Emma Sulkowicz reflects on political activism journey

and | Staff Writer and Contributing Writer

Activist Emma Sulkowicz spoke in Graham Chapel on Nov. 9 in an event titled “Carry Your Weight: Sexual Violence on Campus.” (Bri Nitsberg|Student Life)

Political activist Emma Sulkowicz discussed her journey to becoming a performance artist at the panel “Carry Your Weight: Sexual Violence on Campus” on Thursday, Nov. 9, at Graham Chapel. 

During the panel, Sulkowicz shared how college students can get involved in sexual assault activism, the responsibility of university students, and the importance of incorporating joy into activism. 

Sulkcowicz began the event by discussing how she got involved in political activism, specifically about sexual violence. In 2013, Sulkowicz was sexually assaulted by a classmate at Columbia University. 

Sulkowicz and multiple other survivors of the same perpetrator reported the assault to Columbia, but she said that adequate action was not taken. The group then reported the assaults to the New York City Police Department where they said they were subject to victim blaming and inappropriate lines of questioning.

Sulkowicz’s said that her experience with sexual assault and the lack of support provided by Columbia and the police prompted the creation of “Carry That Weight,” a performance art piece that would double as her senior thesis. In this performance, Sulkowicz vowed to carry her mattress wherever she went for as long as she attended the same university as her assaulter, incentivizing the University to take action.

Sulkowicz explained how carrying around a 50-pound mattress in her performance art piece was demonstrative of the experience of sexual assault survivors.

“You’re taking this cumbersome object that is in the bedroom and struggling to put it out in front of the world for everyone to see,” Sulkowicz said.

Sulkowicz said that she created rules that she had to adhere to in her performance art. She could not ask anyone to help her carry the mattress, but if people offered to assist her, she would accept. 

“So much of the work of bringing this kind of story out into the light is that it’s a struggle and no one wants to help you,” Sulkowicz said. “So I was like, this is more appropriate to how it feels and what it’s like.”

Sulkowicz also said that she was happily surprised by her peers’ positive response to the piece. She said that people helped her, and she formed many meaningful connections because of it that served as part of her healing journey. 

“I was having these extremely intimate conversations with strangers because of this role, because people were so motivated to jump in and help,” Sulkowicz said.

Some of Sulkowicz’s peers waited outside her dorm building in the mornings to carry the mattress with her.

Despite the seriousness of the message behind “Carry That Weight,” Sulkowicz emphasized the importance of remaining lighthearted and having fun while conducting her piece.

“The mattress performance was very serious, but at times it was just so freaking silly, you know,” Sulkowicz said. “It was a ridiculous thing for me to do, it was crazy, I was literally tripping over myself.” 

Sulkowicz said that joy was crucial to her activism. 

“Activism is only going to be as effective as long as you’re having fun doing it,” Sulkowicz said.

Sulkowicz also discussed how her identity as an Asian woman affected her activism journey.

She said that the media quickly took note of her performance piece, but that her Asian identity was removed from the narrative.

“This was multiple articles where I was talked about as a white woman, and it was incredible the way that race just gets so quickly taken out of the conversation,” Sulkowicz said.

The panel hosts also discussed the state of sexual violence on WashU’s campus.

A 2019 Association of American Universities Campus Climate Survey found that at WashU, 13% of students have experienced non-consensual sexual acts. 

The survey noted that sexual assault was especially high amongst female and minority students, as 27% of female students have experienced non-consensual sexual acts, and for those who identified as transgender, gender queer, and gender non-conforming, this figure climbed to 33%. As for Asian-identifying students, 27% reported harassment, intimate partner violence, and stalking.  

Junior Andrew de las Alas, who is as a member of the Asian Multicultural Council, one of the groups that organized the event, said that WashU is not doing enough to reduce sexual assault on campus.

“Administrators need to have dedicated conversations that emphasize a lot of the demands that Title Mine, an organization dedicated to sexual assault prevention on campus, has put out,” de las Alas said. “They’ve gone quiet on a lot of those conversations and shifted the blame back on other organizers and survivors.”

Junior Catherine Chung said she found Sulkowicz’s incorporation of art as an effective way to communicate the voice of sexual assault survivors. 

“I think it’s turning something very intimate into something that is a collective burden you have,” Chung said. “Nobody likes to pretend to care about sexual assault, but in reality, it’s the survivors who have to deal with the burden the most.” 

Senior Brandy Farmer, who is president of the Gender Expansive Multicultural Society, said that they found Sulkowicz’s emphasis on community building very insightful. 

“The idea that you can have fun and form social connections during activism really helped me when thinking of preventing burnout,” Farmer said.

To conclude the panel, Sulkowicz said that college students can bring a passionate energy to political activism that is important for achieving change.

“This is why activism starts at college on college campuses,” Sulkowicz said. “You guys have all that passion, all that drive, all that anger. Use it.”

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