On fighting rape culture...

...at Nine Kinds of Pie:

Teach Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak or other young adult novels that address rape and its aftermath.  (I know there are other novels that would fit the bill, but this is the one I always teach.)  And teach these books to high school students.

Anderson’s Speak is a sensitive, thoughtful examination of rape and its aftermath. It also has many moments of dark humor: The book’s protagonist, Melinda Sordino, has an incisive wit. It’s hard to imagine a teenage male (or, really, anyone) reading this book and continuing to think that rape is somehow “OK.” That said, I realize that it’s a lot to expect a single book to change rape culture. So, we should also…

Previously.

Comments

[Christa @ More Than Just Magic]

I absolutely love Speak. I read it in high school and recently had to buy a new copy because my old one fell apart. I definitely think this should be taught in high schools. It's so important!

[Eliza]

Thank you for keeping this discussion going. I adore Speak and have given copies of it to several high school students who have all found it a powerful book.

On a related front, Mike Rawlings, Dallas mayor, is making domestic violence about the men perpetrating the abuse and not about the victims in his Men Against Abuse campaign and wanting to fight the culture of violence against women.

From The Cut's article about Mike and his campaign:

“I decided to call out the men of Dallas,” Rawlings told The Cut. “I said, this is not a women’s issue, this is a men’s issue. Eighty-five, 90 percent of domestic violence is men on women.”

"Rawlings honed his critique of men’s complacency in the so-called “culture of violence.” “We all laugh at the jokes in locker rooms; we wear ‘wife-beaters’ and we listen to the music. It’s just part of our culture and it snuck up on us,” he said. “Men, it is time for us to say no mas.”

There will be a march in Dallas on March 23rd for men to show their solidarity against domestic violence.

Here's the article, including Rawlings' PSA: http://nymag.com/thecut/2013/03/mans-man-mayor-trying-to-end-domestic-abuse.html

I don't know anything about his other politics but I love the message his current campaign is sending and I hope it gains momentum. I will be watching on Sunday to see what the turnout is for his march.