Giving Thanks To Those Fighting Violence Against Women

Thanksgiving in the U.S. in 2010 coincides with the November 25 date that marks the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

So we want to mark this day with words for women experiencing violence, and for a big thank you to the activists and advocates who stand up against violence against women -- and these come from the words of audience members.

Last month, in Kingston, New York, Words of Choice was sponsored by Planned Parenthood Mid-Hudson Valley and the YWCA. This was the stateside Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and we had an opportunity to talk about the topic after the performance. Tiffany Card from PPMHV explained with exceptional clarity what unites reproductive freedom and the fight to end gender violence -- choices: the ability to make reproductive decisions, the ability to live safely and without fear.

Our Words of Choice team described the "story behind the story" of Jana Mackey, a young woman who is portrayed in Words of Choice II as she describes her passion for women's freedom while serving as pro-choice activist in Kansas. We don't tell this part in the play, but Jana was murdered in 2008 in intimate violence -- she was only 25. In travels to Kansas, Words of Choice was able to meet and support Jana's mother and stepfather, Christie and Curt Brungardt. They have become leaders and advocates in ending violence against women, and now run Jana's Campaign to Stop Domestic Violence.

We asked audience members to write a message of empowerment for Jana's parents, or, alternatively, a message of empowerment for people in situations of danger. This dual day: Thanksgiving/International Day for Elimination of Violence Against Women is a perfect day to share these messages.

Here are the messages of empowerment:

For Christie and Curt:

Thank you, thank you, thank you! For staying strong and preserving a voice so many people are currently on their way to finding. We are thinking of and supporting you in New York. Others will find their strength through your efforts!

What you do is beautiful. Stay Strong. I know too many victims of violence, and as a survivor I want to say ... THANK YOU.

Domestic Violence Awareness is so important &; so absolutely necessary. Not all women have the confidence to believe that they deserve only the best. Without support & genuine sincerity, those women lacking the confidence to stand tall may never have a chance.

Thank you so much for spreading the fact that women have a right to exist & live & do so without fear! Gratefully -- Catherine, 21, Kingston, NY

For every person who does not listen, there are hundreds more who do. Please keep inspiring people. Congratulations.

Thank you for your bravery.

Your daughter lives on through you, and your work and her legacy help countless women you may never know. I would like to thank you on behalf of women everywhere. Your strength is breathtaking.

There will never be a time when what you are doing is not deeply important.

The work you do will always empower those women who need it. They can't always thank you. But we can. Thank you for reaching out and having a voice for all of these women who don't. They are thanking you too.

Keep shining the light on the darkness of domestic violence. It's the only way such a prevalent abuse in our culture can be countered. Your daughter did not die in vain.

Keep on! Keep Strong! We pass this particular way but once. Keep on! Keep strong!

Sorry for the loss of such a person.

I think it's beautiful that you were able to create hope and good deeds from pain. Thank you for your strength. I hope it catches on.

Thank you for continuing to make a difference & save the lives of women who deserve better & more. Your daughter is an inspiration & her life/loss was not in vain as her legacy lives.

There are so many people who care. Even if you don't feel their presence, we are here.

Thank you for inspiring us.

And for any person in a situation of danger, please hear these words to you:

You are not alone.

Please believe me that the pain will soften.

IF YOU'RE IN DANGER, PLEASE ASK FOR HELP!

Get out.

CONTINUE TO: BE-BRAVE. BE-STRONG. BE-BEAUTIFUL. BE-LIEVE. BE-LONG. BE-ALIVE.

You deserve to be happy and fulfilled. Trust yourself.

Finally, Amy Goodman on Democracy Now heralded International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women with a clip from Michelle Bachelet, former president of Chile, now Executive Director of UN Women.

Thank you, one and all. Do you have something to add? Send it to us at wordsofchoice@mindspring.com.

Posted by Cindy Cooper
Pictured above: Curt Brungardt, actress Crista Marie Jackson, Christie Brungardt, 2008, Kansas

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Animated Stories: Woops

The animated "text to movie" xtranormal is all the rage these days. Billed as a do-it-yourself animated movie system, the program has unleashed a huge range of viewing products on the Internet with talking avatars and homegrown scripts. Some are not worth the bandwidth they take up; others are -- well, fabulous.

