Letters from ex-boyfriends. Cosmopolitan magazine ads. A flier announcing a campus speech by professional anti-feminist activist Phyllis Schlafly. All went up in flames. The event was indeed empowering, according to some of the participants.
People use symbolism to heal in different ways.
Afterward, some critics of the event said it really wasn t as scary as they had expected. They said it was just a bunch of people standing around a fire tossing things in that they didn t like. Apparently, a person can get used to it after a while. Not everyone was consoled, of course. I, for one, keep thinking of a haunting remark made by a student prior to the bonfire.