The Window Sex Project

Sponsored by The Barnard Center for Research on Women.
 
The Window Sex Project is a dance performance that tackles the everyday practice in which women are “window shopped,” or forced to bear unsolicited harassment from men while walking on the street. An innovative performance grounded in personal experiences, feminist theory, and a collective need to take action, The Window Sex Project fosters conversation in the community about the need to eradicate unsolicited verbal harassment and restores agency to women by celebrating their bodies in a public artwork informed by members of the Harlem community, for the Harlem community. The work places women of varying races and body types on pedestals in an art gallery setting, forcing audiences to contend with the objectification of the female body in a contemporary society. The dance investigates how a woman’s sexuality is perceived based on these physical attributes. It aims to equally celebrate all the bodies which are unique, and do not fit into generic models of womanhood.
 
Produced by Sydnie L. Mosley ’07, BCRW’s first Alumna Fellow, the performance will be followed by a discussion with the dancers about their artistic process and about actions against street harassment that are taking place in New York City. The piece also includes a sound score orchestrated by Ebonie Smith ’07 and integrates excerpts of “Can I Get A Smile?,” a one-woman theater show written and performed by Leah King ’04.