UPFRONT

A Gender-Bender of a Conference

The Gender as Performance conference, October 22-24, sponsored by the Center for Multicultural and Gender Studies in conjunction with the Women's Council, was more than a success if measured by the enthusiastic responses from both guest presenters and participants. Kate Bornstein, a transsexual artist who spoke on identity, said, "This is the best conference I have been to in the ten years I've been doing this. It's not often that I'm challenged anymore, but this weekend I was, due to the incredible line-up of speakers, and the people of this community."

The organizers, Carol Burr, Kate McCarthy, and Elizabeth Renfro, were pleased with the conference. Said Burr, "We did what we set out to do. We reached people at a variety of levels: emotional, intellectual, and humorous. We opened up a different way of looking at ourselves." The conference included nine presentations, bringing people such as Anna Deavere Smith, Kate Bornstein, Loren Cameron, and Coco Fusco to Chico State. The weekend was filled with opportunities to mingle with the presenters and over 100 participants, furthering the dialogue created by the presentations.

The Gender as Performance conference brought many of the biggest names in gender theory together for a weekend of challenging, thought-provoking presentations. SL