Snitzer sandwiched between a bubbling friendship

On Wednesday, Barnard’s Diana Event Oval hosted the women behind some of the most iconic visuals and sounds of last years Women’s March. Bwogger and Bwog photographer (Bwotographer?) Aliya Schneider attended the event and got the scoop on what it means to be a modern-day artist-activist.

Joan Snitzer (Co-Chair and Director of Visual Arts, Art History Senior Lecturer) sat between two ambitious and creative women with an undeniably inspiring friendship in the Diana Event Oval on Wednesday night. Krista Suh (BC ’09) is the founder of the Women’s March “pussy hat” project, and the first person with whom she shared her idea was her best friend MILCK, who wrote the song that became the anthem for the Women’s March last year. Suh said that she was the friend watching MILCK perform in hotel lobbies and knew she was “way too good for this.”

MILCK’s original idea was to ask people if her group of singers could sing to them, but Suh pushed her to sing out at the march. “Krista helped me think bigger than I could at the time,” MILK said, talking about how the two women egg each other on. Suh recounted a “Prankster” group that used to have a presence on campus, who would sing out of the blue during finals week in Butler. She found the interruption inspiring, and added that inspiration can come from anybody, including those in Butler library.

MILCK originally found herself standing in her own way of expressing herself. She has always been a singer, but struggled for a while to find a voice in her daily life. The anthem of the Women’s March, “I Can’t Keep Quiet,” was created from MILCK deciding not to hide anymore. MILCK had a “lump in [her] throat for years, and was finally able to say what [she] needed to say for all the times [she] felt … dismissed.”

The panel began with Krista reading a passage of her newly released book, “DIY Rules for a WTF World.” In the passage, she told a story about a horse and a goat and how sometimes she has to “horse” for loved ones, and other times she has to “goat.” What this means is sometimes she needs to be her friends’ support for their big day, and serve as their “goat,” and other times, her friends’ can be her goat, when it is her turn to be the horse. She talked about a personal story with MILK in this passage. Krista emphasized that sometimes you’re the star of the show, and sometimes you’re the back support.

“I like to go to extremes because it makes me feel like an epic warrior,” she said. Suh feels that “goating” means empowering others. She thinks it is important to find a balance between horsing and goating with friends and loved ones.

MILCK casually burst into song at the panel as prompted by Suh, and I was blown away by her beautiful voice and the passion with which she delivered her song. She soon after went to the piano, where she shared more of her music. Her honest and powerful emotions and vocals flooded the Diana Event Oval. MILCK described her success in the music industry as a series of finding comfort in her instincts and pushing away fear.

Whether with SAT scores, piano lessons, or early ambitions to be Pre-Med or Pre-Law, Suh found herself always meeting the expectations of her loved ones growing up. Now Suh is a comedy writer, and she said that being a writer was the first time she did something against the wishes of loved ones. She decided that if she could go against the expectations of her family, she was strong enough to go against the wishes of the patriarchy.

“If we can push against people we love, that’s enough training for doing activism.” MILCK added.

Both women said that their art was not intended to be political, it was just intended to be honest, which ended up being inherently political.

“Movements are messy,” MILCK said. “I’m not overthinking; I’m just doing. Because man, life is so short.”

Suh expressed that she was a perfectionist until art taught her that expecting perfection was not helping her progress.

During the Q & A, an audience member said that Suh is “basically responsible for reclaiming the word pussy.” When talking about the process of creating the hat, Suh knew she wanted pink; she wanted cat ears, and she wanted easy and quick to make. She also wanted the hat to have a unique silhouette. She shared that the word “pussy” being used by the president gave it a charge, but the founders did not look at Trump’s word for inspiration for the hat.

A high school students from the audience asked Suh about her reaction to Times Up and other movements going on in the media. As a comedy writer, Suh spends a lot of time around men. “They’re trying!” She said that what we’re seeing in the media isn’t just talk, and that she believes progress is taking place. MILCK added that songwriters are now trying to have a woman in the room when writing for female artists.

Despite criticisms of the word “pussy” being trans-exclusionary and the pink color representing a white woman’s vulva, Suh intended for and still views the pussy hat as a unifying symbol. She does not want to silence her critics and wants to do her part to “preach intersectional feminism,” but she “rejects the notion of purity and perfection.” Suh pointed out that the pink color was not intended to be skin color, and that she is a person of color herself. She views the word “pussy” as a response to the language and patriarchal context it has been used in. Suh pointed out that when two women disagree it is viewed as a “cat fight,” but when two men disagree, well, they’re just disagreeing. She believes that healthy discussion should not have to tear the feminist community apart.

“People who don’t want us unified relish on [our] internal battles.” MILCK added, referring to disagreements within the feminist movement.

Both MILCK and Suh stressed the importance of collaboration. Suh emphasized that everyone has good ideas, but how someone chooses to nurture an idea is what makes the difference.

These women are shaking things up. Alumnae and even high schoolers came through to listen these powerful, intelligent, creative, clever, and funny women, but honestly, I was disappointed in the mere number of students who showed up. Sure, copies of the book were a little pricey, (I definitely would have bought one if it was not $27), but the event did not require any registration and was free! Maybe the large Diana Event Oval space made the empty seats noticeable, but we should do better at supporting our alum and the amazing women who come to campus to speak.

MILK’s new album drops today, so look for that on Spotify on other music platforms! Also, check out her I Can’t Keep Quiet fund, and don’t forget that Suh’s book is available!

Photographs taken by Aliya Schneider