Chapter Extras: A Library’s Response(ability) in #MeToo by Leah Shlachter
Artifact Stations
The six artifact stations included:
1. Written apologies from Junot Díaz, Sherman Alexie, Aziz Ansari, and Louis C.K.
Questions to consider:
a) Statements like “how many women have been raped, have been assaulted, have been harassed…” are indicative of how we use language in mainstream culture: using the passive voice, placing skepticism and blame on the victim, keeping focus on, perhaps, what the survivor could have done differently. Why don’t we ask, “how many men rape women, harass women, assault women, silence women, overpower women to get what they want?” Active voice keeps focus on the perpetrator...so, the question is: how do we shift language from focusing on what has been done to women to the men who are doing it?
b) How do survivors get justice in the public sphere/body politic/court of culture…? To what extent and what punishments are “enough?”
c) Who are the judge and jury in the public arena? And who should be? Who gets to officially “make the call” about who gets rehabilitated, or who gets to return to public life or their previous type of employment and when?
2. A comparative exhibit of Weinstein’s films, with his apology, contrasted with empty DVD cases/media for all the careers that never happened, were stilted, were silenced.
Questions to consider:
a) How do we measure what didn’t happen as a result of sexual violence and misconduct? That is to say, how do we quantify the lost opportunities for survivors?
3. Sexual Violence Continuum chart with Caitlin Flanagan’s video “Problem with the #MeToo Agenda” (https://www.theatlantic.com/video/index/553565/problem-with-me-too-agenda/)
Questions to consider:
a) There have been many public comments outraged over allegations as well. For example, in regards to “Grace’s” allegations against comedian Aziz Ansari, “you can’t ruin someone’s career for them being a ‘bad lover.’” Or, Matt Damon, who said that “groping someone’s butt was different than sexually molesting a child.” So, what sexual misconduct is “okay” and what isn’t--how do we measure the severity of traumatic effects on the survivor from misconduct to assault to rape? And who gets to determine what the severity is…?
4. Dan Harmon’s (Head writer/boss of sitcom “Community”) apology to Megan Ganz (comedy writer): min 17:00-28:30* (https://www.harmontown.com/2018/01/episode-dont-let-him-wipe-or-flush/)
Questions to consider:
a) Lacy M. Johnson, a writer and a survivor, does not agree with “restorative justice” saying, “I don’t even necessarily like the idea of restorative justice, because I don’t think we can restore things back to the way they were. Oftentimes, I find recovery writing or talk of recovery after trauma problematic because I can’t go back. I can’t re-become the person I was before.” So, is restorative justice possible and what does it look like for survivors and offenders in the #MeToo era?
5. Joe Biden’s apology video
Questions to consider:
a) What now? Now that #MeToo has given survivors some momentum to speak up (and let’s be clear, also some serious backlash, skepticism and reaffirming of the sanctity of patriarchy) as individuals and communities and a country, where should we go from here?
6. NPR story: “For the Men #MeToo Has Toppled, Redemption Will Take More Than an Apology”
Questions to consider:
a) How do survivors get justice in the public sphere/body politic/court of culture…? To what extent and what punishments are “enough?”
b) Who are the judge and jury in the public arena? And who should be? Who gets to officially “make the call” about who gets rehabilitated, or who gets to return to public life or their previous type of employment and when?