Three male students walk into the dark theater. They sit down briefly, seeing a woman on stage strumming a guitar wearing a furry bear mask, the other woman singing a rousing tune about masturbation. The three students visibly tense up, and before leaving quickly, they turned their backs to the raucous laughter echoing through the theater rafters.
The Reformed Whores, a musical duo from Brooklyn, performed a concert in Baker University Center Theatre on Tuesday night as part of Empowering Women of Ohio Week.
This duo, made up of Marie Cecile Anderson and Katy Frame, performed a set of musical comedy. Their set was not only witty, but also contained social commentary.
The two, affectionately referred to by their fans as “the Whores,” are well known on the Internet through videos and personal webpages.
The musical pair gained notoriety after a viral video hit and eventually, through mutual management, was selected especially by Primus frontman Les Claypool as the opening band for his current American tour.
“It was so crazy how it happened,” Anderson said. “Apparently of every other act under our agency’s management said that he thought we were the best fit for the job. And so far it has been great, people seem to really love us, we have played in over 30 cities.”
Frame said their style of music a healthy mix of current issues and humor.
“We wanted to balance comedy and music, and I feel that inadvertently we gained an even stronger voice through this mix, a louder force to comment on social issues,” she said.
Reformed Whores is certainly a unique name, something that is not lost on the women.
“We just wanted to try to take away the power of the word, but in a goofy way. I mean, girls are tired of this stereotyping crap,” Frame said. “It might be funny that one of our songs, ‘Karate,’ is essentially about Marie and I being sexually harassed by 12-year-olds on the street. … But the factual basis represents a real problem developing in society.”
The two’s music had made it to Athens long before their appearance.
“I’ve known about them for a while,” said Lacey Rogers, president of Empowering Women of Ohio. “I wanted a fun and empowering show for Women’s Week. It’s especially relevant because we will be bringing Sandra Fluke this Thursday and they performed a song about her tonight.”
Fluke is a women’s rights activist who came to public fame following her pro-birth control testimony before Congress and right-wing talk-show host Rush Limbaugh’s public statements defaming her as a “slut.”
The audience members were very engaged with the performances and some were even confronted by one of the “Whores.”
“My first thought was no I’m not coordinated enough,” said Brenda Strickland, program coordinator for the Survivor Advocacy Center. “I enjoyed the show very well; it was the first time I’ve seen them.”
Throughout the show, the Whores encouraged audience members to participate, getting people clapping and shouting.
“I enjoyed it,” said Ryan Leach, a ComCorps member and OU alumni with a degree in community health. “I thought it was funny and had good messages as well.”
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This article originally appeared in print under the headline "‘Whores’ sing for equality"
