My Story
I am gonna tell y’all about the day I saw my rapist’s name plastered on the front page of every newspaper in the country. November 27 started the same as any other day for me. I woke up to the sound of my neighbor vacuuming. Tired and irritated, I pulled the covers back over my head and pushed my ears into my pillow only to wake up to my alarm sounding five minutes later. It was 6AM time to start getting ready for work. I worked as a receptionist for a law firm, I was the only women who worked there. I turned on the radio and Eruption by Van Halen blasted over the radio. While I swayed to the beat I picked out a pair of pumps, a blouse and a skirt and laid it out on my bed. I walked into the tiny bathroom in my tiny apartment and splashed some cold water on my face. When I looked in the mirror, I could see the evidence of yet another sleepless night through the dark bags under my bright blue eyes. I pulled my long curly brown hair back into a tight pony tail. As I got dressed the dread of yet another long day of work washed over me. I left the
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John cleared his throat and continued, “At 10:55 Supervisor Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone were assassinated,” A unanimous gasp rose among all the men. Pure shock, that’s the only emotion I felt at hearing this devastating news. I had followed Harvey Milk’s career since he had been elected roughly a year earlier. Harvey Milk being the first openly gay man elected to public office had made tremendous leaps for the gay community. “I’m giving you all the rest of the day off to call your families and tell them you love them. In times like this it’s important to remember and cherish the things that we do have,” Everyone dispersed, gathered their things and began to file out of the door. I stayed where I was too stunned to move. Soon John and I were the only people left in the
Life for most homosexuals during the first half of the Twentieth century was one of hiding, being ever so careful to not give away their true feelings and predilections. Although the 1920s saw a brief moment of openness in American society, that was quickly destroyed with the progress of the Cold War, and by default, that of McCarthyism. The homosexuals of the 50s “felt the heavy weight of medical prejudice, police harassment and church condemnation … [and] were not able to challenge these authorities.” They were constantly battered, both physically and emotionally, by the society that surrounded them. The very mention or rumor of one’s homosexuality could lead to the loss of their family, their livelihood and, in some cases, their lives. Geanne Harwood, interviewed on an National Public Radio Broadcast commemorating the twentieth anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, said that “being gay before Stonewall was a very difficult proposition … we felt that in order to survive we had to try to look and act as rugged and as manly as possibly to get by in a society that was really very much against us.” The age of communist threats, and of Joseph McCarthy’s insistence that homosexuals were treacherous, gave credence to the feeling of most society members that homosexuality was a perversion, and that one inflicted was one to not be trusted.
The passage is special because it identifies the emotion that the families and coworkers shared the moment they realized their loved ones were murdered. The passage relates to the author’s purpose in that chapter by emphasizing that all were affected as a result of the tragedy including tough and fearless CIA director Michael Hayden. The passage reflects the author’s style of including personal and emotional events of the characters in order to have the readers create an emotional bond with them.
It was a glorious April 4th evening as Martin Luther King and hundreds of followers were gathering for a civil rights march. Many cheered on as the civil rights leader graciously out step on the second floor balcony of the Motel Lorraine. Roaring cheers rose from the crowd rose up as Martin Luther King stand there waving his arm with his heart warming smile waiting for the uprising taper off so he can continue with his speech. When suddenly a piercing blast broke the noise and the crowd’s cheerful spirit died. A cold chill went through all who were present fore in the back of their minds there was no doubt that their King had just been shot.
Harvey Milk said, “If a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door.”(Aretha 83). Harvey Milk was the first gay politician that moved people’s hearts. He changed the way people thought about gay people back in the 1970’s. Defending homosexuals from criticism, he civilized them with the people. Since the background of homosexuality was harsh which affected Harvey Milk’s early life, he took the action to process of becoming civilized as an officer, and he left many legacies.
In an expressive voice, Ms. Angelou paints a memorable picture of a small black community anticipating graduation day fifty-five years ago. She describes the children as trembling "visibly with anticipation" and the teachers being "respectful of the now quiet and aging seniors." Although it is autobiographical, an omniscient voice in the first six paragraphs describes how "they" - the black children in Stamps - felt and acted before the omniscient voice changes to a limited omniscient narration in the seventh paragraph. Her eloquent voice skillfully builds the tension as she demonstrates bigotry destroying innocence.
In the fall of 1995, Kristin Cooper was a sophomore at Baker University in Kansas. She was a member of Alpha Chi Omega, an expert skier from the mountains of Colorado, a swimmer, and was active in band, choir and drama.
Gender inequality is defined as “unequal treatment or perceptions of individuals based on their gender”. In our society there are a plethora of gender inequality related issues, and it is vastly important that these issues are brought to light, and ultimately resolved. In society today, the feminism movement is at an all-time high while lots of gender oriented issues are being questioned and analyzed. The portrayal of women in the media is a major issue in todays world. Various issues such as female athletes not being adequately compensated for their efforts, the media portraying a master image for all females to meet, as well as slut shaming are all vast issues in todays world that must be acknowledged. However, contrary to popular belief,
In the 1970s, feminists coined the term Rape Culture. The term is a combination of Rape, a form of sexual assault involving sexual penetration without consent, and Culture, the ideas, customs, and social behavior of society. When put together, Rape Culture comprises of a collection of beliefs that encourage sexual aggression and supports violence against women. Rape Culture allows the justification of rape and allowing rape to flourish. While some find it difficult to identify elements linked to Rape Culture, the examples below will highlight everyday occurrences that show its prevalence.
