On Aug. 23, students gathered in the NC State Women’s Center in Talley Student Union for the Women’s Center’s Listening Party and Discussion that they host every semester. The event is intended to create a dialogue around an album or artist about how their body of work is important and necessary in the context of race, gender and sexuality.
According to Angela Gay, assistant director of the Women’s Center, they have covered Janelle Monáe’s Dirty Computer, Jay-Z’s 4:44, Beyoncé’s Lemonade and J. Cole’s KOD in past events. This year’s listening party focused on Lizzo as an artist, with a focus on her recent album “Cuz I Love You.”
The first hour of the event was reserved for listening to “Cuz I Love You;” the rest of the event consisted of structured discussion.
The discussion centered largely on body positivity and how it interacts with race, gender, sexuality and class. The discussion hoped to uncover root causes of the relationship between gender and body politics, with discussion focusing on capitalism and patriarchy being causes for body positivity struggles for individuals of all genders.
Gay said that Lizzo does an excellent job of teaching listeners how to be themselves and be completely unapologetic about it. Gay said that Lizzo exemplifies these ideals not only in her music but also in her media representation and her lifestyle.
“I appreciate that Lizzo is like, ‘I’m not going to work in your parameters; I’m not going to answer in the way that you want to be answered; I’m going to answer in a way that is authentic to me and allows me to be who I am,’” Gay said. “She walks in that, and every time I’ve seen her, whether it’s on Instagram, whether it’s in the media or if it’s just her album, that’s just her, she walks her own way. She’s unapologetic about it. She’s fat, black and she’s human.”
Sydney Shofner, a first-year studying engineering, said that this event was important to her because it gives people a space to support each other in these issues that a lot of people deal with.
“I think it’s super important for women and anyone who supports the Women’s Center to be able to come together in a welcome space,” Shofner said. “I wanted to be a part of that. I also just love Lizzo.”
Gay said that events like this are important, especially at a research institution, because students tend to forget that we are not meant to constantly produce.
“When we walk into any institution, we tend to forget who we are, and where we are, and how we become what we became and how we’re still becoming,” Gay said. “It’s important for us to recognize that we’re human: that we’re never gonna produce everything that we have to produce exactly when we need to produce it. We simply just have to be present with ourselves, and Lizzo does a great job of teaching us to be present with ourselves and whatever feelings and whatever vulnerabilities we have.”
The Women’s Center hosts this event every semester. The artist for the spring semester has not been announced, but Gay mentioned that Missy Elliott’s recent EP “ICONOLOGY” is definitely being considered.
