Violence Against Women:The Clothesline Project Video
As promised, The Clothesline Project Final Video from Marley P on Vimeo, part 2 of a collaborative final project for Womens Studies 30: Women and Pop Culture.
Created by: Rachel O, Maley P, Allison R. Stephanie G and Carolyn B.
Transcript after the jump. Thanks to Carolyn B for her gift of words and to all members of a group that inspired a community.
A curse of silence is plaguing America. The staggering statistics on violence toward women are incongruous with the ‘reality’ perpetuated by our mass media. Rape and domestic violence are not fanciful abstractions that occur far, far away at a crime scene in Miami or in the fantasy landscape of a video game. Every 2 minutes, someone in the U.S. is sexually assaulted. If you were to base your renderings of these events on the media’s coverage, you would most likely see a glamorized version of the truth, a play on one of the many damaging motifs that turn rape and abuse into a caricature, a ludicrous exaggeration of the abuser and abused. He would be a sociopathic stranger hiding in the bushes. She would be a naive, conventionally attractive women, whose sex appeal makes her ripe for pillaging. The scene would play out with the swagger of a videogame or slick action movie. Gratuitousness, gore, and victimization abound, creating at times a burlesque of sex and violence that is meant more to shock and titillate than to educate, empower and help the cause to eradicate abuse.
The truth of the matter is that battery is the number one cause of injury to women in the United States. It accounts for more injuries to women than stranger rapes, muggings and car accidents combined. When rape is involved, approximately 2/3 of rapes are committed by someone known to the victim, and 38% of rapists are a friend or acquaintance of the victim. These are not strangers lurking in parking lots and hiding in our bushes. These are our fathers, boyfriends, family members, friends, co-workers and acquaintances.
When looking to the mass media for answers, we were bombarded by a cavalcade of images that reinforced the glamorized union of sex and violence in our culture, without paying respect to the shocking truth of violence toward women in our society. The most poignant example of brutalization packaged as entertainment came from an episode of Tyra Banks’ reality show “America’s Next Top Model.” Tyra’s models had the daunting assignment of ‘playing dead’ for a high fashion photo spread of ‘sexy’ murder victims. Black and blue limbs were splayed across the screen, models lounging languidly in pools of blood were criticized for not looking “dead enough,” and all the while the photographer was beside himself with giddy glee.
This video left all of us aghast with shock and disgust. However, the trend of using sex, gore and violence to sell high end products is nothing new in the vapid world of high fashion. Designers like Jimmy Choo, Louis Vitton and Duncan Quinn are all guilty of it. These types of advertising campaigns have become so normative in our culture, that most consumers unconsciously drink them in without batting an eyelash. Perhaps what is even more disturbing is that one in three women that view these advertisements will be victims of abuse. And, unfortunately, their stories will not be fun and games like these images suggest.
The power of the Clothesline Project lies in its ability to free these stories from our backyards, to unite communities through shared experience and to enlighten those living in the dark. T shirts blazed on the line like an infernal scarlet letter symbolizing America’s neglect of an issue that touches so many of us. Passerby’s jaws dropped to the ground, and women and men who were compelled to take part in the project engaged in dialogue about the astonishing prevalence of violence amongst our peers at Santa Monica College. Survivors of abuse found both kinship and an empowering medium for their messages. There was a collective unraveling of the shroud that cloaks and oppresses our stories of abuse, giving a new face to violence- one that isn’t looming on our television screens, magazine pages and video games in stiletto heels, painted with cartoonish bruises and a flirtatious pout.
It is more important than ever to break the silence surrounding violence against women, and to shatter the stereotypes that propagate ignorance and perpetuate danger. Along with the Clothesline Project, organizations like the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, and VDAY: A global Movement to End Violence Against Women and Girls are raising consciousness and funds to end rape, incest, battery, genital mutilation and sexual slavery globally. These organizations and YOUR voice are the only tools we have to undo the noxious stereotypes propagated by the mass media. Since the movement to end violence against women solidified in 1993, sexual assault has fallen by almost 60%. In other words, if not for the historic gains we’ve made in the last decade, an additional 2,546,420 Americans would have become victims of sexual violence. That statistic serves as a battle cry for us to break the silence, share our stories and turn them into a vehicle for chan
thank you for doing this. breaking the silence saved my life as did organizations like vday and rainn. this is wonderful, and powerful, and incredibly valuable to the healing of survivors.
Comment by sarit — June 3, 2010 @ 10:02 am
Love this! So powerful and they did such an awesome job.
Comment by Kristin — June 3, 2010 @ 7:58 pm
Very touching. Changed the way that I think. One think that stood out to me was, “these are not strangers lurking in parking lots and hiding in our bushes. These are our fathers, boyfriends, family members, friends, co-workers and acquaintances.” This is a scary concept because we are taught to see the best in people but in the end you never know what people are capable of…
Comment by Ariel Kasheri (wmst10scholars) — November 30, 2010 @ 9:32 am
This is very inspiring and motivates me to incorporate this in a visual thearte art project i will be producing over summer. Such a powerful message is needed to be heard so violence can end.
