The Clothesline Project Featured at IU Northwest Oct. 14–25

T-shirt exhibit to break the silence and raise awareness about gender violence

rot1Indiana University Northwest invites the campus and public to view The Clothesline Project Exhibit to be featured in the Moraine Student Center from October 14 – 25.

The t-shirt exhibit is part of a national project intended to educate, break the silence, and bear witness to violence against women.

The idea behind the Clothesline Project came from the idea that doing laundry was considered “women’s work.” This meant that women hung their clothes to dry while conversing with neighbors. Although it was once considered shameful to “air one’s dirty laundry” about domestic issues, the Clothesline Project is intended to raise awareness about gender violence and give expression to silenced voices.

The exhibited T-shirts are designed by IU Northwest students, staff and faculty as an expression of their personal stories or in honor of a survivor or victim.

The T-shirts will be color coded to show the form of abuse and whether the victim survived:

  • White memorializes those who died from violence
  • Yellow or beige represents battering or assault
  • Red, pink, and orange signify survivors of rape or sexual assault
  • Blue or green is for survivors of incest or sexual abuse
  • Purple or lavender stands for persons attacked due to their sexual orientation
  • Black represents those attacked for political reasons

The Women’s and Gender Studies Program, the Department of Sociology and Anthropology and the Office of Diversity, Equity and Multicultural Affairs are sponsors of the exhibit.

For more information, please contact Dr. Tanice Foltz, Professor of Sociology and Director of Women’s and Gender Studies, at tfoltz@iun.edu or (219) 980-6786.