Three women shield their seemingly naked bodies with signs that read “Clothing optional. Consent required.”
This image is part of a photo campaign that the ReVision: Oxford College of Emory’s Feminism and Gender Issues Club released on April 15 to spread awareness about consent on Oxford’s campus for Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
Tackling Sexual Assault
This latest initiative is just one part of the various efforts against sexual assault that ReVision has taken up on Oxford's campus.
The club organized a Sexual Assault Awareness week at the end of March with events such as a Title IX discussion, a Take Back The Night candlelight vigil and the Clothesline Project — an art display to honor men or women who have been sexually abused. On the last day of the week, the club hosted a keynote speaker, a candlelight walk through the quad and a gallery of the Clothesline shirts and student’s anonymous stories.
ReVision also attempted to tackle more general gender issues this semester.
On April 18, ReVision hosted a special screening of "The Mask You Live In," a documentary by Jennifer Siebel Newsom, who produced "Miss Representation" in 2011, that has not been released to the public yet.
“There were probably like 30 percent guys there, which is great for a Saturday night, not required academic event and for a feminist club,” Jocelyn Hong said.
On April 14, ReVision won Special Interest Club of the Year and Hong and Rhianne McCalip won Club Presidents of the Year at Oxford’ 2014 — 2015 Academic Awards Banquet.
“Consent” Campaign
The campaign, the club’s latest effort, became an Oxford Student Government Association (SGA) and ReVision joint effort after former SGA President and Oxford College sophomore Noah Cole learned of similar efforts at University of California, Berkeley and pitched the idea to Co-President of ReVision and Oxford College sophomore Hong.
Hong defines consent as something “that can be defined on your own terms, between you and your partner,” but she emphasized, “consent is clear and beautiful and always absolutely necessary.”
From then on, those working on it became rooted in the campaign. ReVision worked on publicizing and collecting information for the campaign, while SGA collected volunteers and reached out to other clubs for help. Both clubs had members who photographed, modeled and edited for the final product.
Cole said he was really personally invested in the campaign.
“Of all the things that I’ve been able to be a part of this year, it’s absolutely one of my favorites,” Cole said.
The whole event was made possible with immense student support, as the campaign creators chose from student-submitted slogans, according to Hong.
“We were just excited to see all the support also when we were doing the project, because none of us were like professional photographers, and none of us really know how to edit or anything,” she said. “When I saw them, I was like ‘Whoa this looks so professional’.”
Hong noted that although the posters were eye-catching, they were also informative, with contacts for various sexual assault resources such as Sexual Assault Peer Advocates (SAPA) and Oxford’s Title IX coordinator.
“If people see them, [the information is] right there but it also makes a powerful statement to challenge notions of what is sexual assault and what is consent,” Hong said.
Images from this campaign have spread on social media and the Internet through a Buzzfeed community article. Hong posted the campaign to Buzzfeed and said she has received overwhelmingly good responses, mostly through emails from friends and faculty.
“I wanted people to see what Oxford is about but [also] to challenge notions and traditional ideas of sexual assault and to broaden the conversation that we are or we aren’t having yet,” she said.
ReVision’s other Co-President and Oxford College sophomore McCalip also saw a positive response to the campaign.
“I was just so proud to see so many people come out and support us,” she said. “I think it was really nice that a group of students could come together to make this happen.”
Future Co-President of ReVision and current Oxford College freshman, Annabess Ehrhardt, was a photographer and model on the campaign.
“I knew that a lot of people were unaware of what exactly consent was and what exactly constitutes sexual assault, so I hope the campaign spreads awareness,” Ehrhardt said. “I am sure there are people who are kind of realizing ‘maybe this isn’t right, maybe I should be asking more,’ or whatever the case is.”
Despite this, Ehrhardt has heard some backlash.
“There are people who are like, ‘if you’re in a relationship, it’s obviously consent,’ and I’m like ‘no,’” Ehrhardt said.
However, Ehrhardt said she is excited for the mostly positive feedback the campaign received.
The Future of ReVision
With many successful events and even a few awards under their belts, members hope for a successful future, including collaboration with other clubs on campus like the Women in Business club.
“I have big ideas for next year,” Ehrhardt said. "I think were going to make ReVision really blossom.”
McCalip hopes to expand efforts to include areas like international institutional violence against women in other countries.
No matter what events are held or issue they address, Hong hopes ReVision continues to be an active means of expression on campus.
“I really want ReVision to be able to be that voice and to voice student concerns and feminist concerns and gender issues to the administrators and faculty and to create more solidarity amongst all of us,” she said.
— By Monica Lefton