Comment by melani dg — May 16, 2011 @ 3:46 pm
I agree with the girl at the end of the video that said that this should be done every year until it gets bigger and bigger and there isn’t even enough room for shirts anymore. I know I saw it again this year and I am grateful. I think they should line the outside of the school with shirts as well so that everyone passing by Pico Blvd. can get the message too, so that it’s not just limited to students. I know a lot of people who have experienced domestic violence, myself included, and I was blamed for it and called a liar and didn’t know what to do. I didn’t have the education I needed at the time and went to the wrong people to help me. We need to put this in the public’s faces so that it’s more out there and less hush-hush. I feel like most women don’t know what to do in these situations and blame themselves.
Also, the ANTM video made me sick. There were a lot of things I wanted to scream about, but I’ll only mention one here. The fact that Jay (I believe that’s his name) was upset with the one model because she wasn’t focused on the shoot since her FRIEND JUST DIED was complete bs. I couldn’t believe anyone could be that insensitive. That she even had to participate in the shoot was cruel and messed up.
Comment by Bianca Balanchi (WS30) — November 21, 2011 @ 2:39 pm
After watching this video, I can definitely see the effort that these girls are putting in to raise awareness for violence against women. I can say that i agree 100 percent and will back everything that these women have for this particular issue. As a student of Santa Monica College I have seen this event take place and have seen the awareness that it raises around the school. And it’s not just women who are involved in this event, when you walk around the school during this you can definitely see a large percentage of the male population participating and doing what they can to address this issue. I believe that it definitely starts on a smaller scale and will then begin to grow exponentially as more and more people become involved.
Comment by Eleazar Capuz — January 31, 2012 @ 10:19 pm
I am so thankful for and proud of this generation’s informed and extremely bright young people who are taking action and spreading vital messages on such incredibly important issues such as domestic violence. We have all been affected by violence against women to some extent, whether we have been a victim to it, have witnessed it, or know someone who has been abused. It is our responsibility as a whole to continue to get the message out there that it is not okay to hurt someone whether it be physically or psychologically. If we continue to lift the shame from those who are abused they will be less afraid to get help and walk away.
Comment by Willemina v. — February 1, 2012 @ 11:31 am
Violence against women is highly unacceptable in my opinion. The clothesline project at Santa Monica College was a good idea and very interesting because it stood out for me and also it was powerful watching the video. In society we need to be very aware of what is going on with the physical abuse of women, therefore we need to speak out and don’t hold back of constant abuse. No matter how hard we try to protect abused women by passing laws, it is still the single most common cause of injury to women. Many women are in abusive situations that they cannot get away from because of fear, or just because they think that they intimidate the abuser.
Comment by Tiffany M — February 1, 2012 @ 2:05 pm
I very much support this project, and i think it should for sure be held once every semester, to bring more awareness to more people.
I’ve noticed that whenever we get close to the clothesline project,an email is sent out from SMC police department to report a crime near campus.
We should have this project take place once every semester, for both new students that we get each semester and for the older students whom haven’t been influenced yet.
Comment by MATAN P — February 3, 2012 @ 8:17 am
The Clothesline project is a great idea to inform and aware others of the assaults many women go through. Can you imagine that every 2 minutes a woman is being assaulted? Thats a very horrible fact to know! I think everyone should watch the VDAY film. It’s very touching and we hear stories of different women in different cultures and how they have gone through the same thing. This film is perfect to influence people to get up and do help these victims.
Comment by Kammira B — February 4, 2012 @ 2:46 pm
I was impressed when I saw the clothesline project in class. And was even more impressed that someone from SMC started this project. I was surprised because it is a cause reachable for the students and women in Professor Klein’s Women’s Studies class. This is a perfect opportunity to reach out to those people who do not know about what is going on with gender socialization and how women are mistreated in everyday situations
Comment by Gabriel Y. — February 5, 2012 @ 11:16 am
I think every school should make Clothesline Project because its a great way for many people to realize and open up their eyes about the violence that women go through or have gone. Not only should they be shown and talked about in schools but all over the community. Their are so many people unaware of the violence that goes on that its time that those who have been abused speak out and tell their story and help prevent this from happening to others.
Comment by Guadalupe Y — February 5, 2012 @ 12:06 pm
The Clothesline Project is brilliant! And thanks to the group of women who put together the video. Had I not seem it, I quite possibly might never have known about the project. As a victim of rape twice, I fall under the “2/3 percentage of rapes committed by someone we know.“ The first time was date rape. The second time was a fellow employee. I kept quiet about the date rape because I was young, felt stupid, embarrassed, dirty, afraid, and believed it was somehow my fault.
