Sex/uality Artifacts

Today (11/19/15) I, Michenzi Hoffman, present my artifact on child abuse in media. I showed two movie clips, one clip was from the movie the Lovely Bones, and the second was from the movie The Butterfly Effect. The first video clip that I present was of Susie Salmon easily being coerced into a bunker set up by Mr. Harvey a fellow neighbor. That touches on a major point our guest speaker brought which was 2/3 of perpetrators of childhood abuse are trusted adults like “fellow friendly neighbors.” There are certain parts of this scene that also hit on main points the guest speaker pointed out. Some of them being that children are abused because they are “seductive.” Susie is fully clothed, states she doesn’t have a boyfriend, and is very timid (not sexual at all). Childhood abuse occurs because children are expected to do as they are told, trust adults, and they are vulnerable to coercion and trickery. Susie Salmon fell victim to all of those: Mr. Harvey asks her to stay to have a Coke Cola with him and she feels like she can’t say no. She ends up in the bunker in the first place because she is tricked into thinking it is going to be something fun and enjoyable for kids, and feels like she can trust Mr. Harvey. Lastly, her abuse occurs at the end of the scene and is inevitable because when she tries to escape Mr. Harvey has a huge power differential compared to her; he is bigger, stronger, smarter, and understands what he is doing, leading to the rape of Susie Salmon.

The second clip I showed was of a flashback in the Butterfly Effect where a drunken father (once again not a stranger, but a member of the family) is taking a little boy and girl (Kaylee) down in the basement to “act out Robin Hood.” I thought this was a nice way to depict the opposite of child abuse because instead of the children obeying the adult, being vulnerable, and possessing a little knowledge about the topic, they instead have a plan. They stand up to the drunken father, tell him no, and do not do as they are told (to take their clothes off and kiss). At the end of the clip Kaylee tells the father that he will never touch her again. This touches on the fact the guest speaker stated which is: child abuse is usually thought of as intercourse, but really it is more typically dealing with touching and fondling. The last part of the clip the boy is saying to the father all the mental detriment the little girl is going to go through because she doesn’t have loving father, how her only concept of trust is betrayed by her own father, and how she will be more likely to commit suicide.

With that being said I would now like to tie in the reading we had over child abuse and the long-term effects that are likely to occur to the one that had to withstand the abuse. “Childhood sexual abuse has been correlated with higher levels of depression, guilt, shame, self-blame, eating disorders, somatic concerns, anxiety, dissociative patterns, repression, denial, sexual problems, and relationship problems” (Hall, M. and Hall J., 2). Depression is the most common symptom to come about after a child has went through abuse. A lot of the time the survivors think that it is their fault, they blame themselves, they think they “liked it,” and take on personal responsibility for the abuse. According to the reading other symptoms may include “experiencing amnesia concerning parts of their childhood, negating the effects and impact of sexual abuse and feeling that they should forget about the abuse” (Hall M, and Hall J., 3). Sexual difficulties are common for survivors to experience and opening to up to new partners is extremely difficult for them. There are many symptoms that can occur after abuse, so the reading suggests using the negative thoughts and turning them positive to empower ones self, create boundaries, and promote power. I think that it as great technique to consider, and important for the survivor to begin the healing process. I did not have any questions to answer after my presentation. I hope I was able to get my point across about childhood sexual abuse, and how serious of a topic it is. Thank you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2L2dyDpd7LA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-APah17AQA

https://www.counseling.org/docs/disaster-and-trauma_sexual-abuse/long-term-effects-of-childhood-sexual-abuse.pdf?sfvrsn=2