The Pforzheimer Honors College E-Journal
Volume II, Issue I
The Pforzheimer Honors College E-Journal is
an interdisciplinary publication that
accepts submissions from undergraduate
students in the Honors College on
Pace University’s New York City Campus.
Spring 2009 Editors
Alejandra Lopez
Stephanie Robayo
Table of Contents:
Every Spring edition of the Honors
E-Journal will showcase Senior Honors Theses
which demonstrate thorough research and
findings with the support of an Honors College
Thesis Research Grant. These papers are marked
as exceptional works from students who have
undertaken worthy projects in collaboration with
Pace University Faculty mentors.
Editors’ Note
p2
The Politics of ‘Giving Back’
and Its Effects on the Autonomy
of Women after Sex Trafficking
Amanda N. Ferrandino
p3
Acting and Activism : Preparing
for My Name is Rachel Corrie
Theresa Johnson
p 15
A New Media Plan for
VisitBritain’s Transatlanticism
Gabrielle Goetz
p 46
2
Editors’ Note
The Pforzheimer Honors College Honors Council presents the second volume of publications
for the 2009 spring semester Honors College E-Journal. The Editors of the E-Journal showcase
exemplary Senior Honors Theses from undergraduate Honors Students at Pace University. The
Honors College academic E-Journal encompasses a diverse range of papers from topics and
subjects including, poetry, history, law and politics, anthropology, and women and gender
studies.
This semester, the Honors College E-journal is composed of three thoroughly researched,
faculty-student collaboration projects which were funded with the Pforzheimer Honors College
Senior Thesis Research Grants. These scholarly works are to be regarded as admirable studies
in all fields that display the promise and commitment of the Honors student body. Students may
access the Honors E-Journal through the Pace University website and regard the students’ work
as resources for prospective Senior Theses or simply for intellectual enjoyment. Honors
students are further encouraged to enhance intellectual learning and exploration by applying for
the yearly Senior Thesis Research Grant and submitting their work to the E-Journal in future
issues during the spring semester.
Alejandra Lopez
Stephanie Robayo
Editors, Pforzheimer Honors College E-Journal
3
The Politics of ‘Giving Back’ and Its Effects on the
Autonomy of Women after Sex Trafficking
Amanda N. Ferrandino
In the field of humanitarian service, advocates have the intentions of speaking on behalf of those
they represent. Many activists and organizations seek to ‘give back’ to those in need of food, shelter and
social services. But, does ‘giving back’ really help? This essay explores the politics and hierarchies of
humanitarian aid to discover if independence and agency for aid recipients can be achieved. On the path
to independence, what are the obstacles that non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and activists
create for the underprivileged? Are there effective frameworks and methods for advocate organizations
to approach the underprivileged?
Authors such as Columbia University professor Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak questions whether
any agency can be achieved while Bengali activists such as Samarajit Jana, Nandinnee Bandyapadhyay,
Mrinal Kanti Dutta and Amitrajit Saha argue that agency is attainable by providing tools for the
underprivileged to empower themselves. Using my own observations from working at All Bengal
Women's Union in Kolkata, India, I review and analyze the attempts of this organization to empower
women and girls to determine whether the underprivileged can speak.
My work in the All Bengal Women’s Union in Kolkata in Spring 2008 allowed me to spend
personal time with young women who were sexually exploited. The women I met left such an indelible
impression on me that I brought their voices and causes back with me. Every day I saw the pain of these
girls, struggling to overcome their violent past. And every day, I saw their endless ability to continue to
dance, to smile, and to love. Our sisterhood pushed me to promote awareness of sex trafficking and to
identify the best methods of rehabilitation that value their voice.
After reviewing previous literature and theory discussing if the underprivileged have a voice, I
began my participant observation and field research at All Bengal Women Union during the months of
January to April in 2008. Using my ethnographic data, I examine the programs and initiatives put forth
by All Bengal Women’s Union as well as reviewing material published by the NGO. The approach of
analyzing the organization’s efforts is significant; the concern is not the intentions and mission of the
organization, but the process and outcomes it has on the women. Instead of looking at the organization
as a whole, my approach is to view it’s effectiveness from the perspective of the female clients.