The second time I didn’t fair much better. I did report the rape, first to my fiance, then to my boss. My fiance’s first reaction was to grab a gun and go after the perp. But latching onto his arm and falling to the floor, I held on as he drag me along, heading for the door, all the while I begged him not to kill the guy. I knew it would be my fiance who would end up in jail. When I told my boss, he treated me like the rape had been my fault. I ended up quitting my job, took him to court, and eventually his business was closed down. It was of little consolation.
The Clothesline Project gives those who have been raped a place to heal, to know they are not alone, and that by speaking out and sharing their pain, they open the door for others, letting them know there is hope for all who have endured this hell. Giving voice to this epidemic of abusive violence nationwide sends a powerful message to police, local, state and federal governments – this must stop. We are outraged, it will no longer be tolerated, and we will not rest until this injustice is reversed, the guilty are severely punished, and the victims are no longer blamed.
Comment by Suzy D — February 5, 2012 @ 4:12 pm
Nothing makes me more angry then to know that everywhere around the world, their is women being physically, emotionally, and verbally assaulted by either a person they know or a stranger and still, their is not much being done to end this. I have to admit that when I saw the clothesline project around my school campus -SMC- I had no idea what it meant. I went around reading the shirts that were hanged around campus and it clicked to me. This was a project about violence against women, and I thought it was amazing to be able to read the points of view people had or better yet, speaking up for women that are suffering any type of violence. VDAY is definately a day that everyone should know about and that should be considered in name of all those defenceless women that are suffering violence in their lives.
Comment by Yesenia O — February 5, 2012 @ 5:41 pm
This video put tears to my eyes. Violence against woman is completely unacceptable and what’s sad is its happening every single day. It makes me sad to see that some woman cant even escape the abuse that they are in. Then to see these ads that use sex and violence to sell a product really disturbs me. If only they knew the hardship and heartache that went into it then maybe they wouldn’t take violence as an approach to sell a product.
The power of the Clothesline Project is nice to see cause it gives woman a voice and a chance to speak out to what has or what they are going through.
Comment by Lori H — February 5, 2012 @ 5:51 pm
Like Bianca (comment below) I found the clip from ANTM extremely disturbing. That asking women to portray murder victims could be part of “family entertainment” says a lot about our culture. One of the reasons I don’t watch reality television is because I find the depiction of women in such shows to be extremely demeaning. I used to enjoy Amazing Race until one season included a husband and wife team in which the husband continually berated and humiliated his wife. Interestingly the couple’s “real” job was as professional wrestling team. I think that says it all {for those who don’t understand this connection please see any video by Jackson Katz but esp. Wrestling with Manhood) I think people who justify watching such shows with an embarrassed smile saying “It’s just mindless entertainment I watch to unwind and turn my mind off and zone out for awhile. It’s harmless” don’t realize that in such a state, with your mind “turned off and zoning out” you are most vulnerable to the desensitizing effects of such “entertainment.”
I thought the Clothesline project was awesome. It got in people’s face and forced them to be aware of this issue which is so often denied, and I think it must have affected even those who didn’t stop and participate just because it was so visual. I found the one woman’s comment that she waited four years to report the instance in which she was abused a very sad comment on the fact that after all of these years of raising awareness of the issue of domestic violence, women are still afraid of the repercussions of reporting incidents.
This project called to my mind a quote from Martin Luther King, Jr.: “In the end we will remember not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends.” This project was a definite attempt to end the silence about this powerful social problem.
Comment by SandraR — February 5, 2012 @ 9:26 pm
This video is crazy because it is not random men who are doing to abuse, but they are friends, boyfriends, fathers, uncles, or cousins. It is so strange to think that a portion of people who are abused, are abused by people they know. That is something that should change, and people need to realize why they abuse in the first place.
Comment by Yasmin M — February 6, 2012 @ 8:26 am
This video was amazing. Thanks to Marley and her partner I felt so encouraged to write this. I also have to say that I always saw Tyra’s ideas for ANTM have been interesting, but never to the point where I thought “NO WAY” and wanted to say that modeling and real life is different. But, reality is, is that everything is inner connected and there is no way for me to justify this any more. I was so disappointed that someone like Tyra would even approve of this to be done on her show. She may say that it wasn’t to mean more than just modeling, but it has. The message of the challenge spoke loud and clear to me. That even in high fashion modeling, even the most beautiful stunning women don’t have a voice. Pictures present them with no expressions, skinny bodies, and no personality. I’d say it’ll be a lot cheaper to just fit designer clothes on barbie dolls and take pictures. But as for the challenge on ANTM, it showed me that it’s totally acceptable in high fashion careers for women to look like they’re dead, to act like they’re dead, and want to beat others in trying to look as if they’re really dead. Is this really a competition you want to win in real life??? Models are dying to be the models they’re trying to become. LITERALLY. It may send different messages but for me it showed me that if women are involved in looking like they’re dead but still have hot stilletos on then it’s fine and we see it as just a picture. NO IT ISN’T.
Women should be respected with a voice who encourage one another to step up and be their real powerful selves and not listen to demands to loosen one leg and hang it over a bungalow…
Comment by Crystina K — February 6, 2012 @ 11:02 am