Dirty Talk Event Analysis

Event Paper: Dirty Talk

Introduction

For this event paper, I chose to go see “Dirty Talk” a docudrama performed on the USC campus shed light into the rape culture in higher education institutions by sharing the life stories of individuals. The event provided many different themes related to political differences in higher education, such as gender construction, power, privilege and oppression. In this paper I plan to first discuss my experience of listening to the powerful stories of different individual from across the country, followed by relating my experience to topics that I have listed above and how the event assist me in becoming a better college advisor in the near future.

Constructing Gender

Being a male, I notice the male gender constructing

The “Dirty Talk” event presented an experience of woman from New York who was being verbally harassed on a subway cart, which she stands up to the individual harassing her and curses every male on the cart for not doing anything. This was a powerful story for me as I could recall how I have allowed the male dominating culture in our society to be reinforced by women being verbally objectified. Much of the event focused on the gender construction that women had experience throughout their lives. Bell Hooks (2013) Feminism “A Movement to End Sexist Oppression” wrote, “ feminism is a struggle to end sexist oppression…to eradicate the ideology of domination that permeates western culture on various levels as well as to reorganizing society equal self-development among people” (pg. 341). Though I have made strives in trying to overcome gender role norms in my life, I still see my male privilege blinding me to oppressive situations I encounter every

Kali’s story was another powerful story to have heard as it set the tone for the entire event. She talked about how she was lonely as a child and just wanted to be accepted by others and in entering college she socialized to satisfy this need. Many of the students that I have advised are similar to Kali having problems feeling accepted and alienated from the rest of the student population. During Kali’s time in college, she went to a party got drunk, passed out and woke up having someone raping her. The male student defended himself by stating that she made out of with him while she was drunk, so the drunken state of mind justified the raping action. Her friends reinforce this statement, which normalized the immoral experience that Ali experience. After this Kali became confused and went down a downward swirl, feeling numb to feelings. Kali’s experience relates to Caroline Heldman (2013), “Out-Of-Body Image” in which she discusses self-objectification, “the viewing one’s body as a sex object to be consumed by the male gazed”, especially after her experience of being raped (pg. 347). I found it interesting to compare my college experience with Kali’s as my experience made me check my male privilege while she was further oppressed into thinking that she is powerless when socializing at