correspondents Archives | Page 17 of 88

Survivor Activists Call on Campuses to #JustSaySorry

August 11, 2016 By Correspondent

By LB Klein, former SSH Blog Correspondent

*Kamilah Willingham, via her Twitter page*

There is a joyful moment during which applicants to institutions of higher education turn into admitted students. This moment is perhaps best captured by students sporting newly-acquired campus swag such as a sweatshirt in official colors with the campus name emblazoned on the front or a t-shirt with a mascot. However, for survivors of sexual assault on many campuses who felt their schools did not support them, these coveted items quickly become a tangible reminder of a dream promised and nightmare delivered. To capture the hollowness of institutional betrayal, Wagatwe Wanjuki and Kamilah Willingham, two prominent Black feminist survivor activists and founders of Survivors Eradicating Rape Culture, are literally setting these items on fire.

Willingham and Wanjuki are burning their once-prized possessions and asking for other survivors to do the same until their alma maters do what they see as the bare minimum: acknowledge their experiences by apologizing. Through this #JustSaySorry campaign Survivors Eradicating Rape Culture is asking for “public acknowledgements of past failures” to “restore a sense of trust in the school’s intention and ability to approach campus gendered violence with integrity.” They argue that this action is simple but would have a huge impact on survivors who often feel their campuses see them as numbers in a crime statistics report and not treasured students or alumni who deserve restoration.

A few years have passed since Wanjuki and Wilingham were sexually assaulted while students at Tufts University and Harvard Law School respectively, they discuss the long-range impact of institutional betrayal. In a recent article she penned for The Establishment, Willingham mentions the “PTSD and a six-figure student debt amount” that linger, while her pride in her Harvard Law School attendance have faded. Much like movements to address street harassment, #JustSaySorry uses a grassroots and community approach to ask institutions to move beyond the often clinical official statements often issued by college and universities. #JustSaySorry is calling for acknowledgment of survivors as people and to consider the human impact of sexual violence and its aftermath when handled poorly.

Survivors Eradicating Rape Culture and the #JustSaySorry campaign come at a time during which there is increased attention to the issue of sexual violence on campuses, but the road to accountability can be a long and fruitless one for survivors. No matter how well we enhance our university systems (and we should) we are in need of more than just more laws and more policies. Our processes for holding institutions accountable for the harm they have caused survivors frequently mirror the failings of systems of perpetrator accountability.

Wanjuki and Willingham are reminding us through their deeply personal and cathartic actions that genuine apologizing is a rare, critical, and distressingly radical act for administrators and institutions. Survivors Ending Rape Culture is calling on survivors to send them items from alma maters who failed them or to post videos or photos of themselves withholding their donations to their institutions.

Anyone can show solidarity for their work by using the hashtag #JustSaySorry to call out institutions that have caused survivors harm or by tuning into their live broadcasts of burning protests. To create more survivor supportive cultures, we cannot rely solely on strengthening formal systems. As Willingham and Wanjuki are demonstrating, we must also recognize the powerful role that the people who make up institutions and communities have to help survivors heal.

LB Klein, MSW, MPA has dedicated her professional and academic life to ending gender-based violence, supporting survivors, and advancing social justice. She is a doctoral fellow in the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s School of Social Work and serves a lead trainer and curriculum development specialist for the Prevention Innovations Research Center at the University of New Hampshire.

USA: Make Your Voice Matter

August 10, 2016 By Correspondent

Hope Herten, IL, USA, SSH Blog Correspondent

Warning: This is cheesy! 🙂

If you have been keeping up with my posts throughout the summer, I hope that you were able to relate to my message and learn a little bit about who I am and what it’s like being a young woman in Chicago. Unfortunately though, my own personal experience and the experiences I have shared from my friends are barely the tip of the iceberg when it comes to street harassment and the other obstacles women, people of color, and trans people face trying to live independently in the US today. There are people all over the spectrum of marginalized groups that face different kinds, and an array of severity, of harassment.

Despite my limited experience, it is always my hope that my voice will be heard and will open a door so that those less privileged than me can have a chance to live in a world where their lives are valued more; that their safety and prosperity is prioritized. The topic of street harassment and other feminist movements have helped all kinds of women come together, recognize intersectionalities, and fight for causes that improve the lives of all.

