rape culture

Blog,Creative Work

#MeToo. Now What? | Jenny Fan Raj

by Jenny Fan Raj

How might we turn a hashtag into lasting social change?

 

The revelations keep coming, descriptions of sexual harassment and assault both disgusting and horrifyingly familiar. Amid the ongoing maelstrom of political gaffes and natural disasters, we are witnessing a wave of women coming forward to share stories of sexual assault and harassment. An endless row of survivors, lining up like lemmings to reveal private ordeals.

And yet …

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Blog,Creative Work

FAULT(S) | Sam Deges

by Sam Deges

I still remember my lessons.
I don’t have enough earthquake
to break apart these
fault lies,
shake off the charm school quiet.

 

The first time I told my parents I wanted to kill myself
I was five.
I got slapped,
sent back to bed,
told never to say that again—
I never
said it
again.

I asked my mom why it was okay for dad to hit me,
she said
he was right
because what
I said
upset him.

In third grade, when a …

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Blog,Creative Work

Grab Her by the Heart, Not the Hula Skirt | Chelsea Adams

by Chelsea Adams

The driver’s gaze waits in anticipation for it. We look away. We speak for the one who has no voice.

 

 

The hula dancer bobbles on the dash of a four-wheel-drive Ford truck. The dancer’s arms stretch open above her head, seeming to lounge, but she is stiff, and if the wind could blow, we would all see what only her lei and thin grass skirt are …

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Blog,Creative Work

It’s the Little Things | Bev Fesharaki

by Bev Fesharaki

My nickname, scrawled
on the picture of a naked woman
on her knees.
The shame.

Little things.

 

 

It’s the chubby fourth grade boy
who hollered “fat four eyes”.
I wear contacts, suck
in my stomach, don’t recognize
the thin woman in the mirror.

The bully who snapped
my training bra, bellowed,
“You’re growing ‘em.”
swaggered away sniggering.
My shoulders slumped, permanently.

The surprise vagrant
who displayed his penis
pulsing pink and proud.
I still see it in my sleep.

The law students on the …

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