V O L . I I I , N O. I V
C E L E B R A T I N G T H E P R E C I O U S H U M A N TA P E S T R Y
SEPTEMBER 19, 2008
Wearing art on our shirtsleeves lenses of gender, religion, culture, family, and trauma. The show was curated by Lisa Lynch and features We flaunt it. We argue about it. a diverse array of contemporary We search for it. We cover our bod- artists from around the country. ies in it. But how often do we conOn Thursday the Center hosted sider the significance of clothes in a panel discussion in conjuncforming our identities and shaping tion with the exhibit entitled, our societies? "(Un)Dressing Religion, Culture The art ex& Identity." hibit, Dress This panel · Redress, at featured Lisa the Women's Fishbayne, diStudies Rerector of the search Center Project on just gave the Gender, CulBrandeis comture, Religion munity anothand the Law at er reason to the Haddasahponder those Brandeis issues. The Institute; exhibition, on Ellen Schattdisplay from schneider, June 19-Sepassociate protember 25th, fessor of anexamines how thropology the clothand women's ing intersects and gender with identity PHOTO BY Max Shay/The Hoot studeis at through the SEEKING REDRESS: Curator Lisa Lynch Brandeis; and crosscutting stands within Carol Hamoy's installation. Eric SilverBY MAXWELL PRICE Editor
man, a visiting research associate at the Women's Studies Research Center. Fishbayne discussed the Jewish tradition of female head-covering and its tensions in American society. She ultimately concluded that women have multifarious reasons for carrying out these rituals that society buries beneath oversimplified labels such as state repression and religious law. The audience seemed most enthralled with Schattschneider's description of her fieldwork in Japan studying grieving practices in Japan among families whose children had passed away. The stories were both highly moving and disturbing, chronicling such personal coping mechanisms as one mother's insistence on wearing her son's clothing after his death. Silverman brought an irreverant and raucous tone to his presentation, which explored Jewish identity through clothing, particularly among the "New Jew" movement of the twenty first century. If you have ever seen "100% kosher" panties or visited www.jewlo.com,
you already know what Silverman was talking about. Yet no matter how interesting or controversial the discussion became, the artwork in Dress · Redress stole the show with its sensory explorations of our "social skin." The highlights include large scale sculptural works by Leslie Wilcox that depict jackets and coats as highly rigid yet slyly feminine and sexual forms; an installation of Carol Hamoy's hanging, dirty, white dresses and blouses printed with real women's personal narratives; and Sandra Eula Lee's shirts created out of office supplies and official-looking documents. Each artist tackles the topic of clothing from a different perspective, melding personal experiences with the constraints of social structures. So keep on flaunting it, arguing about it, and searching for it. But if you've ever pondered the greater meaning embodied in the things you drape over your body, head over to the Women's Studies Research Center in the Epstein Building to explore Dress · Redress while you still have the chance.
Latina Pride BY GINA GOTTHILF Staff
As part of a series of events dedicated to the celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, the short documentary, “Latina Confessions,” was featured last Tuesday at the ICC Swig Lounge. The event, organized by AHORA!, was attended by roughly 30 members of the Brandeis community and consisted of the film screening followed by a short discussion session led by the producer of the film, Louis “Tio Louie” Peregro Moreno. Referred by the producer as a “work in progress,” the film features 25 women selected from a series of 56 interviews who were either born in Latin America or of Latin American descent but are now permanently living in the U.S. Tio Louie explained that we are often presented with the image of a stereotypically uneducated “innerSee AHORA! p. 9
Soon to be a breaking Hoot story
Reevaluating the autobiography of Brandeis's most infamous alumus BY MAXWELL PRICE Editor
If you have some time on your hands (which you probably don’t if you attend Brandeis University), and if you’ve made your way through all the books on your reading list (which you definitely haven’t), you might want to consider picking up Abbie Hoffman’s 1980 autobiography, Soon to Be A Major Motion Picture. Abbie Hoffman was, of course, one of the great radicals, an agitator and activist who helped to define the 1960’s counterculture. He was also a Brandeis grad. Hoffman’s persona is deeply intertwined with the popular image of the anti-Vietnam movement, as can be seen in the “cram-everything-about-Baby-Boomers-intoone-confused-mess-of-a-movie” Forrest Gump, in which a foulmouthed Hoffman-like character leads a Washington protest against the war. Hoffman is an inspiration for activists, partially because of his successful agitation and tragic status as a martyr of the movement, but also because he pioneered an ex-
ceptional idea: revolution through humor. Hoffman’s activism was always mixed with copious amounts of clownishness and street theater, most famously in his attempt to levitate the Pentagon, and his creation of pandemonium by pouring dollar bills onto the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Hoffman’s personal philosophy is succinctly explained in pieces of the transcript from his testimony as a defendant in the infamous Chicago 8 trial: LEONARD WEINGLASS, Hoffman’s attorney: Can you tell the Court and jury what is your present occupation? ABBIE HOFFMAN: I am a cultural revolutionary. Well, I am really a defendant. Full-time. WEINGLASS: What do you mean by the phrase "cultural revolutionary?" HOFFMAN: Well, I suppose it is a person who tries to shape and participate in the values, and the mores, the customs and the style of living of new people who eventually become inhabitants of a new nation and a new society through art and poetry, theater, and music.
IN THIS EDITION:
WBRS rocks out biweekly with free simulcasts Concert pictures p. 9
As is probably clear, Abbie Hoffman never did bring about his new nation, and the counter-culture destroyed itself. And eventually Hoffman took 150 barbiturate pills and destroyed himself too. But he stands as one of the most fascinating figures of a generation, and his autobiography is absolutely worth a look. It’s particularly interesting for anyone on this campus, because of a particular chapter, “From Bum to College Boy,” about his time at our very own university. Hoffman is talking about the Brandeis of the early 60’s, but very little seems to have changed. He talks about getting a juvenile prank played on him in the Castle. He talks about Eleanor Roosevelt and Abraham Maslow, and mentions both Gosman and the Louis Brandeis statue. Most surprisingly, though, Brandeis is presented as somewhat of a rebellious institution. Firstly, he discusses how he settled upon going here: “The academy was upset when I told them I liked the idea of going to Brandeis University. It was only seven years old, and the academy
wanted ivy-covered walls for its protégés. They presented such rational arguments against Brandeis that I fell in love with the place.” He also mentions the way Brandeis sowed the seeds for his rebelliousness. Of his father, he says this: “Up until the day he died, he always blamed Brandeis for my corruption. Be it divorce, dope, hippies, or schvartzes, he always ended up cursing Brandeis.
‘If it hadn’t been for Brandeis…’ he used to mumble in a pained litany.” See HOFFMAN p. 10
DID YOU KNOW?
Hip-hop devotee defends Nas Music opinion p. 11
AMC's Mad Men will make Emmy history this Sunday if it wins the prize for best drama series, making it the first cables series, other than HBO, to win the prestigious prize.