SafeHouse was blessed to be a beneficiary of Cal Berkeley's Vagina Monologues this February. As an intern of SafeHouse who lives in the East Bay, I was given the opportunity to table at the show. During these three hours I mostly sat around and waited for individual donations, but occasionally someone would ask me about SafeHouse's mission. Thrilled to talk about the organization whenever I can, the moments of inquiry pushed me into a fundraising role that I usually despise, but in this case, just loved. Unfortunately only 4-5 people actually inquired. Aside from the proceeds from the ticket sales, we only made around $50 in donations. $50 is actually a pretty cool amount, but when I put that number into conversation with other money being handed around, I had a different perspective.
As activist art, The Vagina Monologues openly challenges violence against women. I am in full support of V-Day and Eve Ensler's project. Thank Goddess someone finally started bringing pussy stories out into the light! The venue usually attracts feminist women, queers, and allies of female causes. Being all the aforementioned things, I have high expectations of that crowd because I consider them "my people." I was sorely disappointed, however, this weekend as I watched all the supposed hard-core dykes and dread-lock sporting hippies drop cash on T-shirts, propaganda buttons, jewelry, scarves and genitalia-shaped chocolate candy while my donation jar came up empty. I know most of their purchases will help the Vagina Monologues in its future, but i wonder why people are so reluctant to give cash when they don't receive some propaganda receipt to boot. No material evidence, no money?
SafeHouse does restorative justice. It moves beyond the 'calling out' of patriarchy by actually working with and for women in a concrete way. This is the kind of feminism and humanism we need. I love the Vagina Monologues and I by no means wish to deconstruct their approach to activism. In fact, non-profits and the arts/entertainment industries need each other to survive. I am merely calling the Vagina Monologues audience into question.
Ending violence against women goes far beyond Ivory Tower theatrics the week prior to Valentines Day. The minute we begin looking at our currency--where it comes from and where it goes--is the minute we have stepped outside the matrix of oblivion. Economic realities are first and foremost the ground of violence against women. If we maintain economic structures that benefit the rich and neglect the poor, we are pimping, period. When you yell and scream cunt, do you implicate or place yourselves in the process of reclaiming? If so, how? Holler.
6 comments:
nice blog, I would love to learn what you are teaching, keep it up...
I'm not teaching a thing, but thanks for the props. Teaching often semantically implies authority over the unlearned. People know, they just don't make noise. I'm making know noise, by sharing. I'm hoping to illuminate the possibilities in all seconds of reality. Writing on a blog site is one way. Thanks for checkin it out.
Hello Emily! This be caleb, user name 'nic' as in 'nichols'. I affirm your decision to leave the myspace...its a pretty bad scene I think.
I also affirm the above comments about the way people choose to spend money. Its a hard lesson, but people really like stuff, and when confronted with a choice between 'goods' and 'good' will usually choose the former.
I love you! Keep writing.
Caleb--yeehaw!
Glad to see you on my comment page.
Would like to see you face to face.
March 18th? What-dya say?
Rally up!
Love you.
I gave you $1, and I didn't buy a thing with the V Day logo, so now I feel cool.
But seriously, I perceive two responses to your astute observations. You are completely right, as always, but I add these thoughts as supplements to your Truths.
One, more cynical-realist: 'we' (are trained to) like to buy things and own things to feel like we're doing something, being someone, making a difference. We like stuff. So, we buy.
Two, more forgiving-realist: the people who show up to watch the Vagina Monologues have heard of the Vagina Monologues. They also have just spent $10+ on a ticket that they know is going to support the selected organizations. They have likely not heard of Safe House or any of the other local groups, who deserve money no less for being less known. Yet, the people did not come out for Safe House; they came out for the Vagina Monologues; they are more likely going to want to support the organization they came specifically to see. If Safe House hosted an event, it would be weird for people to spend more money at a VDay table than on Safe House, too. The problem is not, then, just that the people who show up at the Vagina Monologues are more interested in the Vagina Monologues than other organizations; the problem is that VDay is so much better known than other organizations, that it gets more people than other good groups' events would. And other good groups are left begging for donations at the theatre's door.
[And by the way, I wrote about the Monologues, too: http://brethrenpriestess.wordpress.com/2007/02/08/time-for-the-cunt-monologues/]
It is the mentality of people. I manufacture skin care products and I am at a convention and woman makes a big scene she said " do you test on animals and I said no only on family, friends and children. Sometimes I think people care more about animals then people. As far as violence goes, I think there is just way to much violence from both men and women, men are stronger and usually have the upper hand, but I have witnessed it from both. As if one pushes the others buttons. I think we should be stopping the violence against everything and everyone, it is a seed sowed deep into society and grows wickedly throughout entwining itself through
all walks of life.
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