The Merriam Webster dictionary Defines rape as “unlawful sexual activity and usually sexual intercourse carried out forcibly or under threat of injury against the will usually of a female or with a person who is beneath a certain age or incapable of valid consent because of mental illness, mental deficiency, intoxication, unconsciousness, or deception”. Rape seems like an act that an individual would never think of committing. However, rape happens every day in many different instances, and what's worse, the excuse for certain rape cases. In my paper I'll be breaking down the social issue of rape through the structural functionalism theory, the conflict theory, and the symbolic interactionism theory. With the conflict theory I'll be examining
Sexual violence can happen to anyone. In fact, one out of every six women has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape in her lifetime. Although, it is women who are targeted most often, it is important to understand that rape can occur to any person, regardless of various factors such as age, race, sex, ethnicity, and sexual orientation. What many people do not ponder is that most of the time when a woman is raped, she is actually blamed for the assault. As Aosved mentions in her article titled, ‘Co-occurrence of Rape Myth Acceptance, Sexism, Racism, Homophobia, Ageism, Classism, and Religious Intolerance’, she states
Traditional or common knowledge views of rape portray the act as something a crazy stranger commits on another stranger. However, this is simply not the case. The vast majority of rapes, sometimes up to 70%, involve a victim who was previously known to the offender (Woods and Porter 2008). The data does not totally support this view, however. This is because only an estimated 18% of acquaintance rape is reported to the police (Woods and Porter 2008). For comparative purposes, an estimated 79% of stranger rape is reported. Research suggests that each type of forcible rape has a more frequent setting (Woods and Porter 2008). When a rape happens indoors, the victim is more likely to have had a close personal relationship with the offender (Woods and Porter 2008). In fact, the rape usually occurs in either the offender’s or victim’s home (Woods and Porter 2008). The National Institute of Justice reports that women are raped dramatically more than men are; 18% of women report being raped at least once in their life, in contrast to just the 3% of men who report being raped in their lifetime (Tjaden and Thoennes 2006). Of minority groups, 34% of American-Indian women report being raped in their lifetime, the highest percentage of any group; the lowest percentage is Pacific Islander women, of whom only 7% report being raped in their lifetime (Tjaden and Thoennes 2006). The data suggests that rape occurs at an early age. Nearly a quarter of female rape victims and nearly one half of male rape victims were younger than 12 years old when first raped (Tjaden and Thoennes 2006). The percent of victims first raped when younger than 18 years of age is nearly three quarters for men and over half for women (Tjaden and Thoennes 2006). “Women who w...
Foucault asks "What are the links between these discourses, these effects of power, and the pleasures that were invested by them?" (Foucault, 11). In the case of New Jersey governor it seems clear that power, language and pleasure were very much related in his speech on August 13, 2004, in which he announced his resignation, that he had had an affair with a man, and that he was a "gay American." A man in a position of power was both given power and gave power to the general public with his announcement. Consequently he opened up a multiplicity of discourses on the matter ranging from the true reason for his resignation, to the true meaning of the word Gay, to the effects that his coming out would have on the gay community. The case of governor McGreevey showed how language can be powerful, helpful and harming all at the same time, furthering Foucault's suggestion of strong links between discourse, power and pleasure.
Rape and rape culture have been a longstanding issue in American society. Looking at modern influences such as the media, our nation’s history, and the way our Consider the following: How has rape culture evolved through our history? What role does the media play in rape culture? And most importantly, how has rape become institutionalized in American society?
1 in 5 women will experience sexual assault as an adult (cite). To me, that statistic is mindboggling. I’m not sure people are really aware of the fact that in our society women are raped every single day or maybe they are aware but it doesn’t truly affect their lives until it happens to them or someone they know. Rape is a serious crime. I’m not sure there is a worse crime than rape. Rape is when one person violates the personal space of another. More times than not the attacker is male and the victim is female. With rape not only are you at risk of pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases but also your piece of mind is taken away. Women can experience symptoms of PTSD after being raped. Rape is crime where the act in itself is awful, but also dealing with it after is very painful as well. If our society were more knowledgeable about rape maybe it wouldn’t happen as much. Knowing the difference between the different characteristics of a serial rapist versus a single victim rapist could potentially help women or men identify their attacker, if they know what to look for. This may be more of a struggle for if the attacker is a stranger or a one-time offender, but if women are able to give details about their attack, this could help the criminal justice system find these criminals after the fact. In this paper, I will explain and critique three different studies that were conducted comparing and contrasting serial rapists and single-victim rapists.
Imagine you are a 28 year old woman, and have been working for a Wall-Street bank all day. You decide to go on a run in Central Park to wind down your day. It is a cool evening. The air is lush and Central Park breathes with the energy of New York. It is April 19th, 1989. You start your run off strong. Halfway through your run, you turn a corner and a man steps out from the shoulder. He strikes you with a tree branch. You realize he is dragging you. Everything spins. You cry out for help and howl with pain. You hit your attacker around the face. There is a struggle, but he easily overpowers you. He takes off your clothes and binds your wrists to you head. The blows do not stop. Everything goes black. When you wake up, you are in the hospital and are told you have been raped, and severely beaten. You suffered severe hypothermia, blood loss, a fractured skull, and have been in a coma. You cannot remember what happened that night and you do not remember the attack. You feel alone, ostracized, and overwhelmed. Your physical injuries are nothing compared to the pain that dwells in your heart. This is the story of the Central Park jogger, and this is the reality of rape.