Monday, April 28, 2008
Students recognized a female beauty not found in magazines at the ‘Genius of Women’ talent show on Friday and Saturday nights in the Kansas Union.
Robert Rebori, Shawnee Mission freshman, said he hoped the show would help students look beyond social and physical messages to see the innate and universal beauty of women.
“Sometimes, at universities, the brilliance of what it means to be a woman is forgotten,” Rebori said.
Women offered various performances to display this brilliance, and men displayed talents to show appreciation for the women in their lives.
A Pope John Paul II encyclical inspired the message, but the show was meant for people of all beliefs. The message was simply that women are universally awesome, but with a real sense of awe.
Maria Thorson, a graduate student on the production team, said that some feminist perspectives today could often degrade women.
“We offer a way for people of all belief backgrounds to engage in a discussion about what it really means to be a woman in this culture,” Thorson said.
Jasmine Pasimio, KU alumna, performed two songs on her guitar, one of which she wrote herself. Pasimio said that as a young woman, she felt like society expected her to be strong, have a career and live to the same expectations of men. She said that as a result, she became a tomboy. It was not until she came to the University of Kansas that she realized it was okay just to be a woman.
“I am, as a woman, outside of what society seems to demand of women,” Pasimio said.
Pasimio said that the song she performed, “When You Believe” by Stephen Schwartz, really struck a chord when she looked at the words, because it showed a rare form of femininity. She said that all women are in some way called to be mothers. Not all women should have a child, she said, but all women haf an innate need to nurture.
“Never be afraid of being a woman,” Pasimio said. “And for men, never be afraid to accept a woman as she is.”
Scott Rettedal, performed a song he wrote for his mother when he left home called “Carry You,” then a song for all women called “Flesh of My Flesh.”
“This is what Adam said when he first met Eve,” Rettadal said, “And men have been singing about her ever since.”
The show not only showcased the love of women by men, but many different types of love among women.
Jelayna DaSilva, St. Catharines, Ontario, senior, performed a tribute that she made for her grandmother’s funeral. The performance shared memories of her grandmother’s visits and ended at her deathbed. Then DaSilva started singing the song her grandmother always sang to her: “The Way You Look Tonight.”
“This show kind of chose me,” DaSilva said. “The audition flyer caught my eye because of the words ‘Genius of Women.’ That is how I remembered my grandmother.”
—Edited by Daniel Reyes
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