Dear Andrea,
Third
Wave Foundation, an organization that I
co-founded, has a leadership training program
called "See It? Tell It. Change It!" - meaning
we see these things, but often don't realize
it until we have a forum to "tell it." Once
we "tell it" we can begin to "change it."
One
of the exercises we do is to have everyone
stand in a circle. We develop a list of
questions like "have you ever been touched
in a way that you didn't want to be? Have
you ever been told not to cry? Have you
ever made yourself throw up to lose weight?
Have you ever felt like you weren't smart
enough? We ask that people who want to answer
yes to any question to stand in the circle
- and look around at who else is in the
circle with you. This is meant to show what
issues are "women's issues," plus how men
need feminism, too - i.e. by asking the
crying question and others like it.
This
is also meant to show that we aren't alone
nor should we ever be made to feel that
we are alone. Another exercise is to do
role plays around sex/saying no - and violence.
I don't know if Third Wave's example is
entirely applicable, but if this interests
you perhaps I could get you a copy of Third
Wave's curriculum. Good luck.
Amy
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