Crossing gender bounderies
Photos: ALLAN ERIKSSON
Stina Ericsson
Andrea Castro
Kajsa G Eriksson
Professor of the Sociology of Language, wearing a dress suit:
Professor of Spanish, about seeing herself on the big screen:
Professor in Visual Arts, in a flaming orange dress:
– A woman wearing a dress suit is no longer so astonishing, whereas it still requires courage for a man to wear an evening dress. But gender is not important when it comes to working as a professor, so I’d prefer if there was gender-neutral attire for this type of event. Perhaps this is something one of the students from the Academy of Design and Crafts could develop. There was nothing in the dress code about footwear, so I chose sneakers with pink glitter.
– There is nothing special with my dress, but it is nice. – Nerve-racking but fun, but above all, it was exciting to see what all the other professors are working on. Imagine being included in the same company as these talented and committed people! – My father has come all the way from Argentina to take part in the inauguration ceremony, which is a very important occasion for me.
– I call it my Phoenix dress and I bought it for the doctoral conferment ceremony in 2016 when Karen Barad, who I admire immensely, was made an honorary doctor. In the autumn, I’m actually going to Phoenix, Arizona, on a STINT scholarship, I’ll see if I bring the dress with me then.
Larisa Beilina
Professor of Applied Mathematics, in a black lace dress:
– My sister helped me order the dress for this special occasion, she knows much more about fashion than I do. It’s by Ida Sjöstedt, a Swedish designer. – In Russia, new professors are not celebrated in any particular way, so I had to explain to some colleagues in Moscow what kind of party I was going to. For me, this day is a symbolic milestone and it’s something I will remember for the rest of my life.
Isabella Björkman- Burtscher Professor of Neuroradiology, in a black dress with a pink apron:
– Since I come from Austria originally, I have a dirndl, which is an evening dress for festive occasions. It’s not from any particular region, but is associated with the whole of Austria. If you tie the apron with the bow on the right-hand side it means that you are married, whereas a bow on the left-hand side means that you are not married. The dress also has a petticoat with lace.
SUMMER 2019 GUJOURNAL
31