I am using this final post as a platform to call out anyone who reads this and ask them to do one thing this week to make their voice heard and fight back against street harassment. Help out that woman you see on the street or on the bus facing harassment, stop passive aggressively tweeting about sexist colleagues and TAG THEM, say something in your group chat about offensive jokes, anything. The conversation has already been started. Use links to inform your message and utilize hashtags to contribute to the larger conversation. Thanks to social media more than ever voices can be heard. So make yours matter.

Side note: The Slut Walk is a great way to show your support and fight street harassment. Dress however you’d like and bring your friends! If you live in or near Chicago, it’s on August 20th! See you there!

Hope is a full-time undergraduate student studying public health and Spanish in Chicago, IL. If you want to keep up with Hope you can follow her on Twitter @hope_lucille or check out her public health blog.

USA: ‘Hamilton’ and Reflections on Stop Street Harassment

August 8, 2016 By Correspondent

Deborah D’Orazi, LMSW, NY, USA, SSH Blog Correspondent

Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton is one of the most popular musicals on Broadway and is continuously gaining accolades the world over for its music and multi-racial and gender inclusive casting. In creating an alternative to the typically white male narrative American history often presents as the norm, Miranda constructs a piece of theater that creates a nuanced critique of who and what is deemed most important in American history and society. Women and people of color not only tell the story of Alexander Hamilton, the American Revolution, and the early American Republic, they tell the story of the very men who often ordered their subordination and inferiority through philosophy, politics, and violence.

More importantly, they represent the stories of the very people and experiences purposefully erased and forgotten in order to create American society. This is a narrative demonstrating the United States’ founding ideals and oppressions on full display through expert storytelling and representation that not only represents a critique of the Founding Fathers and ideals, but of the progress made and still needed for those still experiencing oppression in our society.

One of the ways in which oppression is explored in Hamilton is through the presence and absence of women in public life due to racial and gender norms. While women of all races are featured in the ensemble, the only prominent female characters are the Schuyler Sisters (Angelica, Eliza, and Peggy—prominent, upper class white women played by women of color). Most of the songs in the play demonstrate the women’s influence in Alexander Hamilton’s life and the frustration that they have such little influence on their own. Father’s must approve marriages and the only political influence they have is through corresponding and talking to men. And, what is most telling, is that the only song where the women are by themselves, and in a public place, is when they are subjected to street harassment.

The Schuyler Sisters is a song introducing the three women exploring Manhattan on the eve of the American Revolution, despite their father’s warnings. While Peggy worries about the inevitable oncoming violence, Eliza and Angelica express enthusiasm for the revolutionary ideals being expressed throughout the city and colonies. The women state they are “looking for a mind at work” and while the male narrator and ensemble seem to suggest they are looking for a suitable male partner, there is a lack of acknowledgement from the men of the times (and in the play) that women and people of color may actually be looking for a say within the narrative of revolutionary politics. This willful ignorance and prejudice comes into full force when Aaron Burr interjects his harassment into the women’s narrative:

[BURR]
Wooh! There’s nothin’ like summer in the city
Someone in a rush next to someone lookin’ pretty
Excuse me, miss, I know it’s not funny
But your perfume smells like your daddy’s got money
Why you slummin’ in the city in your fancy heels
You searchin for an urchin who can give you ideals?

[ANGELICA]
Burr, you disgust me

[BURR]
Ah, so you’ve discussed me
I’m a trust fund, baby, you can trust me!

[ANGELICA]
I’ve been reading Common Sense by Thomas Paine
So men say that I’m intense or I’m insane
You want a revolution? I want a revelation
So listen to my declaration:

[ELIZA/ANGELICA/PEGGY]
“We hold these truths to be self-evident
That all men are created equal”

[ANGELICA]
And when I meet Thomas Jefferson
I’m ‘a compel him to include women in the sequel!

[WOMEN]
Work!

This dialogue represents many things. On one hand, it demonstrates the underrepresented historical narrative that street harassment existed for many centuries before it became noticeable in popular culture and within the Stop Street Harassment movement. As a form of racial, homophobic, and gender violence, street harassment has been used to discourage and harm people fighting for civil rights, suffrage, or any personal or human rights issue. As a woman, LGBTQ individual, or racial minority, etc. even existing in a public place or taking part in a public activity or using a public space becomes an act of resistance when people use harassment to question your right to live and exist within a space near or with them. Thinking of events like the Orlando Club Shooting, the death of Sandra Bland, and the shooting of Malala Yousafzai by the Taliban only highlight even more strongly how existing and living and/or advocating in public for yourself and others can lead to harassment, violence, and death.

