By Kathryn Riley, Staff writer
There’s a new kind of sexual revolution occurring on college campuses- one against campus sexual assault. The manifestation of this revolution is Emma Sulkowicz, although many know her as “mattress girl.”
As a sophomore at Columbia University, Emma was raped in her dorm room. She didn’t report anything at first, until she heard from two other girls that they had been abused by the same man. Sulkowicz then went to the Columbia administration, but they offered no help. In an interview with the New York Times, she claimed they acted “idiotically during the interview process, making several errors.” After six months, the Columbia dean ruled in favor of the alleged rapist, and according to the school’s laws, his ruling was final. Then came the mattress.
As a performance art piece called “Carry That Weight,” Emma Sulkowicz began hauling her dorm mattress (the mattress where the incident occurred) wherever she went, acting as the symbolic weight she will carry for the rest of her life as a rape victim. She refuses to use anything but her hands to carry it, but she does allow help from other students (if they offer), especially those who have also been abused, calling the group efforts “collective carries.”
For her senior thesis, Sulkowicz continues to carry her mattress, now as a protest, until the Columbia administration appeals the ruling. Aside from just capturing the attention of her school, “Mattress Girl” has the eyes of the nation on her. Even Hillary Clinton has commented on it, calling the student’s movement “indelible” and stating, “that image should haunt all of us.”
The Columbia administration has responded in some respects. The president of the school, Lee Bollinger created a new sexual assault policy. Students of the college now must have “unambiguous communication and mutual agreement” or verbal consent before sexual acts. The new policy is a progressive step for Columbia but it has done little to overcome the power of a girl and her mattress.
Outside Columbia, the conversation about sexual assault on American college campuses has been elevated to the national level. There is a new White House-sponsored campaign called “It’s On Us” which aims to “recognize, identify, and intervene” sexual assault, according to the campaign’s website, itsonus.org. The government has also taken a direct attempt to try and reduce college rape by threatening to cut the funding of public universities that do not reform. As a result multiple states, including California, have passed laws that will hopefully put an end to assault on campus. Governor Jerry Brown recently signed a bill that requires colleges and a universities to redefine consent for sexual activities. The progressive new law is the first of its kind in the country. Under the California, every state-funded college and university must educate his students about a new standard of consent known as affirmative consent, which it will begin enforcing immediate. Affirmative consent means “an explicit and voluntary ‘yes’ whether verbal or nonverbal, is required to agree to any sort of sexual activity with a partner,” as defined in the National Journal.