As Women’s History Month comes to an end, UMass Dartmouth students were offered a relaxing event to help them learn self-love while also combating rape culture.

Last week, Stephanie Gilmore Ph.D. was invited to UMass where she held several workshops called “Dismantling Rape Culture.”

Rape culture, in feminist theory, is a society in which rape is normalized because of societal attitudes about gender and sexuality.

An intimate meeting in the Cedar Dell West residence hall, Gilmore led attendees through creative writing prompts, media analysis and trauma stewardship to help them understand themselves better in a culture that is often unforgiving to rape victims. She also provided them with frequent affirmations of love and value, reminding the women in attendance that: “You are a child of the universe and you are deserving of love, mercy and grace.”

A writer, educator and activist, Gilmore teaches women how to use writing and the arts to express themselves.

Language was the focal point of the discussion. Giving each attendee a notebook to jot their thoughts in, Gilmore prompted them to list as many euphemisms for money, sex and love respectively. Money conjured up words like cheese, lettuce, green, bacon and dough.

“Money becomes as essential to us as food,” Gilmore said.

Sex invoked more violent euphemisms that, according to Gilmore, were almost entirely heterocentric in nature. Conversely, no one could think of any euphemisms at all for love.

“When we talk about the heart, it’s hard for us to do that,” Gilmore said.

She suggested that the cavalier use of euphemism regarding sex and money is because they are topics that are often danced around in casual conversation, making them easier to discuss.

Gilmore then provided attendees with writing prompts like “the soft touch of a hand,” “I am...” and “I found out on Facebook that my friend has cancer.” Responses included poetic descriptions of self, “critiques of institution,” and even a quasi-philosophical response, “Would you describe a man’s hands as soft?”

Gilmore shared the story of her recent trauma when she was sexually assaulted by her husband, an addict. After getting a restraining order against him, Gilmore has been able to “move through her trauma” by creating art and writing.

At the close of the seminar, Gilmore reminded attendees that the value of writing and art lies in how it helps one “refuse to ‘dance around’” his or her trauma.