In Laurie Halse Anderson's novel Speak, the overall societal failure to adequately address sexual assault is brought to the forefront, especially its impact on teenage girls and victims in general. Speak, the novel written by Laurie Halse highlights the ongoing societal failure to address sexual assault, especially its impact on teenage girls and victims in general, however society has slowly begun to address this issue much more even though there still needs to be harsher punishments enforced. Anderson's protagonist, Melinda, grapples with the aftermath of her assault and the societal pressure to remain silent. She reflects, "My lips are glued together." I see something, something I want to change, but I don't know how. "(Anderson 23) This sentiment underscores the author's support for creating consequences for assaulters. Anderson stresses the importance of making victims feel empowered to speak up, challenging the societal way to judge and scrutinize those who do come forward. …show more content…
Anderson portrays this societal laziness through Melinda's interactions with peers and authority figures who downplay or dismiss her experiences. As Melinda reflects, "The whole school is talking about me behind my back." I want to yell at them. What's wrong with you people? "(Anderson 56) This frustration highlights the disconnect between societal awareness and meaningful action. Aligning with Anderson's perspective, I believe that meaningful change requires more than rhetoric, it demands concrete steps towards accountability. As Melinda struggles to find her voice, she reflects, "I open my mouth to say something and burst into tears instead. "(Anderson, 78) This moment summarizes the emotional confusion and internalized stigma faced by survivors of sexual assault. It is required that society moves beyond cliches and implements tangible consequences for
Rape is a hidden epidemic that affects many lives world wide. It is a problem that is so terrifying and uncomfortable that people do not talk about it. John Krakauer, author of Missoula, focuses on this issue of rape in the college town of Missoula, Montana. His focus is specifically on the case of Allison Huguet and Beau Donaldson. As the progression of Allison 's case continues we learn of more and more rape cases that happened to women on this same campus. A majority of women do not report these cases, we later learn as Krakauer continues through Allison 's case, because reporting and pursuing the case would be giving their life away. [4] Of course Allison decides to go through the trails of Beau Donaldson, however it is obvious that it is extremely difficult to convict someone with little evidence. As hard of a read as Missoula
In the breathtaking book, Speak, by Laurie Hales Anderson, she gives insight into the ups and downs of high school in the eyes of her main character, Melinda. More specifically, Anderson focuses on one down fall, which happens primarily through Melinda “[Going] to [an] end-of the summer party, with beer, seniors, and music” and getting raped (Anderson, 133). While rape victims should tell their story, Anderson rejects the significance of having Melinda talk of her case as a way of showing the consequence of holding your tongue. Efficiently, as a result of her not speaking of her assault at the party, it causes her to go through an important change from the beginning of the novel, to the ending of the novel. According
Laurie Halse Andersons, Speak, published in 1999 educates the reality of which we must speak out to be heard. Presumptively the novel is set in the late 90's at Merryweather high school in Syracuse New York. Protagonist, Melinda Sordino, narrates her story as a sexual assault victim. We journey through her freshman year and watch her suffer to find her lost voice and overcome her negative convictions . While her persona is revealed, we see that the rape forces change on Melinda through violence. Several months of self mutilation and bitter silence, she finally speaks up for herself and confronts her antagonist. Melinda's introspection through her art allows growth and she becomes a survivor. Her recovery nonetheless was tough and protracted.
According to the authors of “Enhancing Care and Advocacy for Sexual Assault Survivors on Canadian Campuses”, “Sexual assault has immediate and long-term health consequences for victims including suicide, HIV infection, depression, and social isolation,” (Quinlan, Clarke, and Miller). Another common side effect these victims face is post-traumatic stress disorder. Someone experiencing PTSD may have random outburst of anger, have trouble concentrating on day to day tasks, or may even have flashbacks of their attack. These consequences make it hard for victims to get back into the normal routine of everyday life (“Effects of Sexual Assault”). In a case at Amherst College a young women named Angie Epifano faced many of these consequences after she was raped by an acquaintance in one of the college’s dormitories. While immediately choosing to ignore what had happened to her Epifano soon became an emotional wreck. Before the attack Epifano had believed herself to be an extremely strong and independent individual. In an article done on Epifano’s story she stated “Everything I had believed myself to be was gone in 30 minutes,” (Epifano). Sexual assault takes away a piece of someone. With their hopes and dreams clouded by the tragedy they have endured, victims face a lifetime of
One in 10 young Americans has committed an act of sexual violence (Freleng). Rape is a serious issue that negatively affects the victim and their family. Rape is when someone sexually touches another person without their consent. This most commonly happens to women but men
Joe and Bazil 's status as the immediate family members to a sexual assault survivor allows readers to see how sexual assault can impact an entire family unit; a frequent situation that many people find themselves in, but don 't know how to sensibly handle emotionally. Through Joe 's perspective as a child in this novel, Erdrich guides her audience into understanding how complex of a societal issue sexual assault is by displaying how far reaching its effects are on the victim, family, and community of a
In the past century, America has made great leaps in terms of equality. With the efforts made by the civil rights and suffrage movements, all people gained the right to vote. We are even moving forward with marriage equality, and currently fifteen states recognize same-sex marriage. But regardless of all of our progressive institutional movements forward, we continue to socially oppress women. Men’s violence against women has grown to be an internationally recognized epidemic, and will continue to grow unless measures be made to stop it. Domestic violence continues to be prevalent in the lives of many families, and is the primary cause of homelessness in half of cases for women in children. Many women have been forced to alter their behaviors out of fear of being sexually or physically assaulted. One out of every three women is sexually or physically abused in their lifetimes. The first thing that comes to mind is, there are a lot of people abusing women out there. Many people with opposing ideas may claim that men can be victims of violence perpetrated by women, but in instances not used for self-defense, it is rarely part of a systematic pattern of power and control through force or threat of force. In fact, 99% of rape is perpetrated by men, but when confronting men about the issue of violence against women, it is often combated with denial. Jackson Katz writes in his book, The Macho Paradox, “We take comfort in the idea of the aforementioned child-rapist murderer as a horrible aberration. A monster. We’re nothing like him.”(Katz 30). The sad truth is that most women who are raped are raped by men they know, or even men they love. Many men have a hard time believing that saying that most violence is perpetuated by men does not...
