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A military victim advocate talks about “Lauren”

A SYTYCB entry

***Spoiler Alerts***

As a woman who has been in some kind of military environment for close to ten years (prep school, active duty, academy),  I have become quite the over-scrutinizer of any sort of military centered media. I am that annoying critic laughing at the Private First Class with red fingernails and the improbabilty of boot camp ending with a boy-meets-sexy-girl romance. (Obviously, I am also a huge nerd.) When I saw that WIGS, the on-line channel promoting dramatic series/short films centered around women, was dedicating three full episodes to military sexual assault, I had to take a look. Complex and real representations of women in uniform are in short supply, but when they do arrive, they assist with beginning many an important conversation.

Due to the nature of this particular production, I could quite possibly critique it from two levels: one as a feminist in uniform  and the other as a victim advocate. In case the term is unfamiliar to some,  a military victim advocate is a support person for any service member reporting sexual assault. The victim advocate role is pretty flexible and  can include outreach such as emotional support, setting up medical appointments, crisis intervention, and informing victims of their rights.

Eradicating military sexual assault is an evolution across all the uniformed services needing constant dedication and courageous support. Lauren, which follows Sergeant Lauren Weil (played by Troian Bellisario) as she reports a sexual assault up her chain of command to Major Stone (played by Jennifer Beals) would be a superb media resource for 3 ...

On dealing with a peculiar kind of street harassment

A SYTYCB entry

1. Hey, hey, big gal! Big gal!

2. 6’7″!!!!

3. Heeey, shorty? (insert loud mouthed laugh)

I recently moved back to New York from what felt like a blink-and-you-miss-it stint on the West Coast. Three years was just enough to forget how to insert a Metrocard correctly, avoid peak supermarket times, and just how much men in the city’s streets love to  yell at me  about my height.

It’s not like I was never street harassed on the West Coast specifically for my height—I was. But, through what  I’m sure are complex intersections of a myriad of factors  (increased shared public spaces, culture, and lotsa walking around,etc) my experiences around street harassment peak in New York.

Alas, the numbered  quotations above are not commentaries for a boxing fight or auctioneer calls ...

A SYTYCB entry

1. Hey, hey, big gal! Big gal!

2. 6’7″!!!!

3. Heeey, shorty? (insert loud mouthed laugh)

I recently moved back to New York from what felt like a blink-and-you-miss-it stint on the West Coast. Three years was just enough to forget ...