i am here to facilitate a discussion of sexual assault<\/p>\n
this is not what i do for a living
\ni hold no degree in any of the social sciences
\nyes, i am a man
\nno, i’m not sure what that means, either<\/p>\n
and like many of you
\ni worry about giving the wrong impression
\nthis is a difficult topic
\nbut i believe that rape is not inevitable<\/p>\n
the crazy stranger in the bushes
\naccounts for a minority of incidences
\nsurvivors are mostly acquainted with attackers<\/p>\n
the predatory relative
\nthe nice guy who has a hard time hearing no
\nthe abusive partners of every gender, race and orientation<\/p>\n
it is not an act of sex
\nnor a matter of miscommunication
\nit is a planned exertion of power<\/p>\n
exploiting trust, confusion
\nand silence, relying on society’s
\ninclination to discredit victims of explicit crimes<\/p>\n
what were they wearing?
\nwhat were they doing that late at night?
\nhow could they have put themselves in that situation?<\/p>\n
truthfully, it’s an understandable reaction
\nif the mistake was theirs, then the world is fair
\nwe want to believe that it could not happen to us<\/p>\n
but it does: one in four, one in seven,
\none in thirty-three, nine out of ten times
\nrapists identify as straight males<\/p>\n
statistics are not my expertise
\ni just recognize a threat when i see it
\ni can not let this remain a touchy subject<\/p>\n
there are boys
\ntaught consent is women’s fault
\nthere are places where forcible intercourse is a military maneuver<\/p>\n
i am here
\nbecause i believe there is a difference
\nbetween risk reduction and prevention<\/p>\n
everyone takes precautions
\nclutches cellphones on the subway
\navoids specific colors of clothing on certain streets<\/p>\n
it solves nothing
\npersonal awareness is important
\nbut it does not address the source of violence<\/p>\n
drunk driving used to be
\nsomething we were warned to watch out for
\nstay off the roads at night, after holidays<\/p>\n
later, the issue was reframed
\nfriends didnt let friends, and it was effective
\nless people were endangered, no one stopped drinking<\/p>\n
it just wasn’t an excuse
\nit became an individual obligation
\nto stop violators from operating<\/p>\n
each of us can intervene
\nin any way we are comfortable
\nbut someone you know will almost definitely be affected
\nand it is not funny
\nthat is unacceptable<\/p>\n
all a perpetrator needs
\nis a target no one believes
\nshould’ve known, had it coming, naive<\/p>\n
there are dozens of ways to shift blame
\nnone of them excuse the one person responsible
\nnobody asks for this, lost control is not an explanation<\/p>\n
it is the effect, whether or not
\nshe goes silent or fights, whether or not
\nhe can call it assault or explain to his friends<\/p>\n
this is not a women’s issue: men, this is one war
\nyou will not be glorified for waging
\nwe can end it<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Catch erich performing live:<\/strong><\/p>\n\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2Friday 10\/16 @ Nuyorican Poets Cafe, NYC (236 East 3rd Street Between Ave B & C)<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2Monday 11\/2 @ LouderArts, Bar 13 (E 13th St & University Pl, New York, NY)<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2Monday 11\/16 @ Emerson College, Boston, MA<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2Friday 11\/17 @ The Bridge Cafe (1117 Elm St, Manchester, NH)<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2Thursday 11\/19 @ The Inkwell (665, 2nd Ave. Long Branch NJ)<\/p>\n
For more contact: info@theanalogdigitaldebate.com<\/p>\n
Photo Credit: @ The Mercury Cafe \u00e2\u20ac\u201d Denver, CO<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
erich hagan is a writing performer from a dead-end street in a part of Boston its many fine institutions advise visitors to avoid. He’s honed his direct style of communication and obscenely sincere subject matter in bars, coffee shops, theaters, residences, warehouses and classrooms across the nation. The Boston Globe calls erich “tender, yet violent.” […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1906,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21117],"tags":[21160,21324,876,21698,286,3463,21786,21799,133],"class_list":["post-1742","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-man-files-2","tag-anti-violence","tag-erich-hagan","tag-men","tag-poetry-slam","tag-rape","tag-sexual-assault","tag-sexual-assault-prevention","tag-shira-tarrant","tag-violence"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/girlwpen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1742","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/girlwpen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/girlwpen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/girlwpen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1906"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/girlwpen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1742"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/girlwpen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1742\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/girlwpen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1742"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/girlwpen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1742"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/girlwpen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1742"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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