweave the fabric of hatred woven into our nation that keeps perpetrators untouchable simply because it鈥檚 their word against the survivors鈥�.鈥�

April is apt because it is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. The exhibit will correlate with planned by the campus health center and other student groups.

The #MeToo movement, which is raising awareness about sexual assault and giving many survivors the courage to speak out, also makes this the right moment for What Were You Wearing?, says Potter.

鈥淣ow is the time for this exhibit. We have to do it now.鈥�

Note: This story originally appeared in the Fall 2018 edition of COFAC Today.