Humanities Final by Sophia Hancock

Poem

shancock2024_1 — 2024-05-15 15:00:10 UTC

Jeanette Leblanc's poem, "Believe Her," emphasizes the importance of believing sexual assault survivors. The poem portrays the victim and the recipient, stressing the need for validation and reassurance. It addresses common assumptions and uses real-world questions to show why victims are not always okay. An example of this is when she says, “No matter the drinks or the outfit or the degree to which she knew or didn’t know her violator," Addressing this was important because many victims are judged for what happened because of what they were wearing or doing prior. Leblanc uses real experiences and emotions to explain the aftermath of sexual assault and suggests actions to take when around someone who has experienced it. She does an amazing job of showing how important reassurance is when helping a victim. An example of this from her poem is, "When she says, "It was my fault..." tell her no. When she asks, "Was this okay...?" Say no now. "Not ever." This section of the poem is important because it shows proper reassurance and validation of why it is never a victim's fault and that what happened to them will never be okay. If every person who has had someone confide in them about sexual assault responded like this, survivors would be less afraid to express their stories. When it comes to supporting a victim, something as simple as saying you believe they can help their situation. Victims go through so much; having someone there to reassure them and remind them that they are okay and what happened to them is not their fault is so helpful. It allows them to open up and feel safer talking about their situation.

Laurie Halse Anderson

shancock2024_1 — 2024-05-15 15:27:00 UTC

Laurie Halse Anderson is an American author known for her young adult novels that tackle challenging and relevant issues facing teenagers. One of her most famous works is Speak, which tells the story of a teenage girl named Melinda who stops speaking after being raped. The novel received a lot of attention for how it portrayed trauma and how it affected the main character's life. Anderson wrote Speak in 1999, at a time when discussions around sexual assault and its impact were gaining more attention in public. Anderson has a personal connection to her piece Speak, saying, “I was raped the summer before 9th grade, and I didn't tell anyone about it for 25 years. SPEAK is based a little on what happened to me. The heart of Melinda's story is me, but the book is 90% fiction. I wrote it to help myself make sense of what had happened to me.” Anderson wanted to create a narrative that not only shed light on assault but also explained the hardships of trauma and the struggle for expression in its aftermath.

Non-Fiction Writing

shancock2024_1 — 2024-05-19 20:59:41 UTC

“When you are facing a woman who is talking about a story, you need to put yourself in her shoes and walk the journey with her,” says advocate Audrey D’Mello. The article Why and How You MUST #BelieveSurvivors by Vice emphasizes the significance of believing in survivors of sexual assault and abuse for emotional and psychological healing. Disbelief and skepticism can re-traumatize survivors and prevent them from seeking help. Where support and belief in survivors increase their likelihood of reporting their experiences, which can help hold perpetrators accountable and prevent future abuse. The article also talks about the #MeToo movement and how it has empowered many survivors to share their stories publicly, which has led to increased awareness and significant consequences for abusers. It emphasizes the importance of empathy, comparing false accusations to proven true sexual assault accusations and encouraging readers to put themselves in the victim's shoes. A section of the article titled “Because Statistics Say So” makes a good point about the legality of assault saying, “Statistics point to the fact that false allegations are rarer than we think, but sexual violence is not.” Bringing up these common allegations about sexual assault brings more attention to the topic and gets people talking about it. The article continues to talk about how believed survivors feel seen, heard, and understood, which leads to emotional and psychological healing. The ripple effect of belief can create extensive changes in the handling of assault and abuse cases.

Ted Talk : Tarana Burke

shancock2024_1 — 2024-05-19 23:25:58 UTC

This TED talk came out in November of 2018. It features the founder of the Me Too movement, Tarana Burke, who speaks out against sexual violence. Burke, frustrated with the lack of action toward sexual violence in her community, took out a piece of paper and wrote “Me Too” on top of it, later forming an action plan for a movement based on the empathy of survivors. In this Ted Talk, she focuses on how her movement has shaped the world. While grateful for this movement's success, Burke expresses how she is “numb” over the fact that she has everything to say to a survivor but nothing left to give. Raising awareness of things that should not be normalized is not okay. Burke talks about the power struggle between those of higher power and the power that survivors carry. “Someone with credible accusations of sexual violence against him was confirmed to the Supreme Court of the United States of America,” says Tanana Burke. “The US President, who was caught on tape talking about how he can grab women's body parts wherever he wants, however he wants, can call a survivor a liar at one of his rallies, and the crowds will roar.” She raises awareness of a common issue that our world faces when given information surrounding sexual assault. Proving that the more we let people of power diminish these issues, the more likely they will happen, and survivors will stay silent. "We owe future generations nothing less than a world free of sexual violence," she says. "I believe we can build that world."

