A blog reflection written by Women’s Center intern Julia Gottlieb. 

After reading the Baltimore City Paper’s recent daily Power Rankings, I got to thinking a lot about white women and women of color’s status in the arts. Three weeks ago, UMBC’s Theatre department held their annual New Playwrights Festival, featuring student playwrights.

I attended one night of the Festival, and got to see Elizabeth Ung’s play, a story that on the surface is about a sister and brother surviving in a post-apocalyptic world, but underneath it poses deeper questions of morality and emotional survival. Ung, who is a student of color here at UMBC, explains that she was inspired to write plays after taking a play-writing class through the theater department last semester, saying “[Playwriting] was something that I felt like I always wanted to do, to tell stories. It’s something that I want to do to get my voice out there.” Additionally, her characters are inspired by her everyday experiences and interactions with those around her: “I definitely get a lot from my own experiences, because that’s really the only reliable resource that I can definitely count on. You know, the littlest conversations can inspire dialogue and conflict within the plot.” This is especially important given the severe lack of representation of women of color and their experiences within theater and the arts as a whole.

Here is a helpful infograph to visually show the state of women’s representation in the arts. Even here an intersectional view on this issue is missing, and women of color’s experiences are not represented.

We know that white women have significantly less representation than men in play-writing and in theater overall. Meanwhile, women of color’s voices and experiences are even more underrepresented. Along with this disparity, there is a lack of comprehensive studies that specifically track the numbers of women of color playwrights and directors within theater in both specific cities and across the country. One study finds that of the plays being produced in Washington DC this season, “80% of playwrights are white, 7% are African American, 6% are Latino, 2% are Asian American and 2% are multi-ethnic.” This study gives a sense of the vast disparities that already exist within DC’s theatrical productions. The study’s lack of attention to intersectionality is illustrative of the fundamental problem of representation–the voices of white men and white women have more representation than the voices of women of color. And as long as women of color’s voices are not represented, a vast number of important experiences and viewpoints go ignored and invalidated.

In his piece, Unpacking ‘Diversity’ in Musical Theatre, Michael R. Jackson explains that rather than focusing on fulfilling a diversity quota, theater’s ultimate goal should be “to hold the mirror up to humanity and reflect it back (or distort it) in order to share, person-to-person, what it means to exist in joy and suffering in the world.” Representation matters to me because it affects what stories are being told and who gets to have a place in the world. I want the mirror to reflect an honest view of humanity and its diverse voices.

For example, as someone who identifies as fat (or plus-size if you prefer), the character Rae from the British TV show My Mad Fat Diary was very important to me because I had never seen a larger girl as the main character of a TV show. Seeing someone who looks like me on TV–having the mirror held up to reflect my life and my experiences was so affirming for me and I want everyone to be able to have that experience.

Representation is how we find characters to relate to, take comfort in, and hold up the mirror to and for ourselves. The arts are at a crucial time to make that a reality for more women of color and other underrepresented people. 

For the third year of the Critical Social Justice initiative, we chose the theme Baltimore 365 to learn about how we can cultivate deep and lasting commitments to Baltimore City that are meaningful to us as individuals and as part of the UMBC community. Take a look back at some of highlights from throughout the week and catch up on anything you missed with the linked videos for the events!

Dr. Jodi Kelber-Kaye helped us kick-off CSJ with “Baltimore 101: Why Baltimore Matters,” providing historical answers that explain why things in Baltimore are the way they are.

Later that night, Delegate Mary Washington gave an insightful presentation on LGBTQ Youth Homelessness, and how Baltimore itself is specifically affected.

Before the Keynote event on Tuesday, Dr. Marisela Gomez visited UMBC for a talk-back with the Honors College about approaches in activism.

 One of the issues Dr. Gomez and the Honors College students discussed was the termination of the SUCCESS Program here at UMBC. If you want to learn more about this issue, check out this article recently published by the Retriever and use Dr. Gomez’s words of wisdom to do some activism.

Tuesday night was our keynote event, a teach-in panel called “Baltimore in Action: Always Rising.” It was moderated by Marc Steiner and was broadcast on the Marc Steiner Show on November 2nd. Watch the video!

