An amalgamative performance piece and political protest, In Mourning and In Rage was created by Suzanne Lacy and Leslie Labowitz-Starus in response to a series of unsolved rapes and murders in California that the police attributed to the Hillside Strangler.
Artists, advocates, politicians, and the families of victims all converged on Los Angeles City Hall to perform a ritual of mourning and rage before the press.
In a tightly choreographed event that challenged the media’s sensationalising and inadequate approach to reporting these crimes, 10 women dressed as 19th-century mourners, traveling to the steps of City Hall by hearse. Their faces obscured by black veils, each performer stepped forward to describe a form of violence against women, explicitly tying the horrors of the Strangler case to everyday abuse and harassment. “I am here for the 388 women who have been raped in Los Angeles between October 18th and November 29th,” one performer announced. “In memory of our sisters, we fight back!” responded the group in unison.
With roots in both 1960s political theatrics and 1970s feminist consciousness-raising, the performance is echoed in public protests today. In 2017, activists dressed as characters from The Handmaid’s Tale, assembling in the Texas Capitol Rotunda to protest a bill limiting abortion rights. Their matching red cloaks evoked the dramatic red-and-black costumes of In Mourning; their anger was familiar, as well.
Women wrapped in red cloaks and wearing white bonnets gathered in the halls of the Texas state Capitol on Tuesday, channelling "The Handmaid's Tale" to protest a slew of anti-abortion bills on the state's legislative calendar.
Standing side by side, the women each held signs outlining the history of abortion restrictions passed in Texas in the decades since the Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade legalized the procedure nationwide.
Abortion stories being read while the handmaids stand silently with the timeline of restrictions passed in Texas.
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