Art

shancock2024_1 — 2024-05-20 17:57:54 UTC

This art exhibit was founded by Jen Brockman and Dr. Mary Wyandt-Hiebert in 2013. The first is “What Were You Wearing?” The Survivor Art Installation was displayed at the University of Arkansas from March 31 to April 4th, 2014. It started with student survivors, who voluntarily shared brief explanations about what they were wearing when they were assaulted. These descriptions were used to recreate the outfits worn during the assaults. From there, these outfits were put into an exhibit where the articles of clothing were pinned to a board and the descriptions given of the clothing were displayed next to it. The importance of this artwork is that it addresses one of the most common accusations surrounding sexual assault: “Maybe you shouldn’t have been wearing that, and it probably wouldn't have happened to you.” This exhibit displays all kinds of clothing: children's, female clothing, male clothing, dresses, skirts, pants, and sweatshirts; almost every kind of clothing was displayed. This exhibit shows that it wasn't the clothing worn that caused the rape; it was the rapist. It validates survivors, helping to show that what happened to them isn’t their fault and that they aren't alone.

Anchor Text Time and Setting

shancock2024_1 — 2024-05-20 18:12:31 UTC

In "Speak" by Laurie Halse Anderson, the narrative is in the period of the late 1990s. The story takes place in a suburban town in Syracuse, New York, primarily within the walls of Merryweather High School. The novel is about Melinda Sordino's freshman year, which explores the social dynamics and personal challenges she faces after a traumatic event at a summer party before the school year begins.

Visual

shancock2024_1 — 2024-05-23 18:28:02 UTC

"Believe Me: The Abduction of Lisa McVey'' was released in September 2018 and recounts the true story of Lisa McVey, a 17-year-old girl who survived a terrifying encounter with serial killer Bobby Joe Long in 1984. The film shows Lisa’s troubled home life and how she doesn’t have the best reputation in her town. One night after working a long shift, she is abducted by Bobby Joe Long, a notorious serial killer, and is held captive for a grueling 26 hours. During her captivity, Lisa was raped, abused, and harassed. Despite the trauma, she remained calm and used her intelligence to observe and remember crucial details about her captor and his surroundings. Lisa gained Long's trust by pretending to empathize with him, which ultimately led to her release. After being released, she heads straight home, where she tells her grandmother and father about the horrific situation she just endured, to which she ultimately gets told that she is lying. She then tries to tell the police what happened to her, which results in the same reaction: they don't believe her. But one detective takes an interest in her case, Detective Larry Pinkerton and Lisa can tell him every detail of her abduction, providing very specific and crucial clues that led to the incarceration of Bobby Joe Long. Throughout this movie, we see Lisa's desperation and determination to survive through everything she does. She did everything right and was able to provide evidence and clues to help convict her attacker, but she still wasn’t believed. She begins to feel hopeless and like what she went through was not important. The one detective who believed her made her situation feel important and made her feel important. In the end, it shows how important it is to believe someone and how one person's advocacy led to the incarceration of the infamous serial killer Bobby Joe Long.

shancock2024_1 — 2024-05-23 18:43:18 UTC

"Know My Name" is a memoir by Chanel Miller, detailing her experience of a sexual assault and her journey towards healing and reclaiming her identity. The memoir highlights the importance of believing survivors and the power of naming, confronting the culture of disbelief, and finding strength in the community. Miller's words highlight the fear of not being believed and the impact of victim-blaming, which isolates survivors from seeking help. Through her interactions with other survivors, she finds comfort and strength in shared experiences, reinforcing the importance of believing and supporting survivors. Empathy is also a powerful tool, as it goes beyond personal stories and connects us all as human beings. Miller's story serves as a testament to the importance of standing in harmony and acknowledging the humanity of survivors. Through her courageous storytelling, readers are confronted with the realities of sexual violence and inspired to advocate for change in their own communities.