Good Night Cinderella - A focus against gender-based violence and in favour of solidarity
Today, a fairytale character also stands for an unconsciousness-inducing drink – the rape drug known as «Good Night Cinderella».
The French woman Gisèle Pelicot was drugged by her husband for years and raped by him and other men. Dominique Pelicot did not stop at her daughter either. Since then, Caroline Darian has stood for the fight against chemical subjugation, i.e. the administration of substances that impair a person’s consciousness, decision-making ability or ability to defend themselves.
Violence against women is an everyday reality. In Switzerland alone, 20 men murdered 21 women last year, there are over 430,000 rapists in this country and every third man – mostly husbands, fathers, ex-partners, sons or brothers of the victims – commits sexualised violence. Feminicides are the tip of the iceberg of systematic violence against women and FLINTA persons.
And now? Let’s remember the call: Break what breaks you! Performance art – situational, action-orientated and involving the full commitment of the body (and sometimes life) – is a tried and tested means of connecting the audience with the subject in a visceral way. Carolina Bianchi’s performance «The Cadela Força Trilogy: Chapter I – The Bride and the Goodnight Cinderella», which tells of sexualised violence, chemical subjugation and rape, achieves this. The performance also shows the power and possibilities of the performing arts.
Or in the words of the artist whose work we are using as the focus: «I would be delighted if this piece could trigger really profound conversations among the audience about what they see, about art, about sexual violence, about rape, about our part in it in society, about our silence or about how much we listen or how much we say.»
Let’s follow Carolina Bianchi: let’s unite against systematic violence!
