How Does She Resist?
Resisting Media Representations to End Violence Against Girls and Women
Prevention of Violence Against Women Week
April 15 – 21, 2012
Battered Women’s Support Services (BWSS)
Presents:
How Does She Resist? – Resisting Media Representations to End Violence Against Girls and Women
“Battered Women Support Services’ (BWSS) goal is the elimination of all violence against women. Therefore women’s representation in media becomes a crucial element of this mandate. BWSS’ statement of philosophy recognizes that “…battering is the result of a world view which supports the right of some people to oppress others. That right is granted by the privilege of status associated with gender, race, religion, class, sexual orientation, age and physical ability”. This battering takes places right before us, as women are represented by media in an unequal scenario: a scenario where the powerful, privileged media presents a monolithic and oppressive view of womanhood. In this context women are constantly reduced by the media to body parts (i.e. a set of legs, a pair of breasts, etc.) or objects of sexual desire. This creates the ideal environment to perpetrate abuse and violence. Women are not human anymore, but dismembered objects lacking of dignity. Sadly, we get this message every day, many times a day.” ~ Silvia Almanza Alonso
During Prevention of Violence Against Women Week we will engage our online community to resist media representations as a way to prevent violence against girls and women.
We will feature guest blogger Joanna Chiu, guest videographer Camila Galdino, and contributions by Silvia Almanza Alonso, BWSS YOUth Ending Violence Program, and more…
During the week of April 15th – 21st, 2012, join our online community to engage, empower and prevent violence at www.bwss.org/endingviolence
Here is a selection of Ending Violence blog posts on women (and men) resisting media representations:
Fighting Sexual Assault One Tweet at a Time by Sady Doyle
Porn Addled Teenage Boys do Rule the World by Soraya Chemaly
Missrepresentation the Media is the Message and the Messenger a Film Review by Dana Gore
Beauty and Body Image in the Media
Men Speak out about Sexist Coverage of Rape a call to action
Mad World Toy ads and Learning Gender posted Bitch Media
Media Misses the Point by Athena Affan
Joanna Chiu
Joanna Chiu is an independent journalist and editor, and the founder of WAM! (Women, Action & the Media) Vancouver chapter. At WAM!, Joanna works to connect activists and media makers to advance women’s media participation, ownership and representation. Her writing on feminism, politics, social movements, racism and sexuality appears in publications such as The Nation, AlterNet, The UTNE Reader, The Georgia Straight, Herizons Magazine and rabble.ca. As a columnist for Canada’s top feminist
magazine, Herizons, she provides her perspective on Canadian politics and culture in each quarterly issue. She has also provided media commentary for outlets such as Vancouver’s News 1130 Radio, Jezebel, The Village Voice, and Toronto’s CIUT Radio. Joanna holds a Masters of Journalism degree from Columbia University. You can learn more about her work at www.joannachiu.com at www.wamvancouver.wordpress.com
Camila Galdino< /font>
A Brazilian publicist and passionate feminist, Camila Galdino also loves movies, photography and the arts. After nearly a decade of political activism in Brazil and South America, Camila now lives in Vancouver and despite the challenges of the new language she aims to continue her path of political activism in Canada. Following a long period of study and analysis, Camila began working with what she calls Feminist Communication. This involves producing videos, photos, advertising campaigns and other forms of media in order to promote feminism and transform communication from an instrument of power and domination into a political tool that can also be used for to produce historical accounts of feminist struggles and achievements.
Prevention Week Round-up
Day One
How Media Literacy Can Help End Violence Against Women by Joanna Chiu
Day Two
Violence Sells? Time to say ‘Enough’ to Twisted Advertisers by Joanna Chiu
Angela Marie MacDougall co-hosted with Irwin Oostindie W2 Morning Project on Co-op Radio CFRO 102.7 FM and interviews Jennifer Pozner and Joanna Chiu Interviews begin 20 minutes into the hour long broadcast.
Day Three
Day Four
Day Five
Day Six
Your Message, Your Voice: Blogging to Fill the Need for Independent Critical Analysis by Joanna Chiu
Day Seven
Survivors Speak out to Break Silence about Systemic Violence Against Women and Girls by Joanna Chiu
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Sarah’s Healing Place is safe place for women to post stories, poetry pictures and links for
women who have been effected by domestic violence. A Place to raise awareness, help
women and make some new friends who know how you are feeling and know what you may be
experiencing in your life today.