Syndicated cartoonist Jan Eliot took advantage of her Friday afternoon book signing at the Feminist Fair in the EMU Amphitheater to say a word that has caused her trouble in the past: boobs.
Eliot, a 1977 University graduate, attended the ASUO-sponsored event, which was also part of Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
“You Can’t Say Boobs on Sunday” is Eliot’s second collection of her comic strip “Stone Soup,” and the book title represents an incident when Eliot’s fairly uncontroversial cartoon was censored.
“In the cartoon, the 13-year-old was looking enviably at high school girls,” Eliot said. “The little sister said, ‘What have they got that we haven’t got?’ The answer to her question was ‘boobs.’”
Eliot’s editor, with the Universal Press syndicate, said she could use the word Monday through Saturday and added the rule protects a family environment from the word “boobs” in the most wholesome part of the Sunday newspaper.
“I won’t say ‘boobs’ in the Sunday funnies,” Eliot said. “But nobody said I couldn’t put it in the title of my book.”
Eliot said out of approximately 250 syndicated comic strips, only about eight are created by women.
“Every entertainer, speaker, tabler and participant of the [Feminist Fair] is a self-identified feminist,” event coordinator and senior English major Jennifer Eliot said. Jennifer is Jan’s daughter.
She added the intent of the event was to advocate women’s rights and help clear up misconceptions about what the term “feminism” means.
“We wanted to let people know feminism is a presence on campus, and it’s a good word,” she said.
Student band Narboza kicked off the feminist celebration. Stephen Lane, Jake Houck and Ted Welles, who describe their music as “funky rock and roll,” have been together for over a year performing throughout the Eugene community.
“Jake and I are active in our women’s studies class and in supporting the feminist movement,” Welles said.
Kathryn Lorish, a local solo artist, filled the amphitheater with her folk-like guitar tunes. She has showcased her talent at the Lord Leebrick Theatre Company and recorded a CD as well.
Jennifer Eliot said Lorish was chosen because the different levels of energy in her music usually draws a crowd.
Comedian Lynn Sconyers, a University alumnus and a finalist in the title of “Eugene’s Funniest Person,” brought her stand-up act to the amphitheater.
“We picked Lynn because she is closest in age to college students and she can relate to the audience,” Jennifer Eliot said.
During her presentation, Sconyers used dry humor about her “long crotch” and pick-up lines at bars to generate laughs.
Ginger Apling, who works at the Oregon Research Institute, said she came to watch Sconyers Friday after seeing one of her previous shows. Apling said few women address sexual and offensive material the way Sconyers so openly does.
“In the community, we have a long way to go in terms of feminism. There are a lot of inequalities I have noticed out of college,” Apling said. “People don’t seem to be aware of issues about gender and powers and the need for equality.”
Apling said she enjoyed attending the Feminist Fair and noticed college students are more active in feminism issues.
“Now that we have done [the Feminist Fair] once, if we did it again next year, it would be twice as good,” Jennifer Eliot said.
The event raised donations for Planned Parenthood of Eugene, a free community education program that educates youth about healthy sexual relations and HIV/AIDS and STD prevention.
The Feminist Fair was sponsored by the Young Women’s Christian Association, Sexual Assault Free Environment, Men Against Sexism, Sexual Assault Support Services, Project Saferide and the ASUO Women’s Center.