Misc 12.6.18

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The Miscellany News

Since 1866 | miscellanynews.org

Vassar College Poughkeepsie, NY

Volume CLI | Issue 12

December 6, 2018

Feminist porn star laid bare

Artist talks homespun approach

Jessica Moss

Meghan Hayfield

Assistant News Editor

lthough some regard sex as private in nature, for those in the porn industry and many celebrities, sex straddles the line of public and private. Given this ambiguity, what role might celebrities—those in the porn industry or elsewhere—have in advancing political thoughts related to sex, such as body positivity, feminism and the “sexual revolution”? Exploring the private and public lives of these celebrities may provide answers to such questions. On Thursday, Nov. 29, Professor of History at Harvard University and Carl and Lily Pforzheimer Foundation Director of the Schlesinger Library at Harvard Jane Kamensky gave a lecture titled “Candy/Candice/Candida: Making a Feminist Pornstar,” which presented the life of Candida Royalle: a well-known porn performer, radical feminist and, later on, producer and diSee FEMINIST on page 4

Courtesy of Joe Clifford

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Guest Reporter

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n Tuesday, Nov. 27, artist Joanne Greenbaum spoke in Taylor Hall on her life and career, describing the path to becoming an artist in her own way. Without commenting or drawing on abstract and modernist art, she has found a unique ability to combine painting, The women’s rugby team poses with their Division II National Championship medals after defeating Winona drawing and sculpture to create a State 50-13 in a rematch of last year’s final, marking the first national championship in program history. language that evokes animation and emotion. Greenbaum creates largely abstract pieces and her art is displayed all over the country—in Louie Brown and Myles Olmsted Vassar vs. Winona State UniverWinona took an early 3-0 lead spaces such as the Rachel Uffner Guest Reporter and Sports Editor sity. after a Vassar penalty gave them Gallery in New York, the Tufts Unin Sunday, Dec. 2, instead of The Vassar side was looking to the chance to kick it in for points. versity Art Galleries at the School rain pouring from the skies make program history. The se- Even so, the Vassar players stuck of the Museum of Fine Arts, MoMa as it had the day before during niors, led by captains Oshana Re- to their game plan, which had PS1 in New York and the Museum Vassar’s semifinal win against ich, Jennie To and Makena Em- been meticulously implement- of Contemporary Art in Chicago. the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, ery, had made the Final Four each ed by coaches Tony Brown and Interestingly, she has a penchant for the air in Charlotte, NC was hot of the previous three fall seasons, Mark Griffiths in the preced- not subscribing to abstraction. and humid, seemingly thick with finishing fourth, then third and ing days, and a combined effort “I’m very uncomfortable with tension. Looming was a rematch last year, second, but the pro- from the forwards and backs gesture. I was uncomfortable using of 2017’s Division II Women’s gram remained without a Nation- set up senior Kaitlin Prado, who gesture because I felt like part of me Rugby Fall Championship Final: al Championship to its name. See RUGBY on page 19 See GREENBAUM on page 6

Rugby crowned national champs

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Forum broadens VASAM horizons Duncan Aronson Courtesy of Wenjie Xie

Douglas Hill from the New York City organization “Love Heals” spoke candidly with students about his experience living with HIV.

Love Heals event depicts life with HIV A

lthough deaths caused by AIDS peaked at 1.9 million worldwide in 2004, the disease remains a leading cause of death globally (Henry J Kaiser Family Foundation, “The Global HIV/ AIDS Epidemic, 2018). On Dec. 1 in the Old Bookstore, CHOICE, the LGBTQ Center, ProHealth and The Office of Health Promotion and Education brought attention to the continuing prevalence of the epidemic through their annual event in honor of World AIDS Day. The evening began at 5:30

Inside this issue

13

Ignore industry’s claim; sugar, OPINIONS not fat, is to blame

p.m. with the opening reception of “Then and Now: AIDS in Time,” an art exhibit depicting changing perceptions of AIDS throughout history. At 7 p.m., HIV educator Douglas Hill from the organization Love Heals delivered a talk sharing HIV prevention methods, as well as his experience living with HIV. The Office of Health Education organized the exhibition, which will be on display through Dec. 11. Wellness Peer Educator Maya Allen ’20 explained the reasoning behind supplementing the Love Heals lecture with an art showSee HIV on page 8

17 HUMOR

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t’s not every day that the Vassar community holds a backand-forth dialogue with an esteemed academic on identity and its relation to the greater human condition, but this past Friday, Nov. 30 was exactly that kind of occasion. Vassar Asian American Studies Working Group (VASAM) hosted Gary Okihiro, a scholar with many accolades to his name, to hold a workshop on Asian American Studies and a lecture on Third World studies. Okihiro engaged Vassar students and faculty on discussions of Asian and American identities and broader ethnic topics. His big-picture perspective on identity allowed VASAM members to critically self-reflect on an individual and organizational level. From the moment Okihiro began, his constructivist, dialogue-centered presentation style immediately caught everyone’s attention. Chatting in the ALANA center afterwards, VASAM member Sylvia Peng ’20 shared, “He engaged with us more as a dialogue or a conversation than a ‘lecture.’ He either stood in the middle or walked around, and

Columnist requests feedback, is roasted with flack

we just asked him questions … You would expect someone who taught at Columbia and Yale and won many accolades for his work in the field to be a very rigid intellectual, but he was very much like a scholarly grandpa or uncle.

He was very casual, but said very poignant things. I think the way he presented himself, similar to Junot Diaz, reflected how to decolonize academia.” The content of Okihiro’s disSee VASAM on page 10

Duncan Aronson/The Miscellany News

Abby Tarwater

Assistant arts editor

Reporter

Here, Emma Chun ’21, Sylvia Peng ’20 and Tamika Whitenack ’21 (left to right) discuss their impressions of Okihiro’s talks.

20 SPORTS

Athlete talks passion for Quidditch played in muggle fashion


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