Carry That Weight
A college student responds to her rape by carrying the bed she was raped in everywhere she goes. The project will continue for as long as she goes to school with her rapist.
also, there's this...
CHATTER
Not asking for help makes the burden hers, not everyone else’s. Which is an interesting commentary on the isolation of rape victims—and maybe how alone she feels at a university which is becoming known for not supporting them.
Very moving piece. Love that she has found a way too force others to see how rape victims continue to carry their burden. The only part that troubles me is the part where she doesn’t allow herself to ask for help.
Perhaps, that is a little too blatant. The point of this piece is to be provocative. To provoke the viewers to act- whether through discussion, aid (in carrying the mattress),etc. Rape leaves an indelible impression. She is inviting her community to see this impression.
I think you would be hard pressed to believe that someone is simply moving their bedding around for the hell of it from class to class, at the cafeteria, and so on- even mid-semester.
I wonder with such a large, blank canvas that the bedding provides, that she hasn’t chosen to put the word “RAPE” in large letters across her mattress to better define what her project is, and to give a voice to the object where she suffered such violence… Otherwise she just looks like a college student moving dorm bedding around.
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