The Lesbian-Gay Community Center of Cleveland turned into an “outlaw” hideout as the Center welcomed the original body outlaw, Ophira Edut, editor of Body Outlaws: Rewriting the Rules of Beauty and Body Image to a fundraiser for Red Hen Feminist Theatre.

The book (which was entitled Adios, Barbie before objections by Mattel led to a title change) was the impetus behind the Body Outlaws stage play and outreach project by Red Hen. Body Outlaws debuted in 2001 as a series of staged monologues about beauty, body image and acceptance based on the book’s writings. Essays with titles like “Klaus Barbie and Other Dolls I’d Like To See,” “The Art of the Ponytail” and “My Brown Face,” are brought to life by the members of Red Hen’s talented ensemble. The play, performed at SPACES received such an enthusiastic response that Red Hen, with support from the Women’s Community Foundation, is taking the show into nine inner-city schools, conducting a crash course in media literacy and body image for a generation unfamiliar with Title IX and influenced less by Barbie than by The Bachlorette. The first performance is Wed 3/23 at Nathan Hale Middle School.

Edut, a media consultant, Web designer and by her own admission, “a Girl Scout until an unnatural age,” stood flanked by posters of swimsuit models and Brad Pitt and discussed the complexities of bridging the gap between self-acceptance and exercising one’s ability to change themselves in the age of reality shows and plastic surgery makeovers: “Women now look at plastic surgery as a woman’s right to choose what to do with their bodies, the ultimate form of empowerment. Now they don’t have to feel “ugly” anymore. If there’s a part of their body that they are unhappy with or makes them feel ashamed, they can change it.” She told of how, instead of the easing the pressure on women, the mental gymnastics required to live and love in our body- and beauty-obsessed culture have now spread to men, a contention painfully described in the latest edition of Outlaws, which includes two testimonies from men, including one by Cleveland ex-pat John Chaich.

The performers in Red Hen Theatre hope that by giving young people a chance to see life through the eyes of an “outlaw,” they will look at themselves and others with a little more appreciation and realize that they can write their own laws. If you are interested in learning more about the Body Outlaws Outreach Project, visit http://www.feministtheatre.org. To learn more about Ophira Edut and the book Body Outlaws, visit http://www.ophira.com.
from Cool Cleveland contributor Marcia Bryant marbry8@sbcglobal.net

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