I n d ep en d en t
Issue no.
S t u de nt
V o i c e
o f
B o is e
S tat e
Sin c e
1933
26
November 2012
Volume 25
Jack Muirhead
Staff Writer
The participants are crowded into a makeshift corridor between barriers; it’s cramped, people are mashed together and the staff, dressed in black, shout at us to press uncomfortably close together. The information sheet given to us warns us this could be an upsetting experience and outlines the program’s emotionally impacting approach to education. This is the Tunnel of Oppression. The door opens and our group is ushered into the dimly-lit space. The lights go out, everyone is silent save the two students next to me. “I don’t know what to expect,” one said. “Me either, my professor recommended we come but he said its emotionally destroying,” said the other.
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The silence is broken by the buzz of TV static, lights flicker and suddenly we are bombarded with shouts. Horrible phrases, racist slurs, sexist remarks and worse bombard the group as we walk through a cramped corridor lined with graffiti echoing the slurs being hurled at us. We emerge
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The group bunches together uncomfortably close within the confines of the marked lines. A spotlight highlights a girl as she approaches a theatrical sized scale, she steps up to it and we witness her weight rise. Each increase in weight is accompanied by a derogatory term such as “disgusting” or
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Boise, Idaho
Men—We will systematically destroy (women) by breaking them down in the following stages: their minds, their hearts, their bodies and the uterus. —Tunnel of Oppression guide
from the corridor into a dimly lit room. The group is shaken, people appear somber, unsure and devoid of voice; there is no more talk. “EVERYONE STAND WITHIN THE LINES, COME ON HURRY UP,” shout our guides.
“behemoth.” Quietly at first, from within the group, come teases about weight, diet and exercise. The shouts escalate in volume and wickedness; the shouts are coming from people within the group and it takes a minute to register that actors have
12
First issue free
infiltrated us. Tasked with the role of abusing the girl on the scale, they achieved the desired effect of creating discomfort, as though the group itself were belittling the girl on the scales. Shouts like “Go to the gym” and “You’re stupid, worthless and fat” are thrown at the girl until she reacts. “Stop it,” she yells, rage and emotion playing across her face. “What gave you the right to dictate how I feel?” She shouts, the emphasized words land on the group like punches to the gut. “Disgusting, fat, obese, do you even realize what that’s like? You say those things, those horrible words and I look in the mirror and actually feel that way.” Almost as a relief the lights dim and we are once again left little time to process as our guides heckle and yell at us to
See Tunnel of Oppression page 6 page design Bryan Talbot/THE ARBITER
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