sexual assault

The Simplest, Most Effective Way to Make a Difference in Sexual Assault Awareness Month #SAAM

The Simplest, Most Effective Way to Make a Difference in Sexual Assault Awareness Month #SAAM

At 17, I was sexually abused by a voice coach who had become a mentor, a friend, my family. At 18 years old, a blood clot caused my body to go into septic shock. I was in a coma for six months, and after a total gastrectomy, I was unable to eat or drink a drop of water for six of the past ten years. After 27 surgeries, I was miraculously reconnected with the intestines I had left. To persevere through those tumultuous years took great inner and outer strength — strength I didn’t know I was capable of until I was tested.

Grey Area

Grey Area

This may be the most vanilla story of a bad sexual encounter ever, but I doubt the story is rare. In fact, I had a least one conversation with a female comedy acquaintance where she implied she had a similar experience with the same guy. This is how too many men in comedy view women. And as I hear the cries of men in the distance yelling “not all men!” “I would never!” I know. I agree. Not all men ignore the no’s of women. Of course not all men are rapists, sexual assailants or grey area lurkers, but all women have faced some form of misogyny small or large, and isn’t that the problem? 

Assault

Assault

"Besides," this voice takes a big deep breath after monologuing so long. This voice always loses its breath after it spews so much self-hate and bile and self-invalidation into my little ears, usually at night or at moments where I start to feel confident. This voice does not use its diaphragm properly and could benefit from dialect classes, ones I will inevitably register and pay for it to attend.