In the fabulous category is "Woops the Baby," (PG13). It just might be one of the best sex-ed shorts online. Its quirky story tracks a woman and man who negotiate doing it "raw on the table" by trading plans for a potential product of the union --Woops the Baby.




This 4 minute video is written and directed by Sam Bathrick ("while on prescribed pain killers"), according to notes on the YouTube site. "Woops" is described as the "1st episode in the new animated web series WO v. MAN." Bring it on!

PC World described xtranormal like this:

Text-to-Movie (TTM) gives you a choice of a dozen "showpaks," which consist of a setting and your choice of one or two "actors" (in this case animated avatars).

All you do is write a script, then drag various "action icons" into the script for things like camera angles, facial expressions, gestures, and animations. There's definitely a bit of a learning curve, but I found that after fiddling for 10-15 minutes, I had learned the entire toolset.

TTM is really, really fun, and the results can be pretty spectacular (as long as you don't mind monotone, computerized voices reading your dialogue). Definitely worth a look.

"Woops the Baby" is a great example (and a quick tour through the xtranormal site can turn up a lot of bad examples, along with the cool music video here and there.) Seems like the xtranormal avatars are ripe for more good contraception, abortion, sexuality and reproductive healthcare stories. This video gives an intro to using xtranormal. Any takers? Send me the url of your reproductive justice xtranormal clip: wordsofchoice@mindspring.com

Posted by Cindy Cooper
Embedded above: "Woops the Baby" by Sam Bathrick.

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Theatrical Process Connects Audience Members -- Megan J. Smith, guest blogger

Guest blogger Megan J. Smith is the author of a new play, Waiting Room, and she writes here about her experiences in writing the play and watching it "on its feet."

Waiting Room tells the stories of five women, each faced with an unwanted pregnancy but unable to afford an abortion.

I wrote Waiting Room for a number of reasons. I wanted to raise money to help women in need. I wanted to raise awareness about barriers to reproductive justice. But most importantly, I wanted to give voice to women unable to afford abortions. By creating characters based on women I had talked to, I hoped that my clients, in a way, would be able to tell their own stories.

The positive responses to the play have surpassed my wildest imaginations. I produced the first production at Bryn Mawr College last spring to benefit an abortion fund in Philadelphia. The second production, produced by Planned Parenthood of Southern New Jersey and South Jersey NOW, benefitted an abortion fund in Southern New Jersey. I was floored that people who had seen the original production wanted to reproduce the play and I was thrilled that it has been utilized successfully as a fundraising and teaching tool to benefit two organizations.

Seeing your work onstage is always rewarding. Both productions of Waiting Room were imagined and staged very differently. I purposely include few directions in my writing to give directors free reign of the staging.

I directed the first production at Bryn Mawr College. However, the director of the second production, Christopher Melohn, found beautiful interpretations of my writing that layered my own perception of the play. I believe that it is the nature of theatrical work to be reinterpreted and re-imagined collaboratively through each performance. The fact that no two performances, productions, or characters will ever be the same is what makes theater so exciting.

Reinterpreting a work also means that the words are constantly evaluated and discussed. The director and actors work with the text and relay their interpretations to the audience. The audience then becomes part of a new, different, conversation based on this interpretation. Imaginatively engaging with the text allows honest communication and relation of ideas from director to actors to audience.

The most rewarding part of that dialogue is, of course, audience reaction. One of the most heartfelt responses I received came from an audience member of the second production.

After the performance, she came up to me. She said: “I knew nothing about abortion before I came to see this. I just came because my friend was in it. But this completely changed my mind.”

If the play had brought dialogue about reproductive justice to one unfamiliar person, it would have been worth it.

The theatrical process connects audience members emotionally to characters. The audience relates to the characters, which, in turn, allows them to think about their circumstances as similar to their own. In this way, I hope that the play will continue to be re-imagined and to raise awareness.

For more information about Waiting Room, contact Megan at waiting.room.play@gmail.com

By Megan J. Smith

Pictured above, actress Fabiola Decius in a scene from Waiting Room at Bryn Mawr College.

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