WE BROUGHT ART TO A COMMUNITY THAT LACKED IT?

[rmd]

BROUGHT ART TO A COMMUNITY THAT LACKED IT

Oh, bitch, IT IS ON. I'm sorry, have you MET Somerville?

I am *not* going to stir up shit about this in the actual dslj post because Ron is right - it is a distraction from the main point, which appears to be "sexism, street harassment, and rape culture are alive and well", but oh man, did that line ever get my blood pressure up.

Comments

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

I had not previously noticed the "lacking in arts" line, either, also because I was too upset by the rest of the post. I have to admit, though, having now noticed it, it makes me wonder whether some of the other things in the post are similarly hyperbolic. It's just such ab absurd statement. :/

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

It's an absurd statement, but I don't think it's grounds for deciding that the harassment they experienced couldn't've been so bad as all that... I think doing so plays into the "people who claim to have been sexually harassed or assaulted have to be perfect or they're not credible" idea that weaves poisonously through our culture.

I believe the report of harassment. I also think that was a fucking asinine statement.

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

That's a fair point. Oddly (or not?) I wasn't actually thinking of the harassment as an "other thing" I was questioning, but rather the descriptions of complete lack of support from the City. I never thought the harassment didn't happen as stated because it seemed so very normal. :/

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

Iggh, I know. I was reading the account and going through a bingo of "had an experience like that, saw someone have an experience like that, had a friend describe an experience like that..."

I should probably tamp down my native cynicism towards city and town governments and not believe so readily that Somerville was so unresponsive. (But I can believe it.)

[achinhibitor.livejournal.com]

I don't know all the details, but the scuttlebutt is that Somerville has been pinched for revenue since the recession began, and it's not a particularly well-off town even in the best of times. Conversely, really fixing the problem would require having a cop there whenever anyone in the company was there, which is not at all cheap. And it's not clear exactly how the cops could manage it, if as the city said, it's a public park and every member of the public has the right to walk or sit anywhere in it. I suspect that there is some sort of procedure that lets some part of the park be dedicated to the production and the public excluded from it, but I've no idea what it is, it may require action by the City Council. How have other groups managed productions in the park?