Survivor Discourses.

A group of four university students performed a slam poem about rape. There were some very good points hit. They mentioned acquaintance rape as well as stranger rape. The commented on the way rules are controlling women as well as not solving the issue. The commented on rape culture and how it is a societal issue not an individual one. The lack of intersectionality was apparent in the slam poetry video. The girls commented that society might be rolling their collective eyes when they hear their poem. This might be true if I shared it on my timeline and the losers from my high school took the time to watch it but I do not feel like there would be anyone attending a slam poetry who would roll their eyes at “another poem about rape”. It goes back to when we were talking about spaces and where and when you perform a speak out is directly related to how it is accepted. People who enjoy slam poetry are, in general, socially aware and wanting to change social norms.

Oprah. I believe Oprah has raised awareness to hundreds of taboo topics. She made herself a household name and through the powers of daytime tv taught people about the world around them. Should someone be making a profit off of people’s sad/interesting or unique experiences, no but it might be better that there is less silence around issues. Issues such as Childhood Sexual Assault. Oprah is a great example of what Alcoff means by us needing an expert and there are many examples in this episode. 200 men were brought onto the Oprah show and praised for being brave before an ‘expert’ a psychologist, had a snippet of air time talking about the ‘sideffects’ of being sexualy assaulted as a child. Side effects include-depression, anxiety, sexual orientation confusion.. It was almost like a Cialis commercial, if you are being, have been or plan to be sexually assaulted, be aware that the following may occur.. Whenever trauma is experienced a person is changed forever, in a major way or a minor way, we do not need an expert to tell us that. Oprah also brought on Tyler Perry as a celebrity who also experienced childhood sexual assault. Even though Perry is not an academic expert, due to his fame he still is seen as one. Oprah says at the beginning of the interview to the 200 other men, “and Tyler knows exactly what all of you are going through”, every single experience is different and no one should tell you that you are in the same boat as someone else.