Sarah Ludington

The Teal Unconscious: Sexual Assault and the Brain

Project Description

Although sexual assault is so prominent across the United States and globe, the issue still remains highly stigmatized and poorly understood by the general public. Why don’t people fight back when they’re being assaulted? Why can memories of rape so often be hazy? When we approach these questions with a biological lens, we begin to find answers in the brain. Before the idea of culture was created, evolution hardwired our brains to possess certain fear responses outside of conscious control to maximize the chances of survival. Even still, after an assault, neuroplasticity influences the brains of survivors to change in response to a traumatic event. I hope that increasing discourse about a neurobiological approach to sexual violence will help dismantle cultural norms that are used to misjudge and invalidate the experiences of survivors.

The audio clips, music, and dancing may be difficult to experience, and I urge you to take caution and care when viewing my piece. While I am not the first person to create art about sexual assault — and I doubt I will be the last — I hope my project can be a safe and creative avenue for others to engage with this issue. I decided to create a dance piece because this artform makes up such a large part of my identity and has been the source of so much richness in my life. Using my body to communicate about sexual assault and trauma empowers me, and I hope it empowers you, too.

About the Artist

Sarah will graduate with a B.S. with Honors in Neurobiology and a minor in Psychology. After finishing up her research with the Laboratory of Organismal Biology this summer, she will spend the next two years working at the National Institute of Health while applying to an MD/PhD program. Sarah’s been dancing since she was a little girl, proudly starting her dance career in a “Mommy and Me” ballet class that she attended every Saturday morning — with her father.

Explore Sarah's project online