LETTER: The Meyerson bathroom, some photographs, a rationale and an interpretation

Accompanied by a letter from Laura Blaw, the artist who created the exhibit. Accompanied by a letter from Laura Blaw, the artist who created the exhibit.To the Editor: The description makes clear that the timing and placement of the photographs and captions were deliberately planned to coincide with a forum on "Women's Issues and the Election." The captions -- such as "Do you feel safe here?" -- placed in the women's lavatory late in the evening and following a women's forum, appear quite unambiguously to be meant for intimidation and threat. Are intimidating gestures toward women any less repulsive than threats against African-Americans, Jews, gays or any other non-dominant subgroup on our campus? As a major academic center, Penn hosts dozens of different meetings and seminars each year with a multitude of different audiences and themes. Think about the reaction that would have accompanied any similar "exhibit" coinciding with last week's Israel Day activities, with threatening photographs and captions regarding Jews on campus. Do we not react with great concern when vandals "exhibit" intimidating expressions against African-Americans or homosexuals? The well-timed, well-placed gallery opening in Meyerson Hall was no "reminder to women to always take precautions." It was a deliberate attempt to attack women's empowerment and to reinforce women's vulnerability through violent imagery and fear. Any other label explicitly condones the "artistic" vandalism and its hateful message. Regardless of the motive -- radicalization of women into action or frightening women into silence -- the exhibit served only to intimidate and threaten rather than to persuade or inform. MARIA COX Graduate Student School of Arts and Sciences