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Event unites, praises women
By Amanda Degen
Published:
Monday, April 7, 2003
Media Credit: Ryan Henry
St. Cloud Technical College student Chalyn Day performs a song at the �That Takes Ovaries� open mic night Thursday in the Atwood Quarry.
Thursday night, women from all over town gathered together in Atwood Quarry to talk about their strengths and accomplishments in "'That Takes Ovaries,' an open mic night to celebrate all the gutsy things women do." Co-sponsored by CAASA and Women's Studies class 305, the event was arranged as part of Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
"'That Takes Ovaries' is a global movement to get women empowered to do gutsy things that they normally wouldn't do," said Seal Dwyer, event organizer. "It's about getting people together to tell stories about everything, from fighting back against abuse to mountain climbing. Anything that makes a woman proud to be a woman."
"That Takes Ovaries," a growing trend located in over 100 countries, started last May with the release of a book by the same title, written by Rivka Solomon. Inspired by the Vagina Monologues and the introduction of V-day, Solomon wrote a book composed of stories from women who have accomplished great things. Books were available for sale at the event, and any proceeds gathered above the cost of the book go towards Equality Now, an organization trying to put an end to genital mutilation.
The night's emcee was Karen Flynn, who works at the Women's Center on campus. She read excerpts from the novel, before encouraging people to come on stage and speak about their triumphs and accomplishments. She also told a story of her own, about leaving her hometown of Toronto to relocate to a new position at SCSU.
"This is a celebration of ourselves, feisty females whose gutsy acts inspire us to be risk takers," Flynn said. "Move over gentlemen, it's time for the ladies."
There were a variety of speakers, most of them choosing to go by first name only. Although it was an ode to feminism, quite a few men were present and unafraid to goon stage and give thanks to their mothers and sisters for their support and strengths.
Topics ranged from the serious to the silly, with stories about being brave and fighting back against oppressors, to acts of volunteerism and spontaneity. The definition of words such as 'whore' and 'feminist' were brought up, and there was a lot of celebration and praise. Rhiana Storcamp spoke about being the first female boxer in Golden Gloves Boxing in Minnesota. 'Jesse' talked about moving to Arizona to herd sheep and fight against the relocation of the Navajo women.
"I'm not really as gutsy or brazen as the older women that were fighting this relocation," she said. "The majority of the people continuing this fight are the elderly women, because the men are no longer around, so this is all run by women in their 70s and 80s."
Another speaker, Julie, talked about the controversy surrounding her shirt, which stated 'The only Bush I trust is my own.'
"My mother is coming tomorrow, and she hasn't seen this shirt yet, so I will probably have to hide it from her."
One of the later speakers, Kristi, discussed the complex process she went through in order to sculpt a vagina for her class project in a women's studies course. Dissatisfied with making an inaccurate sculpture, Kristi decided to base it around her own vagina by using plaster to make a replica. She failed to realize just how strong the plaster was.
"I had to yell for my mother to wake up, and she comes into the bathroom in the middle of the night to find me spread eagle on the floor with plaster between my legs," she said. "To me it was worth it, I think (the sculpture) turned out very well."
Eventually, she freed herself from the plaster and completed her successful sculpture, providing a humorous story the crowd enjoyed.
Overall the event was well received.
"Young people are doing incredible activist work," Flynn said later in the show. "Even the fact that we're all here tonight, that is so inspiring."
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