Herstory Month in the Year of Women at Bowdoin

The most prominent event of Herstory Month is the ambitious College production of RISE, Untold Stories of Bowdoin Women, put on by the student group fEMPOWER, and supported by the Sexuality, Women, and Gender Center (SWAG) and the office of Gender Violence Prevention and Education.

Rachel Reinke, SWAG’s associate director, said the 2022 performance of RISE showcased women’s leadership, which is apt—this year Bowdoin is commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of women at the College by honoring its female “leaders in all walks of life” in many ways, including selecting five accomplished women to receive honorary degrees.

“Like every year, we love to feature intersectional women’s stories, but we also wanted to prioritize Bowdoin student leadership,” Reinke said. “We went into RISE with the aim of uplifting leaders. Bowdoin has amazing women leaders among its students, and RISE is just one place where they get to shine.”

This includes, she added, the 2022 directors: Adedunmola Adewale ’22, Usira Ali ’22, Isabel Ball ’22, Ava Grandfield ’24, and Khue Anh Tran ’25. The five students led a cast of forty actors who performed more than fifty anonymous submissions about the lived experiences and perspectives of women on Bowdoin’s campus. 

The production process began last fall, when RISE’s leaders solicited submissions from Bowdoin community members, seeking stories from women of all ethnicities, races, backgrounds, and ages. They then wove their selections into a script, auditioned student actors, and staged the play. It was performed to a packed house in Kresge Auditorium on Saturday night, March 5.

The play featured harrowing monologues, lighthearted and comedic vignettes, and a dance by the student jazz group VAGUE. Live, free, in-person, and confidential sexual and mental health resources—from both the College and the midcoast Maine area—were available during the show, and members of fEMPOWER implored Bowdoin students to prioritize their mental well-being.

“If you feel a need to take a break, we encourage you to do so,” said Adewale during the show’s introduction. “Feel free to step out if needed.”

Both Ali and Ball, in interviews after the performance, said that the experience of bringing the huge cast of actors together in person was the most significant part of the production for them. "It was uniquely special to have it in person with a packed auditorium, and to experience these emotions and stories with the Bowdoin community," Ball said. "Just being able to sit on stage with women on show and see the audience process, laugh, and cry was amazing."

Ali said students have approached her since watching the performance Saturday to tell her how impacted they were by the stories. "Our hope was that people would come and watch and take one thing away to implement into their lives, which is if you see someone in need or uncomfortable, check up on them," she said.

Since its founding in 2017, RISE has been one of the College's most popular performances.

Reinke said the community's positive reception is partly due to how moving it can be to hear your own story spoken aloud—if you are one of the submitting writers—or to recognize your own experiences or feelings in the story of another. “Even though the show is difficult in many ways, it is one of the few opportunities on campus to hear directly from students, both about their difficulties and their celebrations,” she said.

“And students have said there is something impactful about seeing their writings and the writings of their peers performed, and not just erased," Reinke continued. "Seeing them uplifted to the stage is a powerful experience. It is a rare opportunity for women in the world at large to have so much validation happening at all these levels.”

Upcoming Herstory Chapters

Herstory Month continued on Wednesday with a feminist cross-stitching event at the SWAG center, where participants selected from an array of feminist sayings and designs. 

The crafting event was meant to be a bit lighthearted. “We were thinking about how difficult RISE is," Reinke said. "Plus, March is a busy and intense month for students leading up to spring break, so we wanted to engage them in something that was relaxing and not stressful.”

As the group began stitching, using templates with empowering, feminist messages on them, Devaki Rajiv ’22 agreed that it was a good chance to wind down. “Midterms week is a time when it feels like everyone is really busy and stressed, and I love that we took the time to try something new,” Rajiv said. “I feel like most of us, coming in, had never cross-stitched before, and learning together was a great process.”

Needle in hand, Alyssa Pierre ’22 reflected on the necessity of having creative spaces at Bowdoin open for women only. 

“It’s helpful to have a creative output here,” Pierre said. “Here, at this event, I can just say anything, and these women are going to get it. I don’t have to be worried about censoring myself.”

When classes resume, the student organization House of Hearts—whose mission is “to share and learn from aromantic and asexual experiences”—will lead a book group. They’re handing out copies of Loveless, by Alice Oseman, for people to read over break, and will schedule discussions for early April.

RISE photos by Lily Poppen ’22. Reporting by Jane Godiner ’23 and Rebecca Goldfine.