The question then becomes, how do we deter attitudes like Aaron Burr’s? How do we change the default where people are willfully ignorant and prejudiced about the many people and voices that exist in this world? That would be willing to use street harassment to quiet those using and existing in public spaces that they wish to use for their own gain or harm?

And I ask the Stop Street Harassment community,

How do we create a more inclusive world and environment in our movement to make sure we are advocating for all people and to have a more inclusive discourse?
Do you think more historical introspection and education on harassment would be useful to help combat harassment?
How does art become an useful tool in combatting harassment and other forms of oppression?

Deborah is a recent MSW graduate who also received certification from American University’s Women and Politics Institute and Rutgers’ Center on Violence Against Women and Children. In addition to social work, Deborah is looking to pursue an MPP/MPA and she is also extremely passionate about the arts (theater, writing, film, television, fine art, poetry, performance art), history, and Hamilton.

USA: The Normalization of Street Harassment in Childhood Television

July 15, 2016 By Correspondent

Mariel DiDato, NJ, USA, SSH Blog Correspondent

johny-bravo-s-flirts — ***Johnny Bravo***

As a child-turned-adult Pokémon fanatic, I have succumbed to the hype of Pokémon-Go. While basking in my nostalgia, I decided to watch some early episodes of the iconic cartoon. Watching childhood television shows as an adult, I often catch things that I didn’t pick up on as a kid. Certain jokes now make sense, while other things don’t seem as funny. One example of a less-funny aspect of Pokémon is Brock’s persistent advances towards almost every female character besides Misty, and the continued response of female annoyance or rejection. I wouldn’t necessarily claim this show is sexist, as they feature multiple female characters in leadership roles. However, the repeated romantic attempts towards much of these characters, played off with the “boys will be boys” narrative, is something I did not appreciate.

This prompted me to think about the other shows I watched as a child that normalized this kind of behavior. I realized that Pokémon is hardly the worst offender. Johnny Bravo is a show that features catcalling and female rejection as the main source of humor. Even more infamous is Pepe LePew, a male skunk whose storyline involves chasing and grabbing onto a female skunk who, very obviously, does not want to be approached or touched by him.

Although this harassment and female rejection is repeatedly portrayed as comical, the real-life version of this experience is far from laughable. On the Pokémon end of the spectrum, Brock takes rejection with a blushed face, and then moves onto the next woman. Johnny Bravo’s objects of affection sometimes even strike him, leading him to simply move on to his next target, like Brock. However, the reality of female rejection often leads to male escalation, with women receiving a spectrum of responses that can range from insults, threats, and actual violence. Women are aware of this fact; smiling and receiving compliments from harassers is often misconstrued as acceptance and openness, when it is really a method of de-escalation. It is sad to see this portrayed to young children as something to be laughed about. Even while LePew’s victim can be seen struggling to break free from his arms as he kisses her, the whole situation is trivialized to the point of comedy. It is as though harassment is seen as nothing more than a mere annoyance, generally harmless to the women it affects.

More and more data reveal that street harassment is anything but funny or harmless to its victims. Studies show that the continued street harassment most women face before the age of 18 is linked to a multitude of negative effects. One 2008 study found street harassment to be correlated with self-objectification and fear of rape. This, in turn, can lead women to fear travel of any distance, restricting their freedom of movement. In addition, there is evidence that continued and frequent abuse, such as the street harassment women can be subjected to virtually any time they leave their homes, can be more harmful than experiencing one traumatic event.

However, in these cartoons, sexual harassment is shown to be a trivial event that can be laughed off. Young boys are potentially learning that, while ineffective, street harassment is an acceptable way to pick up women. In each of these shows, there is an example of the male “getting the girl.” This might send the message that harassing multiple women is okay. Eventually, one will say “yes” and it will all be worth it. Plus, the women who say no will walk away irritated, but intact. On the other hand, young girls are potentially being taught that objectification and harassment is an appropriate and acceptable part of being female.

Street harassment was a problem prior to the invention of television. Misogynistic cartoon characters did not create the larger problem of sexism in society, but they are instrumental in keeping these messages alive and normalizing them for younger generations. It’s easy to criticize outright sexism on television, but it is also important to pick up on these more discreet messages that people of all ages are receiving. I don’t think I’m going to stop watching shows like Pokémon, but I will definitely be more aware of these indirect messages in the media. I will also be supporting shows that depict healthy relationships, instead of normalizing deeply harmful social interactions. I encourage others to do the same, and hopefully future generations will enjoy cartoons that don’t rely on sexism for their laughs.

