Gender Unraveled is an event that current JAMS Senior Lecturer Rachael Jurek and her event management students are hosting, alongside fellow JAMS Lecturer Eric Lohman. This event is the first time that UW-Milwaukee will be exploring Intersex Awareness Day. Gender Unraveled will include elements of art, literature, information on gender-perception topics and a presentation from three key speakers, DawnMark Bacon-Johnson, Vaughan Larsen and Elena Hight. Each speaker will include topics of gender, art or being intersex.
“I am so excited to attend this event and open my mind more to intersex and gender identity. I am proud to be a student at UWM, because they truly care about bringing awareness to these topics. I hope ‘Gender Unraveled’ will become an annual event!” said UWM student, Chloe Robles.
Intersex Awareness Day (IAD) is officially on Oct. 26. This day was first claimed as IAD by intersex activists Emi Koyama and Betsy Driver from the first intersex demonstration in 1996. Many see intersex awareness being from Oct. 26 to Nov. 8. IAD was originally framed as a start to raise awareness about intersex, get people speaking about it, and have different perspectives view the day, and ultimately raise awareness that being intersex effects 1.5% of the population.
Intersex itself is described as people who are born with unusual sexual anatomy, this includes having physical differences inside and/or outside of the body, that is not typically “male” or “female”. The event is currently being planned by UWM students in the Event Management course taught by Jurek. The event is being held on Oct. 24, in Bolton Hall at 5 p.m. This will include various rooms and slight information sessions for students, faculty and the public to interact with. The presentation will be held in the basement of Bolton Hall starting at 6 p.m.
“I’m very proud and excited for what my students are doing with this event, there have been so many discussions, and they are truly amazing me with what they are doing,” said Jurek.