Columbia’s ‘Mattress Girl’ Awarded NOW ‘Woman of Courage’ Award, Slams Camille Paglia

The National Organization for Women has awarded Emma Sulkowicz, a.k.a. “Mattress Girl,” with the Woman of Courage Award.

Sulkowicz rose to national prominence after carrying a mattress around Columbia University to protest the non-expulsion of her alleged rapist.

@oliviasulko caught me looking derpy with the Woman of Courage Award. From my speech today: Camille Paglia has publicly called my artwork a “masochistic exercise” in which I neither “evolve” nor “move-on.” She speaks as if she, a white woman, knew what was best for me, a woman of color she’s never met. Many people ask me how I've “healed” from my assault, as if healing were another word for “forgetting about it,” “getting over it,” or even “shutting up about it.” To expect me to move on is to equate courage with self-censorship. The phrases–suck it up, move on, and get over it–are violence. People who say these phrases equate what is right with what is expected. I think courage means, “Afraid in a way that makes you do what is right, even if it's unexpected.” I dedicate this award to everyone who has not told me to get over it. Thank you for validating my fear and my way of handling it. Thank you for creating a world in which we can tackle the things that terrify us by doing the unexpected right thing. Thank you #nationalorganizationforwomen

A post shared by Emma Sulkowicz (@emsulk) on Jun 24, 2016 at 4:05pm PDT

The man she accused was cleared of all charges and is now suing Columbia for allowing Sulkowicz to torment him and ruin his reputation with her “art project.”

The award is often given to women “for having demonstrated personal bravery in challenging entrenched power and in carrying out action that has the potential to benefit women in general.”

In an Instagram post, Sulkowicz took a shot at feminist intellectual Camille Paglia and dedicated the award to “everyone who has not told me to get over it. Thank you for validating my fear and my way of handling it.”