Poletta's selection "Ways of Knowing and Stories Worth Telling: Why Casting Oneself as a Victim Sometimes Hurts the Cause" was a thought provoking article, especially regarding the problems of embodying the victim in compromising situations. I appreciated that the "point" of the essay was spelled out right away: familiar criticism underestimate the power of telling stories of victimization--it is NOT to trade agency for passivity. This is a bold stance, and one that Poletta acknowledges encompasses much opposition. I agree with this stance, although I feel like this is more of a theoretical thesis than one that is actually translated into the everyday. Usually when you do fashion yourself a victim, ears tune out, faces full of pity express their sympathy, but you can't even seem to get out of that painful stage of being a victim. I am referencing situations such as sexual harrasment or assault, or gender inequality in the workplace. Becoming a victim when standing up for your rights can cut your argument at the knees-a debilitating result for anyone looking to usurp already in place power roles. Poletta brings up interesting case studies when discussing the result of women taking their lives into their own hands and acting out against abusive husbands. Our society does not typically allow women to be violent, and it certainly poses an interesting place for analysis. I find it heartbreaking that there is such a painful dilemma: when you become a victim, people cannot understand how you could have then stood up for youself and acted out, negating your appearance as a victim. Or, if you don't fashion yourself a victim, then people just think you acted out unreasonably. There seems to be no winning in Poletta's presentation "battered women fighting back." Even the verbiage itself ("battered women's syndrome") made it impossible for juries and the general populace to see these women as resonable and therefore conscious actors for their self-preservation. While Poletta references the extreme, this "catch-22" predominates many issues where gender inequality comes into play.
I am fortunate that no matter what, my pay check will be the same as any male at the same rank. The Air Force has less than 20% female, and an even smaller number among their officer corps, but gender is not a factor in paycheck, it is simply a matter of rank and how long you have served. However, most assume that a woman will excel faster in her career. This hypothesis has been proved when a woman receives a position for which someone else may have been better suited, and yet "it just seemed time that a woman occupied that role." This happened when a friend of mine became the Wing Commander for the AF Academy, a role she is currently occupying. People made snide comments that "okay, I see why she got it, it had been over 4 years since we had a girl on the staff tower." This completely undercuts her abilty to occupy her role through merit, and not as one simply rewarded because of her gender. Poletta offered that instruction on how to hear "the news" (in the case, the gossip) could be a possible solution. This would create empathy and allow passive listeners to occupy themselves in the stories heard. However, it was unlikely that any instruction on how a body of 4000+ cadets should (would) react would have made much of a difference. Often, those debilitating gender assumptions cannot be overridden in an instant, but must be won (and fought for) over time. This woman has certainly proven her worth while occupying her role, and is doing an outstanding job. The cynicism about a girl as the highest ranking cadet slowly died out, and she made a positive difference. It is not always the case.
I have a hard time seeing victims and understanding their plight from an empathetic stance. I can sympathize, I can cry for you, feel pain for you, but as soon as your case is away from my eyes, I may forget it altogether and leave you stuck in that state of victimization, self forged or not. Poletta emphasizes that there is a common view that victims are not rational, or reasonable whatsoever. This popular narrative makes it difficult for a reasonable victim to then ever be seen as such. Women who suffer at the hands of sexual assault may be assaulted further by questions about what were they wearing the night of their attack? Did they entice the assaulter? Men suffer as victims in another way because many do accept that men can also be victims of sexual assault. It simply doesn't occur to us in our instantaneous reading of a situation.
Becoming a victim is like walking a tight rope. You must watch exactly how you forge yourself and how you allow your narrative to be heard. There is no recourse if your story is told in terms that reaffirm the popular narrative, instead, your story has to work to assert the popular narrative, and expose how such a reading will mar the truth at hand. I found it interesting how Poletta brought storytelling into this piece; it is as if literature already understands just how careful that balance is, the textual medium allows a careful walk that if done correctly, hides the architecture of its characters. It seems a literary-like dialogue is necessary to subvert any predominant narrative, and to be heard as both reasonable, and as a victim.
(PS. I like the discussions on the "Selena" pieces we read, I wanted to respond to those works but found my knowledge of Selena was so failingly conflated with images of JLO that I had to take a step back and just keep absorbing before producing anything about it!)
I am fortunate that no matter what, my pay check will be the same as any male at the same rank. The Air Force has less than 20% female, and an even smaller number among their officer corps, but gender is not a factor in paycheck, it is simply a matter of rank and how long you have served. However, most assume that a woman will excel faster in her career. This hypothesis has been proved when a woman receives a position for which someone else may have been better suited, and yet "it just seemed time that a woman occupied that role." This happened when a friend of mine became the Wing Commander for the AF Academy, a role she is currently occupying. People made snide comments that "okay, I see why she got it, it had been over 4 years since we had a girl on the staff tower." This completely undercuts her abilty to occupy her role through merit, and not as one simply rewarded because of her gender. Poletta offered that instruction on how to hear "the news" (in the case, the gossip) could be a possible solution. This would create empathy and allow passive listeners to occupy themselves in the stories heard. However, it was unlikely that any instruction on how a body of 4000+ cadets should (would) react would have made much of a difference. Often, those debilitating gender assumptions cannot be overridden in an instant, but must be won (and fought for) over time. This woman has certainly proven her worth while occupying her role, and is doing an outstanding job. The cynicism about a girl as the highest ranking cadet slowly died out, and she made a positive difference. It is not always the case.
I have a hard time seeing victims and understanding their plight from an empathetic stance. I can sympathize, I can cry for you, feel pain for you, but as soon as your case is away from my eyes, I may forget it altogether and leave you stuck in that state of victimization, self forged or not. Poletta emphasizes that there is a common view that victims are not rational, or reasonable whatsoever. This popular narrative makes it difficult for a reasonable victim to then ever be seen as such. Women who suffer at the hands of sexual assault may be assaulted further by questions about what were they wearing the night of their attack? Did they entice the assaulter? Men suffer as victims in another way because many do accept that men can also be victims of sexual assault. It simply doesn't occur to us in our instantaneous reading of a situation.
Becoming a victim is like walking a tight rope. You must watch exactly how you forge yourself and how you allow your narrative to be heard. There is no recourse if your story is told in terms that reaffirm the popular narrative, instead, your story has to work to assert the popular narrative, and expose how such a reading will mar the truth at hand. I found it interesting how Poletta brought storytelling into this piece; it is as if literature already understands just how careful that balance is, the textual medium allows a careful walk that if done correctly, hides the architecture of its characters. It seems a literary-like dialogue is necessary to subvert any predominant narrative, and to be heard as both reasonable, and as a victim.
(PS. I like the discussions on the "Selena" pieces we read, I wanted to respond to those works but found my knowledge of Selena was so failingly conflated with images of JLO that I had to take a step back and just keep absorbing before producing anything about it!)
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