Door-in-the-face Technique

January 22, 2004

I nearly smacked Brian in the face with a door as I was running around the school with my election papers yesterday morning. In my rush, I forcefully kicked a door open without realizing that Brian’s face was on the other side. Since he’s still not talking to me, I remained in the doorway apologizing profusely as he simply walked away. I’m passive-aggressive, it seems.

And now that I started campaigning for the WLUSU Board of Directors, I find that many things trigger my aggressive side. For instance, it seems that WLU is still as puritan and conservative as it was in 1911 when it started out as Waterloo Lutheran University. I walked into the Dean of Students’ office yesterday morning to ask how much nudity I can include on my posters.

I always try to use my posters to make both a political an artistic statement — I’m titillated by the possibility of placing the body back at the centre of political discourse. But the university still has anxieties about the body, and wants to keep it hidden and covered.

I was told that all everyone from the Women’s Centre to the Harassment Office will be up in arms if I put myself naked on posters. People are not ready to accept nudity, and the secretary promised that there will be a savage outcry if a buttock or nipple escapes into a poster. It’s sad that Laurier is still stuck somewhere in the Victorian age.

As a compromise, she suggested that I should bring in my drafts for pre-approval. Compromises like this don’t exactly appeal to me. Perhaps it’s time to kick open some doors.

Posted by Tudor at 04:15 PM in Politics | TrackBack

Comments

Perhaps I’m missing the larger picture, but I truly don’t see how nudity relates to politics.

Unless it’s just meant to be an attention grabber?
Please - ‘enlighten’ me! : )

Posted by: lou-lee on January 23, 2004 at 09:47 AM

You are right that putting nudity at the centre of a political debate is an anti-political act (to some extent).

I tried to go articulate my reasons last year, but to summarize, by placing the body at the centre of the campaign I can make certain statements about the political system. Candidates, for example, are pressured to “sell themselves,” and this pressure has a few interesting implications.

By placing the body out there to be “consumed” by the voters as entertainment, I can explore the issues of commodification, objectification, and the overwhelming distance between the politician and the voters.

Thus, inserting the body back into politics is an attempt to question and challenge the current political system — a system that is quite dehumanizing to both the voters and the candidates.

Posted by: Tudor on January 23, 2004 at 10:13 AM

Bravo, Tudor. But I would also add that it is indeed an attention grabber as a pleasant side-affect of subversion. One needs a unique poster campaign to pique the interest of the student populus.

Posted by: Craig on January 23, 2004 at 11:22 AM

Regardless of the non-political implications of nudity in particular in a political campaign, there is a great deal of business in politics that simply doesn’t truly BELONG there.
I don’t see how nudity makes any less sense than whatever this Aziz character inevitably has up his sleeve.

YOU KNOW WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO, WITH THE POSTERS.

Posted by: Trevor Haldenby on January 23, 2004 at 11:25 AM

wow - okay…interesting. I can see what you’re trying to achieve now that it’s been explained to me….I guess, as a result of this technique, I can just see a lot of pple refering to you simply as “that naked guy from the poster”…..but, that’s fine….depending on how much nudity you can get away with, it will definately bring attention your way!!

Posted by: lou-lee on January 23, 2004 at 01:45 PM

Just put a sock over Mr. Happy! It worked for the Peppers, yet still provided the same shock value you want. ;)

Posted by: Tick on January 27, 2004 at 03:31 PM

That’s what I wanted to do, Tick, but the idea didn’t fly.

A while back, The Cord wanted to put up posters with a bunch of naked guys discreetly covering their privates. You couldn’t even see their pubic hair, but the posters were still deemed unacceptable because they offered the possibility of nudity.

When I asked, I was told that my posters would have to be even more tame than that. In other words, I would have to keep all of my clothes on. Laurier is still stuck in the Victorian age, and even the possibility of nudity is somehow troubling.

Because I don’t want to put up with this bullshit, I took my posters in a different direction.

Posted by: Tudor on January 27, 2004 at 07:08 PM