Thursday, we were joined by Karen Houppert, author and editor-in-chief of Baltimore City Paper, and independent journalist James MacArthur (@BaltoSpectator) who spoke to their experiences of reporting in independent and alternative media outlets in a discussion on Main Street during our Vines, Rhymes, and Headlines exhibit. (Video)

Women’s Center staff members created exhibits centered on the Baltimore Uprising and media portrayal and displayed them on Main Street during the discussion.

Later on that night, The Mosaic Center hosted an Interfaith Dialogue featuring religious and spiritual leaders engaged in social justice activism in Baltimore.

On the last day of #CSJ365, UMBC parents eager to bring a dialogue about social justice home to their kids participated in a roundtable discussion called How To Talk To Kids About -Isms.

 We rounded out the week with Dr. Kate and a very special walking tour of Baltimore City.

CSJ was action-packed and full of important information about Baltimore City and social justice. Check out our Storify, Livestream, and What You Need To Know tag to learn even more. Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and Facebook too!

The CSJ Team with Keynote Speakers

“I’m pretty much just a corpse at this point.”

I cannot fully express how many times I’ve said those words in the past few weeks, or how many times the response has been:

“Same.”

Every time someone says “How’s it goin?” the collective response has been:

“Terrible. Everything is awful. Midterms suck. This is the worst.” (Or at least something to that effect.)

It seems like as a student body we’ve officially gone past the “I’m fine. Just tired.” lie and have moved into complete honesty. A large percentage of us are stressed out, malnourished, sleep deprived, and drowning in homework.

But never fear! Shia LaBeouf is here!

With midterms season coming to a close we’re bringing you the Women’s Center Motivational Roundup to help get you back into the swing of things between now and finals. Here is a collection of pictures, videos, and memes that motivate us for a variety of reasons. These might not motivate you as much as they motivate us, but it’s worth a try.

-MJ Jalloh-Jamboria

“He makes me feel like I can do absolutely anything. I’m never more motivated to push through a project than I am after watching this video.”

-Kayla Smith

Parks and Rec gifset!

-Megan Tagle Adams

“They make me feel warm and fuzzy inside and remind me that I am a round, fuzzy ball of cute and I can TOTALLY DO THIS.” – Dan Willey

“Growing up, I didn’t have many role models, other than my mother. I would find myself constantly comparing myself to the girls in my classes. I always wanted to be as smart, as pretty, etc. as some other girl. Needless to say, this ruined my self-confidence and resulted in me being very unhappy because all of my actions were based on being as ________ as someone else. I was too wrapped up in impressing others and failed to acknowledge my own negative perception of myself. While scrolling through Tumblr one day, I came across this quote and it has resonated with me ever since. Not only did it incorporate my love of flowers, but it made me realize that comparing myself to others was pointless and a recipe for unhappiness. I am capable of experiencing growth and doing great things, regardless of anyone else.” – Meage Clements 

“Biblical motivation (if you’re into that kind of thing) This is my favorite piece of scripture and it immediately calms me down.” – Kayla Smith

“I was afraid to go back to school. I thought that if I tired again and had similar results to last time, it would just prove that I was not smart, or capable. I had to get over my fear and here I am! Almost finished!!!” – Carrie Cleveland

“It calms me down and reminds me that I’m okay where I am and I don’t need to freak out. It helps me breathe and stay calm so I can get more work done.” Julia Gottlieb

“Oh Leslie. She just looks like she’s really goin at it – and it looks like something I would do and totally have done!” – Jess Myers

“I have been in school for 10 years and I need to remember that I am SO close to the end and SO far away from the beginning.” – Carrie Cleveland

If you’re looking for some more tangible ways to deal with stress UMBC is definitely a good place to find resources. The Counseling Center on campus located across from Erickson Hall has individual counseling and workshops on stress management. They also have The Mind Spa which offers aroma therapy, biofeedback video games, and light therapy, among other services.

As always, self-care should be high on your list of priorities and the Women’s Center can serve as a place to kick back and relax or just take a break from the library. We also have a meditation room and a quiet study space outside of the lounge.

Take care of yourself this semester. We know it’s hard right now, but just do your best.

As a wise man once said:

“Sometimes in life you’re gonna start slow. That’s okay.” – Apollos Hester

But a wiser woman also said:

“If you think taking care of yourself is selfish, change your mind. If you don’t, you’re simply ducking your responsibilities.” – Ann Richards