Everyone has faced rough patches with their emotions. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson contains many relatable themes and does not shy away from discussing the difficult subjects. This story details the side effects of sexual assault on high school freshman Melinda Sordino. This book can touch many young readers, no matter their situation. Despite its heavy themes, it does a fantastic job of addressing sexual assault and rape.
The statistics clearly show a group of people who’re affected by the heinous acts of sexual assault. Everyone knows that sexual assault isn’t a topic that’s on the top of the list to talk about; people usually even try to go as far as to hide it or to cover it up. Though, it’s clear for certain; covering something up doesn’t make it alright – It won’t make it go away and the problem is still there. For that exact fact, it is the very reason that sexual assault is something that needs to be brought to the
Sexual assault is defined as a type of behaviour that occurs without explicit consent from the recipient and under sexual assault come various categories such as sexual activities as forces sexual intercourse, incest, fondling, attempted rape and more (Justice.gov. 2017). People often become victims of sexual assault by someone they know and trust (Mason & Lodrick, 2013) which is conflicting to the public’s perception and beliefs that offenders are strangers. Women are the main victims for sexual assault and are 5 times more likely to have been a victim of sexual assault from a male (Wright, 2017, p. 93). Men are victims of sexual assault however only 0.7% of men, compared to 3.2% of women, experience some form of sexual assault which highlights how vulnerable women are compared to men. Sexual assault is publicised and exposed in the media, however is often
With the use of a fictitious literary outlet, Atwood is able to connect with the reader and make them reconsider the unjust treatment of rape victims that still occurs today.
This memoir reveals how, just 20 years prior to publishing, she was put in a frightening, life-threatening situation. Sebold speaks of struggling with PTSD after her trial. Fortunately for her, just a few short months after her brutal rape, she claimed to see her rapist walking down the street and he was convicted and sent away. The worst part was over for Sebold, she thought. Alice’s story was thought to be brought to justice, until the truth was found.
Sexual assault is an offense that plagues many U.S. citizens. Although some studies show that rape is on the decline, other studies report that the phenomena actually occuring is that less rape victims are reporting the crime. In fact, approximately 68% of sexual assaults go unreported to the police according to the U.S. Department of Justice in a National Crime Victimization Survey from 2008-2012. It is common knowledge that rape victims are usually severely traumatized after the event, which leaves them susceptible to various emotions such as shame, anxiety, numbness, fear, denial, and guilt. Because of this, many rape victims decide to repress their experience and let it go unheard. However, not only does this prevent them from healing emotionally,
Victims often find that they have to deal with a lot of harassment even after being shamed. For example, some men will come onto girls who have a reputation of being ‘sluts’ because they think the girls are going to be ‘easy’ and ‘into it”; thus, slut shaming can ruin how people, especially men, perceive and treat a woman. Slut shaming can also increase rape culture by discrediting a women’s allegation of rape due to her sexual history. In so many cases where rape is reported, officers and lawyers attack the victims by questioning how they were dressed prior to being rape, how they acted, were they being ‘promiscuous’, or were they flirting with their rapist; if any of the above questions were answered “yes” they would claim the victim was “asking for it”. In the Steubenville rape case, a 16 year old girl was recorded being raped by two football players at a party. The footage was later sent to other classmates and quickly spread throughout the whole school; as a result of the “stigma surrounding sexual assault, she [the victim] was labeled as a slut and viciously tormented by her classmates,” (Nelson, 3). In cases like these, girls are slut-shamed for being victims of sexual
Sexual violence is a national issue that permeates every aspect society. Sexual assault and rape is an ongoing problem, evident by the troubling statistic that roughly 20 million out of 112 million women (18.0%) in the United States have been raped during their lifetime (Kilpatrick, Resnick, Ruggiero, Conoscenti, McCauley, 2007). Despite the continuous push for gender equality, the current culture of society perpetuates victim-blaming tendencies towards innate cognitive processes and media influences.