Filed under: feminism, theatre | Tags: Black Lives Matter, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, ensemble, mattress artist, monologue shows, Susan B. Anthony, Victim Theatre, Victims, Victoria Woodhull
The show was a series of monologues, of testimonials really, of women who’d experienced violence. I’d seen many shows like it before. You might know the genre. It’s a collection of narratives from an ensemble, a catalogue of horror stories. This particular show was well dressed. The aesthetics of the storytelling were well crafted. It was a little different than the usual monologue show in that it would seem that the actors were telling their own stories – which made them particularly hard to hear. For the kind of show it was it was very well done. But if made me long for a new kind of show – one I haven’t seen the likes of before.
At the end of the show, after the catalogue of atrocities committed against these women, the performers showed us a march, the protest in the streets. We finally got to see the women empowered, walking with strength and fury. I wished the show had started there.
I’ve seen women victimized on stage again and again and I’m not so interested in seeing these stories anymore. It’s important for us to tell them, of course, and important for them to be heard but – do we have to stage them, too? Maybe there are people who still need to see them, for whom the atrocities are a surprise and call to action.
However, I realized as I watched the show, that the stories I need to see and hear now are the ones about women who took the shitty things that happened to them and did something about it – or did something great in response to it.
I want to see the story of the student who carried her mattress with her everywhere in protest. I want to see the story of the organizers of Black Lives Matter. I want to see how Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony got us the vote. I want to see the story of Victoria Woodhull, a Gilded Age candidate for president. (Did you know a woman ran for president in 1872? And that she was an advocate for Free Love? I only learned it this year. That’s ridiculous.)
The victim stories are dramatic, I know. Sometimes it’s the only genre that can give women a taste of success and women ARE disproportionately the victims of violence. I’m sure we’ll continue to tell them for as long this shit continues. But I want to see the part of the story where they kicked ass, took names and helped other women.
If we have to tell victim stories, let’s tell them in a new context – as background, perhaps, as the backstory for the awesome power of what these are doing women now.
Victoria Woodhull, Presidential Candiate & Bad-Ass
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Filed under: feminism | Tags: blogging, Crappy Behavior, discomfort, Internet Fame, sexism, Sexist Behavior, Systematic Sexism, Victims, views
Ever since the breast incident of 2012, I have been struggling with how to talk about something around my discomfort with the publicity. Despite the fact that I’ve been a part of the arts for at least three decades, that I have dedicated my entire adult life to a career in the theatre, the only large public recognition I have ever received is a result of something crappy that happened to me. I achieved some fleeting internet fame because I was a victim of some sexist behavior.
I’m afraid that this is the way many women achieve their recognition. Not for the things they make or do but for how they respond to being victimized. We are often not lauded for achievement but for surviving shitty circumstances.
I have been moved and inspired by Malala Yousafzai along with the rest of the world but I’m troubled that she had to get shot in the head to get the recognition she deserves. She was remarkable before she became a famous victim.
Why don’t women’s stories of success go as viral on the internet? Why don’t our achievements, our analyses of the world around us, the ones that don’t feature being victimized, get public acknowledgement?
I’m still struggling to understand it: My one post about a crappy thing that happened to me has generated 6600 more views than anything else I’ve written (and continues to.) My update a year later about the shitty thing got 347 views but it was essentially a discussion of the same incident and Part 2 – in which I looked at what got accomplished? That got 78 views.
Do I have to have something shitty happen to me again to generate more readers? Is being a victim the sole route to recognition for women?
If it is, I’m not interested. I make things. In them, women have the full range of experiences, achievement and failure, having any number of experiences, of which being a victim is only one. I guess one could say that many of my other posts are about how women are victims of a sexist society but I suppose seeing systematic victimization from a place of authority is not nearly as compelling as one guy being a dick.
I guess I’m afraid that the only stories people want to see are ones where crappy stuff happens to women. I hope this isn’t the case. I really do. But in my own case, I’d much rather be known for my work or my analysis than for someone else’s dickish behavior.
On one hand, it all makes sense; Women are often subjected to crappy stuff so we need stories about that so we can figure out how to respond. But, on the other hand, if we keep only promoting stories of women in which the women are victims, we’re sending a message that the victim story is the only one we get. And the culture tells us that story often enough already.
For myself, I try and notice what I forward, what I pass on, what I promote. Is it only victim stories? Or can I remember to post achievements as well? I’m keeping a watch on myself and trying to support women outside of other people’s crappy behavior.
Songs for the Struggling Artist 