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Contact: Elliot Chan, Opinions Editor

M opinions@theotherpress.ca

www. theotherpress.ca

 

Sexism 1n theatre

» Where is it and why do we care?

   

F" Julia Siedlanowska
| Staff Writer

he struggle for equality

in the world asa woman
is something that affects my
entire life. It affects the movies
I sit through and enjoy, it
affects my relationships, and
it affects the way I create my
art. Art and the question of
equality were recently mashed
together for me when I was
cast in an all-female version
of Shakespeare’s The Winter's
Tale. For me the experience
has taken a microscope to the
struggles of women not only in
the theatre, but also in life. This
being said, it has left me witha
far more positive outlook of the
community and myself. It has

#MaybeSome Men should read before they

: left me with hope.

Lisa Wolpe, founder of

the LA Women’s Shakespeare

: Company (LAWSC), directed

: the show here in Vancouver

: for Classic Chic Productions’

: inaugural play. With over 20

: years experience playing male
: characters and directing shows
: with all-female casts, she is

: known as an expert on gender-
: bending. In LAWSC, just as

: in this version of The Winter's
: Tale, all roles are played by

: women. Many will note that

: this is a reversal of how things
: were done in Shakespeare's

: times when little boys were

: hired to play all the female

: roles, as it was illegal for

: women to act on stage. During
: the rehearsal process, Wolpe

: mentioned on several occasions
: that she believed Mary Sidney,
: one of the wealthiest and

» A response to a response to a response

Sharon Miki
Humour Editor
M humour
@theotherpress.ca

 

ast month, I wrote a
feature article for the
Other Press detailing what
I perceive as the dangerous
pervasiveness of rape culture.

Ona personal level, the article

was extremely difficult to
write because I knew that

it would make people—
including those I know, trust,
and love—uncomfortable;
however, because I felt very

strongly about the importance :

of addressing the issue of
rape culture in order to one
day overcome it, I wrote and
published the article. In the
end, I was proud of it. Then I
went to the school...

Within days of the
article’s printing, the display
of the feature at the New
Westminster campus was
vandalized with the words
“4#NOTALLMEN.” While the
words were likely written
haphazardly—who knows if
the calligrapher even read the
article?— they still epitomized
the very problem that my

    
 

: article hoped to espouse. I

: have been writing for the

: Other Press for nearly four

: years, and vandalism on our
: feature displays is extremely
: rare. This might have just

: been pen on paper, but it is

: something worth noting.

While I of course

: recognize that this was a
: disposable and relatively minor :

: act, it still affected me. As

: my eyes registered what was

: written on my paper, I felt a

: familiar lurch in my stomach.
: It was the same uncomfortable :

: feeling that I felt when a man
: I had once dated broke into

: my apartment building. After
: I told him I no longer wanted
: to see him, he knocked on my

: most well-educated women of

: Shakespeare’s time to be the

: true author of his texts. There is
: much evidence to support this,

: not in the least Shakespeare's

: (or whoever that may have

: actually been) ability to create

: well rounded and sometimes

: “outspoken” women.

Kyle Moore, after an

interview with Wolpe for

: Footlights, succinctly described
: her reasons for creating all-

: female theatre: “[It] disallows

: the victim mentality. Women

: can squarely face the world,

: their energy focussed to a point,
: not dissipated in an effort to

: avoid attention.”

This is something that I

know many women struggle

: with. In the rehearsal process,

: many of the actors playing male
: roles had to rid themselves

: of some of their feminine

: tendencies. “Don't expose all

: that emotion,” “Don't hide your

: genitals,” and “Lead with your

: basket,” were some directions

: commonly heard. My character:
: exploration led me to experience :
: the struggles of growing up asa

: male, as well as a female.

Now in this production it

was easy to feel supported, but
: the company itself was created
: out of a need that wasn’t being
: met in the current world of

: theatre. When I asked Christina :
: Campbell, Artistic Director :
: of Classic Chic Productions,

: why she created the company

: she said, “The short answer

: is because I want to play Iago

: and this is the only way I'll ever
: beable to do it. The longer

: answer is because women

: need an avenue to practice our
: craft and explore roles outside

: of the gender box. We are,

#YESALLWOMEN

CUE IN ARAPE CULTURE. AND WE WILL CONT]

EDIT
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door and demanded that I

: let him in because he wanted
: access to my body. It was the

: same feeling that I feel when
: strange men on the street yell

: much prettier if you [do what I
: want you to].” It was the feeling :
: of being a woman ina culture
: that accepts, on the whole, that :
: women’s voices are not as valid. :
: Yes, in this culture all women

NUE TO UNTIL WE TALK:

“Don't expose all
that emotion,”
“Don't hide your
genitals,” and “Lead
with your basket”

after all, human beings; why

: shouldn't we, as actors, be able
: to explore the full range of our
: humanity?”

“That changes with the

playwrights before anything

: else,” said Colleen Winton, who
: plays the Old Shepherd in The

: Winter's Tale. “It’s bizarre to me
: that there aren’t more stories

: out there with women as the

: central character, because it’s

: mainly women who go to the

: theatre.”

write

The only thing
more detrimental
than rape culture
itself is arguing
against it.

feel this way at one time or
another.
The mystery writer’s

: response to my article is

at me, “Smile! You could be so

: troubling, but it can also serve
: as areminder that there is

: a problem. It’s true: not all

: men are rapists and not all

: men support rape culture.

: The thing, though, is that the

: men who do get it recognize

: that now is not the time for

): them to assert their innocence.
: Now is the time for them

: to be women’s allies and to

: show through their behaviour
: that they are not willing to
participate in rape culture. In

: response to the graffiti, I think
that my Editor-in-Chief, Jacey

Gibb, summed it up perfectly:

: “True, not all men are rapists,

but accept the reality that
some are. The only thing more

: detrimental than rape culture

itself is arguing against it.”