Body Shots XI: (S)heroes celebrates female empowerment on campus

Marshall University’s faculty and staff dressed as different heroines to celebrate female empowerment with Body Shots XI: (S)heroes, an event used to promote Women’s History Month since 2007.

The event consisted of different women presenting poetry and stories they have written as well as short films they have produced. Each reading and viewing addressed some of the ways the readers learned to be powerful as well as some of the hardships women face.

With readers addressing body positivity, the empowering females in their life, a short comedy skit about The Avengers needing to fulfil their affirmative action requirement, the show consisted of a variety of content for those who attended.

Beth Wolfe, the director of continuing education at Marshall, read various poems she wrote to the audience. Her presentation included pieces titled, “Because A Strong Woman Raised Me,” an explanation of how much her mother influenced her confidence, and, “Nevertheless, She Persisted,” an acrostic poem where Wolfe showed each letter of the title in sign language.

Wolfe said her niece is only four years old and already has a unique personality, and she hopes her niece stays that way as she grows up.

I feel like a strong personality often gets pulled out of girls,” Wolfe said. “I hope maybe I can inspire (my niece) like she inspires me.”

Marshall’s Film Club also attended the (S)heroes event to address a problem many of its members often face. The group created a short film that included different ways females who enjoy cosplaying get sexually harassed at cosplay events. To cosplay means to dress up as different characters from books, movies or video games.

Erin Fife, a sophomore computer science major, wrote the short film to raise awareness on an issue that many people do not appear to know exists.

“When I went to my first cosplay event, my dad had to actually pull me aside,” Fife said. “He told me that people were going to be inappropriate and mean, and I didn’t believe it until I got there and actually saw it. Nobody should go through that.”

Sunny Hudnall, a freshman psychology major at Marshall, said she attended the event because she is a dedicated feminist and believes all women should be treated fairly.

“I came in not knowing what to expect,” Hudnall said. “But there are women here from all over campus and not even on campus that came out to use their voices and spread their own experiences. I absolutely loved it.”

Sarah Ingram can be contacted at [email protected].