i tend to agree that Take Back the Night can only carry out its symbolic
function if it continues to be a women-only march. i don't know how it is
in other communities, but where i live, we have a "men's space" inside,
where men can talk about how these issues affect their lives. that might be
a perfect forum for jake to talk about some of his viewpoints and
experiences. i think it could be very valuable to share these things with
other men so they realize that sexual violence is everywhere and it's not
gender-specific. men's role in the anti-rape movement is usually strongly
underestimated. obviously, if more men felt like jake do, there wouldn't be
any more rape.
it took me a long time to come to the conclusion that the march works best
if the women march without men. it's a debate that comes up every year here
where i go to school when we try to organize TBTN. it inevitably ends up
being a women-only march. it's complicated because i can see how some might
call it reverse discrimination; however, i still hold that the purpose of
the march would be defeated were there to be men walking in our ranks.
it guess it's important to understand that there are two basic functions of
the march itself: to raise awareness and to perform a symbolic function.
it's the feeling of a whole group of women walking on the streets at night
with no Fear of danger or sexual predators. it can only happen one night in
a year (depending on how often TBTN is organized in each community) and
that's why it's so important. TBTN is not just for survivors of sexual
violence; TBTN is for every woman who has ever felt scared to go out alone.
actually, TBTN is for everyone ... in my community we all start out
together, we have some speakers, then the women leave to march and the men
see us off. while we're gone, there's a discussion group for the men (in
which women don't participate) and then they welcome us back and we all talk
together.
i know it must feel exclusive, especially since you (jake) have experienced
a lot of the same things that the women are protesting. in that case, why
not organize something yourself (like TBTN) that would be
non-gender-specific? in that context, i think the goals would be similar,
although still slightly different, and you just might get quite a lot of
support.
just my two cents ...
paz,
tasha
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