When a girl faces discrimination, rape, assault, or abuse sometimes we don’t know how to handle it. We shut down and become a totally different person to hide from the fact that these things have really happened to us. We don’t let people in and we fade away from situations where we think we may be hurt again. Or maybe we're quiet, we don’t tell. We keep to ourselves and just let people guess whats wrong. In the book “The Bean Trees” written by Barbara Kingsolver we see a young girl dealing with the fact that she has been sexualy abused. We also see it in modern day as shown in the two articles “Scotland yard investigates further sexual assault claims in UK” and “National center for PTSD” These articles show how women react after being sexually …show more content…
The fact had already burdened her short life with a kind of misery I could not imagine. I thought knew about every ugly thing that one person does to another, but I had never even thought about such things being done to a baby girl.” (Kingsolver 13) “There was a bruise twice the size of my thumb on it’s inner arm.” (Kingsolver 30) “Yes. I think she was abused, and that she was. ‘I didn’t know how to put this. ‘That she was molested in a sexual way.” (Kingsolver 164)
Sexual assault has become very common in women but not as common in babies, it is a touchy subject to deal with and hard to get over after it has happened to you depending on your reaction.
Women have many different ways of reacting after being sexually assaulted, there is no specific pattern as to what they will do. In the article, “National center for PTSD, ” they explain some of the reactions that happen shortly after the assault and some that occur later on. “Some women may have severe, highly disruptive symptoms that make it very difficult to function in the first month following the
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In the current investigation on sexual assault at Scotland Yard there are three more possible allegations being held against Harvey Weinstein. This article shows how common sexual assault actually is. “Anthony told the Sunday Times that Weinstein had become a friend after they met in 1982, but in the late 1980s he had raped her at her home in London.” “Smith alleged in the mail on Sunday that in 1992 she was raped by Weinstein in the basement flat below Miramax’s offices in Fulham, southwest London.” “The UK claims follow several more allegations of rape made my actors in the US against Weinstein.”
Sexual assault is very common and very difficult to overcome for most, in another article the girls that claimed to be raped talked about their process of overcoming the claimed assault they all have different experiences and different ways of coping with it again showing how different the reactions can
Rape myths are inaccurate believes that are widely held. They are able to provide people with a false sense of protection by undermining the severity of the action or even oppose that fact that its happened. “Rape myths underlie and fuel violence against women and inform the negative societal reactions to those who have been sexually assaulted.” (Du Mont & Parnis 102) When talking about the case of R v. Ewanchuk we can notice the use of rape myths in order to justify the act of sexual assault towards the young women. Mr. Justice McClung’s was the judge in this cases and had many myths of why this young women was assaulted.
Rape is something that many warn us about and tell us to be careful about. What many do not realize is that it can happen in a matter of seconds and there is nothing that can be done to stop it. Often it happens, but people find it difficult to report it because of the person who committed the crime, this was the case in the book Missoula by Jon Krakauer. The book begins with a woman, Allison Huguet, who was raped by a member of the football team in the University of Montana, Beau Donaldson. This case was not the first incident to happen in this city and the author does a great job in letting his readers be aware and know it has happened before.
In the 20th century novel, “The Bean Trees” by Barbara Kingsolver, the two protagonists are Taylor Greer and Lou Ann Ruiz. These two have very opposing character traits. In chapter four, to introduce each character, Kingsolver changes the narrators voice from Taylor’s first person narrative, to an unknown third-person narrative. This shows Taylor’s upbeat personality versus Lou Ann’s more fearful and pessimistic views.
One in five women and one in sixteen men are sexually assaulted while in college. 63% of sexual assaults are not reported to police and only about 2 to 10% of reports are found to be false. In Jon Krakauer’s book: Missoula, Rape and the Justice System in a College Town. Krakauer focuses on the many rapes that occur on the college campus in Missoula. Most of the rapes that happen on college campuses are done by men, but to say all men are rapists is unjust and sexist.
“Three in ten American teen girls will be pregnant before the age of twenty which averages to around 750,000 teen pregnancies every year.” Out of those teen mothers only around half of those women graduate high school ("11 Facts About Teen Pregnancy") McKenzie. Throughout The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver, Taylor or Missy, is faced with becoming a statistic, even after she fought so hard not to be, and the reader sees the highs and lows of being a single mother. Teen pregnancy rates have changed since the 1980’s-when the book was based-to current day, but teen girls are still faced with common problems such as starting a new life, unmarried life, young and inexperienced mothers, contraception, no prenatal care, high school dropouts, and the outcome of their children. “In the United States, the pregnancy rate of teens between the ages of fifteen and nineteen was twenty-six births for every one thousand girls” ("Teenage Pregnancy: Medical Risks and Realities") McKenzie.
Every sixty-eight seconds, an American is sexually assaulted, and it is stated that only twenty-five out of every one thousand perpetrators will see the consequences of their actions (RAINN). Now, imagine if the world was a place where victims felt as if they could speak up and receive proper assistance without question and judgment. Imagine if every sexual assault case concluded with justice for the victim. Laurie Halse Anderson tells her own story of sexual violence and the struggles of the aftermath through the eyes of high school freshman, Melinda Sordino, in her work Speak. Throughout the novel, Melinda internally fights with herself on who to protect, herself and other females around her, or her attacker’s reputation.
