What were you wearing? That’s the question at the heart of an exhibit currently being hosted in Bishop’s University’s Art Lab aimed at breaking down the age-old idea that sexual assault victims bring violence on themselves through provocative clothing. The brainchild of Jen Brockman at Kansas University and her colleague Dr. Mary Wyandt-Hiebert of the University of Arkansas, the exhibition pairs anonymous personal accounts of what people were wearing when assaulted, with recreations of those outfits hung on the wall. The original exhibit was inspired by the poem “What I was wearing” by Mary Simmerling, and it has been either hosted or reproduced in more than 50 different countries around the world. According to Katherine Hébert-Metthé, Bishop’s University’s Sexual Health Program Coordinator, the exhibit was brought to Bishop’s as a part of the school’s involvement in the “sans oui c’est non” (without a yes, it’s no) awareness campaign. Planning for the exhibit, including the gathering of outfits, has been going on for a few weeks, but the space only opened its doors for the first time on Tuesday. See full story in the Friday, March 23rd edition of The Record.
‘What were you wearing?’ exhibit comes to BU
By Gordon Lambie
