Thursday, April 05, 2001

Outside my office door, there's a poster, it shows a naked woman, she's fat, but the photograph of her is sensual and seductive. She's been there for more than a year, and before she was in this corridor, she was in one less trafficked. For some reason, she has always provoked loud responses, and today she provoked somebody into posting a note on her: "Type II diabetes - sensual, but infertile."

What I like about the picture is that it provokes people in this manner. It evokes disgust and embarrassed laughter… at one point it was attacked by kids writing graffiti all over her - I wasn't here at the time and nobody will repeat what it said, but the janitors cleaned her carefully and put her back up. I am not obese like her, but in a way, her relaxed acceptance of her nudity, and the beauty of her naked among the green leaves makes things easier for me, reminding me of the right of every woman to be as she is, not like some outside agent would try to make us. She lies naked in the grass. I say what I think in lecture-halls and in discussions. It's our right.

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