Naked Men on Campus and Why I (Don’t) Care

Yep, he’s really here.

IMG_2862
(a few additions have been made to the Sleepwalker Statue since Monday)

So I’m sure most of you have seen or heard about the statue of the semi-nude man that’s taken residence on campus. On Tuesday, I was walking back to my dorm from the Science Center and did a double take when I saw a bald man in his underwear with his arms stretched out, walking on the lawn by the quad.

Only he wasn’t walking, nor was he a real man: the unbelievably realistic sculpture of a man in his underwear was made by artist Tony Matelli to promote his exhibition at the on-campus art museum, The Davis.

I had initially intended to write a blog post about the courses I’m taking this semester, but that can wait another week. This news has already created so much buzz around Wellesley and in the internet world, that I thought you as prospective students (and as inquisitive blog-passerbys) would want to read about this instead.

I’m not kidding about the buzz. Everyone seems to be talking about it from the Huffington Post, NBC, CBS, The Washington Post, my history teacher from high school… even Perez Hilton.

Screen Shot 2014-02-06 at 1.53.58 PM

I do and don’t care about this statue for several reasons.
I do care because it has become a source of a lot of dialogue here at Wellesley but also on many online platforms. I do care because many of my peers are very passionate about supporting or not-supporting the removal of the statue from the lawn.
I don’t care because I have other things to worry about like finding a job, making sure I get the gratuitous amounts of readings done before class (it’s only week 2!? of spring sem), and not getting buried in the snow.

I have no intention of trivializing the very real concerns of some who have contentions with this piece of art. However, what I want to address in this entry is not so much the contrasting opinions that have risen on campus, but the commentary on Wellesley College that seems to have swept much of social media in the past few days.
Many of the articles and reader-comments I’ve read in the aforementioned websites address the presence of the statue with a tone of humor, chiding students at an “all girls school” for overreacting to or misunderstanding a work of art.

This label, of Wellesley College (or traditionally women’s colleges in general) as being an “all girls school” full of “girls” who are stuck in a bubble, is one that you and I will come across for probably the rest of our lives.

When you told your family or friends that you were applying to, or got in to Wellesley, how did they react? I’m sure most were happy for you, but did you get reactions like “wait…all girls?” or “why would you want to go to a women’s college?” I sure did (and still do). Sometimes the questions are more inquisitive than offensive, but more often than not I’ve found myself having to defend my choice of coming to Wellesley.

Which I am usually fine with because I’ve come to love this place already in the semester and a bit I’ve been here. But at times it gets frustrating, and confusing, and becomes cause for doubt. Why would anyone choose Wellesley?

I can’t speak for everyone, but here’s why I did.
Wellesley College is a place where contrasting views come to clash, like they would and should in a community that is made up of such diversity – but where open dialogue is always encouraged.

IMG_2863
(found at the Lulu Chow Wang Campus Center)

There are Wellesley students who find the statue offensive.
There are Wellesley students who find the statue funny.
There are Wellesley students who identify as feminists.
There are Wellesley students who identify as bisexual.
There are Wellesley students who identify as Republicans.
There are Wellesley students who identify as victims of sexual crimes.
There are Wellesley students who identify as activists.
There are Wellesley students who don’t identify as female.
There are Wellesley students who identify with none or all of the above.

But Wellesley students are all more than just one form of identity. What unifies us is that we are all students of this College, and want to live and study in an environment where we can feel challenged intellectually but also feel comfortable enough to call it home.

What I really want people, especially prospective students and their friends and families, to know is that there is a beautiful, safe, quirky, thought-provoking, inclusive environment in the backdrop of this infamous statue.

Publicity is publicity – because of this ‘incident’, now more people have heard about Wellesley College. My hope (however naive it may be) is that hearing about Wellesley and the Sleepwalker will lead to more people wanting to learn about this amazing and strange school, and about the students who go here. like me.

IMG_2866

Feel free to comment and ask questions. Open dialogue is encouraged.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Skip to toolbar