Today we’d like to introduce you to Alicia Swiz.
Alicia, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I’m a Jersey girl via Florida, North Carolina and most recently, Chicago.
I always wanted to be an actress. Like, truly believed I was going to be a star of Hollywood. I went to New York City for a year after I graduated from high school where I waited tables and went on a lot of open calls before deciding to go to college instead. I took my first women’s studies class and I credit my professor, Dr. Janet Ellerby, and that moment in my life with really illuminating my path. This is also when I began a new relationship to performing – telling true stories of women’s lives – by performing in and directing The Vagina Monologues. The combination of this show (read the book if you haven’t) and my women’s studies classes really illuminated the gender disparities in the world and gave me a lot of insight into my own life experiences. I’ve always been motivated by learning, so I went to graduate school to further develop my understanding of feminism. I received my MA in Women’s & Gender Studies in 2008 and began teaching at local community colleges in North Carolina. But, my life was missing the creative component I desired and I moved to Chicago in 2010.
In Chicago, I began performing stand-up and live storytelling. The rampant misogyny and toxic behavior in the comedy scene led me to start producing my own showcase, Feminist Happy Hour. I also created my brand, SlutTalk, a project that seeks to de-stigmatize the word slut and celebrate the divine feminine through storytelling, magic, and pop-culture. My goal is to travel and cultivate my work in communities and organizations all over the country. I’m starting in South Florida to escape winter and cultivate a community for my work in this area.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Um, no. Do smooths roads even exist?!
I have always struggled with my voice which has directly affected my sense of self. I’m too loud, I’m too abrasive, I’m too polarizing. TOO MUCH. People have always asked, or forced, me to be quieter and to take up less space. That is also the collective way women are treated in our country. To be a woman is to constantly navigate sexism, misogyny and, literally, men trying to kill you for standing up for yourself. When we speak up we are labeled as difficult, intimidating, a bitch, a nag and, my personal favorite, a slut. There are endless words and ways we devalue women who don’t fit the mold of what it is to be “feminine” and I am one of those women. My work is to change these perceptions and make space for all spectrums of feminine expression to be recognized as valuable.
The advice I would give to young women is to invest in your relationship to yourself. Spend time learning about who you are and what you like. Explore the world around you. Don’t stay in relationships where you are made to feel small and that includes family, work, and friendships. Make a life becoming your big, beautiful self and never apologize for your shine. There is this great scene in The Holiday, a very cheesy but amazing rom-com, where Kate Winslet has an epiphany mid-breakdown and sobs, “You’re supposed to be the leading lady of your own life for Christ’s sake!” That’s kind of overall motto for the women I work with. Be the leading lady of your own life.
What should we know about SlutTalk? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
I’m an adjunct professor who specializes in Gender and Media Studies with a focus on women in pop culture. I produce, host and facilitate events where girls and women can explore their relationship to feminism, create community and share their stories. The way I pay the bills is by bartending and other hospitality-related work.
My passion is working with girls and women to inspire them in developing relationships with feminism, owning their power and developing a shame-free relationship with themselves and other women. I am proud of the ways my work inspires girls and women to advocate for themselves and to feel confident about their place in the world. It’s particularly inspiring when it is a student from one of my college classes. When I host events, participants usually come willingly but most of my college students are randomly assigned and usually are having their first interaction with gender studies and feminist texts. This is when I feel most alive and the most valuable when someone else has learned or grown from something they experienced in my class or at one of my events.
I started a project called SlutTalk in 2016 and I didn’t know what I was doing but I had an idea and a great name. The idea is simply women talking – telling their truth – about sex. This is revolutionary in itself due to the fact that men and male desire dominate the narratives about sex. The mission of SlutTalk is to disrupt the culture of silence that robs girls and women of their sexual agency by reclaiming the word “slut.” Each SlutTalk, whether a performance, workshop or otherwise, amplify the experiences of women and contributes to the creation of a more honest and inclusive culture. My goal is to buy a van and travel the country spreading the SlutTalk gospel. Also, to start a podcast.
My voice is definitely what sets me apart and the way I use it to create innovative and meaningful content. I’m not afraid, to be honest, to be vulnerable, to be disliked. I know what I am teaching and offering to the world is vital, not only to the women I work with but to the evolution of culture.
For good reason, society often focuses more on the problems rather than the opportunities that exist, because the problems need to be solved. However, we’d probably also benefit from looking for and recognizing the opportunities that women are better positioned to capitalize on. Have you discovered such opportunities?
I think the greatest opportunities for women at this moment are in the microcosm of their own lives and becoming more personally liberated. It is my belief that the more women resist and redefine the traditional templates of womanhood that are imposed upon us the closer we will get to shifting our cultural mindset that continues to ask women to stay submissive to retain the comfort of the status quo. I believe there are a great many opportunities for women to do this whether it’s by taking a class, reading a book, running for local office or starting a business.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.aliciaswiz.com
- Email: alicia@aliciaswiz.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aliciaswiz/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aliciaswiz/
- Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/aliciaswiz/
- Other: https://linktr.ee/aliciaswiz
Image Credit:
Stephanie Jensen, Liz Paveza, Elizabeth McQuern
Getting in touch: VoyageMIA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
