Time's Up at Chaffey College
@mmgnique
On February 14, 2018, a Time's Up panel was held at Chaffey College where three women discussed statistics on sexual harrassment and assault as well as shared some of their personal stories as to how they have been effected by the Time's Up movement and how to move forward as the movement continues to grow.
The panel was moderated by Angela Cardinale and the three women who shared statistics and their stories were Prof. Michelle Dowd, Journalism, Prof. Julie Song, Sociology and Denise Davis, Director of the Women's Resource Center at the University of California, Riverside.
Michelle Dowd was introduced by the mediator to begin the panel discussion and she did so by immediately introducing the #metoo movement and how it effects women at Chaffey College. Dowd shared photographs she had taken that morning in the bathroom which showed women encouraging one another through notes written on a bathroom stall.
Dowd went on to share that she has been listening to women's sexual assault/harassment stories for years, but the #metoo movement is just taking off because of women who have power. Dowd used Uma Thurman's story
Dowd went on to share her opinion on how pornography inspires dominance in men and inspires women to believe that men should dominate them through the depiction of certain positions or points of view based off the camera angle that the porno is being filmed at.
Dowd closed her discussion with some advice on how to start enacting change, she stated, "As women, we need to start telling our stories to each other, but also to the men in our lives."
The discussion moved to Julie Song who began giving statistics on power and relating power to harassment. Song brought up a study by Datcher Keltner called, "The Power Paradox." The study found men to be more likely to abuse their power than women. Song's portion of the discussion was interactive and the audience commented on how they related to the topic of power during Song's presentation. One girl shared her experience by saying, "There is power over siblings in my family, the older siblings have power over the younger siblings."
Song ended her discussion by saying, "We need more women in positions of power, because the more visible women are in positions of power, the less we sexualize them."
In the final portion of the panel discussion, Denise Davis of UCR heavily discussed LGBTQ sexual harassment/assault statistics. Davis revealed how statistics try to cover up assault in the LGBTQ community, yet people in the LGBTQ community are twice as likely to be assaulted and/or harassed as people who are not a part of the community.
Davis closed her discussion by introducing the #wesaidenough movement that is currently taking place in California's state capitol where women are standing up for equality and standing against harassment in the capitol.
The panel ended with an audience Q&A where the panelists gave their advice regarding sexual assault, harassment and the Time's Up movement.
Photos by Kris Tashjian