When sexual abuse occurs children often act or behave in ways that are counterintuitive to what society believes they should behave. In 1983, Dr. Roland Summit developed the Child Sexual Abuse Accommodation Syndrome model to help others understand the many ways in which children react to sexual abuse. The model is broken down into 5 stages, the first two Secrecy and Helplessness are the preconditions to the occurrence of sexual abuse and the remaining three Entrapment and Accommodation, Delayed, Conflicted, and Unconvincing Disclosure, and the finally Retraction, are sequential contingencies which take on increasing variability and complexity (Summit, 1983). Children are more than often sexually abused by someone they know and trust.
Molestation occurs around the world, and can happen to anyone at anytime. In 2010, the University of Montreal surveyed 800 Quebec women and men. “The investigation found that 22 percent of women and 10 percent of men reported beings survivors of abuse, which ranged from molestation to rape, which is comparable to the findings of previous studies on the topic.” A large amount of people reported experiencing some form of sexual abuse, which is also illustrated in Jeannette’s story “He pressed me to him and started dancing again, but I knew this was not going in a direction I wanted, and I resisted him... He squeezed my bottom, pushed me onto the bed, and began kissing me…
In the novel The Bean Trees by Barbara KIngsolver the symbol/motif of motherhood and why it's unrealistic to expect perfection from mothers is commonly explored with Taylor, Lou Ann and Esperanza, none of who fit the stereotypical vision of a mother. Taylor, who avoided pregnancy her entire life becomes the mother of an indian girl, Lou Ann's husbands abandons her before their child is even born, and Esperanza is forced to leave her child to save the lives of others. Each of them love their children greatly and are willing to put their children before themselves and their outside relationships; Taylor holds back her relationship with Estevan because she sees herself in Esperanza as a mother. Esperanza does not blame Taylor when turtle
“The Bean Trees,” by Barbara Kingsolver, is a novel surrounding the life of Taylor Greer as she travels west while discovering the hardships of motherhood due to raising a three-year-old American Indian child named Turtle. Although Taylor grew up in Kentucky, she travels west to Tucson, Arizona, in which she moves in with Lou Ann and finally embarks on the journey that is her life. It is evident that feminism and womanhood is a central theme throughout this novel, as both Lou Ann and Taylor have to raise children on their own. Another crucial theme seen throughout this novel is transformation which is seen in most, if not, all, of the characters. The relationship between Taylor and Turtle exemplifies the glorious bond between a mother and her daughter, showing how Taylor transformed from once being appalled at the idea of raising Turtle
Physical as well as psychological scars are apparent on many survivors. Sexual assault victims of all kinds experience various psychological symptoms but a few of the most common ones are:Depression, Flashback of what took place, Sleeping and Eating disorders, Guilt, Distrust, and multiple personality disorders. Experiencing these things - especially two or more - can be a hard thing to deal with. It would be nearly impossible to hide these things from somebody who knew you even in the slightest. Melinda was able to do this, right under the noses of her parents for months.
Growing up in today’s world presents a numerous amount of different challenges, hardships, and an abundance of controversy among other daily tribulations. Not only do people encounter certain hardships some may face life scarring events. For some being a victim of rape is categorized into one of these situations and it may become a recurring burden for the individual. He or she may have not received justice for the action that took place or they may have been humiliated. A curious individual or one who has been affected by this first hand may ask how do we as a world overcome such an act.
Maltreatment has a severe impact on a child’s current and future functioning and development regarding their emotional, social, cognitive, behavioral, and physical wellbeing.(Frederico 345). Different types of abuse, such as physical, emotional, and sexual have different consequences, but the consequences of all maltreatment, are likely to happen in three stages. Firstly, a child may have an initial reaction such as post-traumatic symptoms, painful emotions, and cognitive distortions. Secondly, children develop coping strategies that are aimed to help increase their safety or reduce their pain. Thirdly, a child 's sense of self-worth is damaged and develop the feeling of shame and hopelessness..
“Every eight minutes, a child is sexually assaulted in the U.S., and 93 percent know the perpetrator. Many perpetrators of sexual abuse are in a position of trust or responsible for the child’s care, such as a family member, teacher, clergy member, or coach.” (United States Department of Health and Human Services) A child who has been sexually assaulted and did grow up to be an adult usually is brought up with emotions, such as guilt, shame, and/or even blame themselves for what had happened. The individual will feel guilty that they were not able to stop it when it was happening and shame if they felt any psychical pleasure out of it. As they get older, the victim will have trouble with intimacy in relationships--having trust issues because
I understand how a parent might hit a child, it's because you can look into their eyes and see a reflection of yourself that you wish you hadn't” (“Goodreads”). When a child is abused, it leaves a serious impact on their life, makes them feel worthless, unwanted, stupid, and many different feelings. When someone… at least one person loves them, would care for them, would make them feel wanted and they will remember it for the rest of their lives, and it will even affect them later in their life. Child Abuse is a serious problem in the U.S. and there are many different way to prevent this problem, so let's take a stand and solve this dilemma for good!