“What Were You Wearing?” — A project
(TW: Rape, victim blaming)
I am in the early stages of thinking through a project that I’m interested in pursuing and I need your help to execute it. I want to create a fashion show called ”What were you wearing?” in which the models wear actual clothing that people were wearing when they were raped/sexually assaulted. I envision it being something that would have both live action modeling but which could also serve as a display project where the clothing is on mannequins thus enabling it to travel and be part of a variety of types of events.
I envision this project as being a really powerful and concrete response to the cultural trope that looks to connect victimization with what the survivor was wearing. I think seeing a variety of types of clothing from a variety of ages and gender identities would be a strong visual representation of the fact that it doesn’t matter what you wear because rape and sexual assault aren’t about sexual attraction or clothing and also that all kinds of people are impacted by rape and sexual assault.
This is where I need you: I’m wondering how many people not only have the clothes they were wearing when they were assaulted, but would also be willing to give them to me for this project? It’s still in the early stages so I’m not positive whether or not I’d be able to return them to you, but for the time being let’s assume that I can’t. In my dream scenario, I would be able to get grant funding to help people affording shipping but that may not be possible so let me know about the feasibility of you shipping to San Diego, CA.
Part of thinking through this project is my interest in hearing a variety of perspectives on it, whether supportive or critical. What do you think about this idea? What are some ways you think I could include people who don’t have access to the clothes they were wearing at the time of their assault or who can’t/don’t want to send them to me? What ways can I make this project as impactful and inclusive as possible? What other comments do you have?
If you would be interested in participating or have an opinion to share, please email me at letstalkaboutrape@gmail.com. You can also message me on tumblr but please include an email so that I can get back to you through email once the project gets more concretely under way.
If you could reblog this so it reaches as many people as possible, I’d really appreciate it! Thanks!
