WOMEN IN GERMAN

ANNUAL CABARET 1995

St. Augustine, Florida

 Photos assembled by Susan Cocalis*

*I need help with the details. Please contact me at cocalis@german.umass.edu to contribute to this project.

WiG Newsletter Reviews of the Impromptu Cabaret 1995:

"WIG Cabaret

The cabaret got off to a bunpy start this year as chanteuse Katrilene Siegtrich of Potsdam, resplendent in her long, golden locks, black evening dress, and iridescent clothespins, began singing and the unruly crowd began to chant toos: "Hey, hey, go away / We don't want that cabaret!" so that she was forced to vacate the stage. Then the "real muse" of the cabaret, Grenzpurga Orientalis, danced across borders only to be rudely shocked by our "learned traveler" Ida von Cockcock--not to be confused with Joan Cocks, who was our invited political scientist!--in search of the East.

Thus evoked, Nina Tittenberg (Jeanette Clausen) and her colleague Susan Stamburp (Susan Cocalis) hosted a special report documenting "Feminism on Our Callege Campuses." In particular, they explored how the new Republican Congress and Neuter Gingrich's Contract on America might affect feminism on the college campus, especially among impoverished constituencies like female graduate students and underpaid part-timers. It was determined that female academics should avoid pregnancy at all costs but never by means of abortion. Enforced celibacy and a return to single-sex dormitory living along the model of medieval convents was the preferred solution. After this brief introduction, we turned to two types of programs on college campuses.

The first on-campus report featured the Women's Studies Program at a small, illiberal arts college in the Northeast, the Ivy Hahn-Hahn Ladies' College. There Professors Susanne Zick-Zack (Susanne Zantop), Luise Kuschelpusch (Luise Pusch), and Oda Joy (Joey Horsley) were holding a close meeting to review their coarse offerings for the spring semester and to couch their descriptions in as PC language as possible. So far, so good, but then an exchange student wearing the traditional veil of her native culture entered to inquire about several Home Economics courses, and while the solicitous faculty members were engaged in some hands-on counseling, a well-endowed alum, Mrs. Hortensia Hermione Artemesia Bustenhalter (Marjanne Gooze) arrived with a huge check. Unfortunately for feminism on the college campus, the now de-veiled student prevailed upon Mrs. Bustenhalter to rescue her, so that instead of endowing the program, she presented the student with the first, spontaneous Bustenhalter Undergraduate 'Tipene, or B.U.S.T., Award.

The second on-campus report turned to the Germanics Department at a large, state institution, Whatsamatter U. The Head of the department, Herr Werner von Stuhlmann, was meeting with several faculty members (Professors Cannon, Oltbeuys, and Wieswar) to discuss what to do with their female graduate students, who all wanted to work on feminist topics. Two such students, whom none of the older faculty had ever seen before, were confronted about their dissertation topics. It was decided that one, who wished to write on vulvos--or some such thing--would be assigned to the Swedish faculty and that the other would become the research assistant for the Goethe specialist, who would convert her to real literature.

The cabaret closed with a panel discussion on The Feminist Backlash featuring recognized experts on the topic. Mrs. Phyllis Shapely joined us from the middest of the midwestern middle class to speak on traditional family values. Professor Thomas von Klarenz (Martha Wallach), author of the best-selling memoir: Confessions of a Male Anti-Feminist in the Academy, informed us about life after the Anita Huegelchen hearings. Professor Sigrid Verweigel, the famous German feminist, provided some insights from her most recent work: Der schielende Fick: Geschlecht und Charaktereigenschaften in der deutschen Literatur. Professor Camille Faglia, author of Postmodern Sexual Posturing, Sex and the Single Professor, and Old Leatherstocking in a New Light, shared her views on positionality. And Professor Cornelia Doff-Sommer, author of the best-seller Post-Anti-Feminism, joined the panel after some last-minute negotiations with her agent. Professor Benna Celavieb canceled on short notice so that we were unfortunately not able to hear more about her recent book: Arendt-Controlled Room of Her Own. All things considered, we profited immensely from the interdisciplinary insights of our panel.

Susan L. Cocalis"

I only have one photograph from this cabaret sent to me by Susanne Zantop. I would welcome other photos or help with the actors' names.

Susanne Zantop, Joey Horsley, and Luise Pusch