Cultural change, one week at a time

Last Wednesday, I went to Irvine Auditorium to watch The Vagina Monologues, a play performed for Women's Week about women and the vaginal experience. The performance had a motto of "Until the Violence Stops," and proceeds went to various feminist organizations. Scanning the room, I was pleased to see that, although the audience included many women, men were nonetheless well-represented. How wonderful, I thought, to see so many pro-feminist, vagina-loving men here tonight.

Suddenly, I felt tense. I had spotted someone in the audience -- I'll call him Robert. He does not know me, but I would recognize him anywhere. I can remember every instance that I have seen him on campus.

Last year, I was at a rehearsal for an on-campus theater show when Robert stopped by to visit a friend in the cast. I was alone in a side room. He stumbled in drunkenly. Suddenly, he reached in his pants, pulled out his penis, shoved me against a wall, and began rubbing himself against me. Momentarily stunned, I began to yell and fight, eventually pushing him so forcefully that he fell backward and whacked his head on a table.

Two of my male friends heard the commotion and arrived in time to see Robert exposing himself and struggling with me. They were appalled. After removing him from the room, they returned, looking awkward. "Um, are you OK?" they asked. I was a bit shaken, but overall fine. "I'm OK," I said. "I don't want him around me." I never reported the incident.

When I saw Robert at The Vagina Monologues, laughing with his friends, I felt angry and disappointed. Suddenly, the male representation in the audience felt meaningless. For all I knew, the other men there were just like Robert, receiving social approval for their attendance when their past actions revealed their hypocrisy. I felt frustrated at what seemed to be lazy, self-congratulatory activism.

I realize, of course, that this is probably unfair. I know it's unjust to presume the other men in attendance were like Robert. Perhaps, if I were a better person, I would have been pleased to see him there, since he obviously needs to hear the message of The Vagina Monologues. Maybe Robert has even reformed his ways. Furthermore, I admit that overall, I found the performance interesting and enjoyable, despite my minor misgivings over the show's woman-equals-vagina concept.

Nonetheless, the experience highlighted for me the limitations of on-campus "awareness weeks." On some level, if people like Robert promote Women's Week, the whole exercise feels meaningless. The ease of participation enables people to take on the trappings of being pro-feminist or pro-Muslim or anti-cancer without making any serious commitment. I'm not saying that activism should be made needlessly difficult, and I understand it's not possible to be a leader in every worthy social cause. Nonetheless, I wonder: Does Women's Week make any difference?

What is more frustrating is that awareness weeks seemingly preach to the converted. Those receiving the message don't need it, and those who need it are probably unaffected by feminist plays and brochures. Having participated in multiple awareness weeks, I know I usually choose ones whose causes already interest me. Furthermore, I'm not prepared to endorse forced sensitivity training for those currently unaffected by awareness-week efforts.

I admit that awareness weeks could have value even if they don't cause social change. They are undoubtedly empowering for members of the relevant community. I appreciate the value of honoring individuals who have made a difference in the movement. Furthermore, having an awareness week is probably better than nothing. But can Women's Week help prevent incidents that are similar to (and even worse than) mine?

On second thought, maybe they can. What if, when my two male friends saw Robert struggling with me, they had not reacted with horror? What if they had instead decided that it was no big deal, or had even supported him? They responded as they did because they had been appropriately acculturated into the belief that aggression against women is unacceptable. They got the message.

I think awareness weeks are a part of this acculturation process. Perhaps Women's Week isn't meant to cause born-again experiences in people like Robert, any more than Martin Luther King Day can change the hearts of Ku Klux Klan members. Instead, such events subtly change our culture, exerting broad, mild social pressure. Not every member of the society needs to be reached to make a difference.

Thus, I can applaud activities like Women's Week and all the other events that dot our calendar. They are changing our culture. And that is nothing to sneeze at.

Jennifer Weiss is a senior Linguistics and Theatre Arts major from Los Angeles. War On Error appears on Wednesdays.

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