Mariel is a recent college graduate, feminist, and women’s rights activist. Currently, she volunteers for a number of different organizations, including the Planned Parenthood Action Fund of New Jersey and the New Jersey Coalition Against Sexual Assault. You can follow her on Twitter at @marieldidato or check out her personal blog, Fully Concentrated Feminism.

USA: How much of Sexual Harassment of Women is Media’s Responsibility?

July 8, 2016 By Correspondent

Manish Madan, Ph.D, USA, SSH Blog Correspondent

A few weeks ago, I participated in a panel discussion on street harassment. My fellow participants included a lifelong advocate on gender rights and women’ safety in India, Dr. Sharada Jayagopal – part of Women Graduate-USA, a physician by profession, and the TV personality, Ms. Renee Mehrra who is also a well-known activist for women’s right. Renee asked me about my views on the role of media (particularly Bollywood movies) in regards to the sexual harassment of women. I think as a society we need to ask this question more often given the wide-reach of media, its permeability in our society, and how it shapes our opinions and beliefs.

So for the purpose of this post, I will revisit some of the research about media’s role influencing the sexual harassment of women. The presentation of women often based solely on their physical appearance, including certain manners inviting sexual innuendos, is often noted in the research. In some cases, media shows women to be submissive.

Media cultivation theory states, “The views shown on the television media is mostly taken as the messages and beliefs that are real and valid’” and will argue that the consistent portrayal of women in a sexually objectifying manner or as someone who can be harassed and will remain submissive when harassed, is likely to be taken as a reality outside the “idiot box” as well.

Naturally, the media content varies within the genres, such as music videos, soap operas, comedies, action movies, dramas, etc. Some genres attract more objectification than others. For instance, Selena Gomez’s song Good for You will be strikingly different from CNN Erin Brunnet’s Out Front — unless it involves Chris Matthews at CNBC “Hardball” (no pun intended!) asking her to come close to the screen during a video interview just so her could tell her, “You look great!”

In a study from Italy, Silvia Galdi and her co-authors examined the relationship between the objectification of women as sexual objects and the likelihood of sexual harassment occurring using Italian TV Programs. The authors used three sets of video clips depicting, i) objectified women, ii) non-objectified women, and iii) no women in the video. The study showed participants’ higher harassment penchant after watching the objectification TV program compared to watching the non-objectified women professionals or the ones where there were no women in the video.

The study also noted that male participants reported greater intentions to engage in sexual coercion and a higher likelihood to engage in harassment behavior as a result of viewing TV programs that depicted objectified women. Interestingly, participants who watched objectified programs were also more likely to conform with the traditional masculinity norms regarding dominance (used as a symbol of sex and power), and aggression.

The question thus goes back to the initial discussion, does the media create new social realities or is it a mere transmitter of existing social certainties? Thoughts?

Either way, such realities or certainties that comprises one gender or makes their existence vulnerable in a public space must be addressed.

There is also evidently some research that shows that the amount of time a youth spends consuming some form of the media is much more than the time spent in school or having interpersonal communications with parents. That said, if I view our social structure that enables an environment of sexual harassment as a jigsaw puzzle, then media will perhaps be one vital piece that has some role in this puzzle. Expanding the landscape of women portrayal in media with shows like #Quantico with a female lead charting her own course is probably a good change going forward where the women are not seen as mere sexual objects.

Do you think someone will consider sexually harassing the FBI recruit, #AlexParrish?

As a civilized society formed on principles of equality and respect, the media does have a role in either condoning or monitoring the objectification (often sexual in nature) of women, and having a larger role to play in our society’s struggle toward addressing the sexual harassment of women.

In conclusion, while I discussed the role of media in gender objectification, I also want to offer caution in singularly blaming it for the gender harassment as it will lead us to a reductionist approach. It is not only media nor is it all media, but perhaps there is a little bit of everything. Media is one bit of the puzzle and we also need to focus on various social, cultural, patriarchal and environmental factors that also promulgate the concept of gender harassment in our society.

Please use #MediaRoleinSH to share your views. I will look forward to reading and commenting on it!

#SexualHarassment #Masculinity #Dominance #MediaPortrayalofWomen #Italy

Manish is a Professor of Criminal Justice at Stockton University where his research focuses on examining sexual harassment, gender empowerment, spousal abuse and policing issues. You can follow him @Prof_Madan or reach out to him at www.manishmadan.com.

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