This essay concludes there are good and bad approaches towards the path of victim
empowerment, but ability of voice and agency can only be determined by the underprivileged. While a
structure like All Bengal Women’s Union posses the ability to oppress its constituents, critically
analyzing approaches and methods in dialogues with its privileged and underprivileged members can
lead to more effective strategies. In order for women and girls after trafficking to have a voice in
society, critical and opposition structures like All Bengal Women’s Union must exist to serve a space to
achieve agency, a space where they can demand their choice.
It is best to be critical of one's intentions of 'helping' the subaltern, and to listen more often –
perhaps the subaltern are speaking but we are not listening.
4
TABLE OF CONTENTS
The Question of Agency………………………………………………………………………………………5
Representations and Assumptions………………………………………………………………………5
The Possibility of Agency after Sexual Exploitation……………………………………………7
Methodology…………………………………………………………………………………………………………9
Case Studies…………………………………………………………………………………………………………9
Findings and Analysis………………………………………………………………………………………… 10
Conclusion: Where is their voice? ………………………………………………………………………13
Works Cited…………………………………………………………………………………………………………14
5
The Question of Agency
She beams as I hand over the correct number of rupees for my purchase. In Kolkata, India, the
organization called All Bengal Women’s Union provides health and social services to young women and
girls who have been victims of violence many from commercial sex exploitation. In a stone auditorium
behind the green courtyard, a craft fair begins on a bright Saturday afternoon in March, just a year ago.
This women’s union provides vocational training to its members to learn skills to achieve independence.
Enthusiasm radiates from the girls who stand in pride behind their handmade pieces: maroon salwar
kameez, yellow baby dresses, rose embroidered tablecloths and napkins, candles shaped like animals,
and journals from recycled paper.
As she places the lopsided purple elephant candle in a plastic bag, the young woman of about 15
years old smiles and hands over her craft to me. Her optimistic brown eyes share with me her pride in
herself, how her hard work paid off, and now she has ten rupees all to herself.
In the field of humanitarian service, advocates have the intentions of speaking on behalf of those
they represent. Many activists and organizations seek to ‘give back’ to those in need of food, shelter and
social services. But, does ‘giving back’ really help? This essay explores the politics and hierarchies of
humanitarian aid to discover if independence and agency for aid recipients can be achieved. On the path
to independence, what are the obstacles that non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and activists
create for the underprivileged? Are there effective frameworks and methods for advocate organizations
to approach the underprivileged? In “Can the Subaltern Speak” (1988), Columbia University professor
Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak questions whether any agency can be achieved while Bengali activists such
as Samarajit Jana, Nandinnee Bandyapadhyay, Mrinal Kanti Dutta and Amitrajit Saha argue that agency
is attainable by providing tools for the underprivileged to empower themselves. Using my own
observations from working at All Bengal Women's Union in Kolkata, India, I review and analyze the
attempts of this organization to empower women and girls to determine whether the underprivileged can
speak. In my review I discover that there are good and bad approaches to victim empowerment, but
strength of voice and agency can only be determined by the underprivileged.
Aid workers try to understand the plight of the people they ‘represent’ and seek to empower;
however, they encounter the quiet yet dominant presence of privilege. What often occurs is that in
trying to ‘give’ a chance to the underprivileged, they accidentally suppress them further. Analyzing
language, when an advocate ‘gives’ to an underprivileged recipient, the advocate remains a privileged
authority who is ‘so kind as to grant them these gifts.’ The advocate remains in power. The question is:
can an advocate approach the lives of the underprivileged without recreating the hierarchy? In “Can the
Subaltern Speak,” Spivak asks a similar question: can subaltern scholars truly reiterate the experiences
of the postcolonial subaltern? In her essay, Spivak acknowledges the harsh postcolonial experiences of
the economically underprivileged—experiences she describes as "epistemic violence" (p. 280) as well as
the arduous path to protest these unwarranted situations.
Representation and Assumption
In her critical deconstruction of representation and relations of power, Spivak reveals significant
and oppressive mistakes made by advocates from the West. She begins with advocates’ false
dependence on verbal experiences by the subaltern, assuming they are universal. Spivak fears that the
experience of one subaltern will become the single story to represent all subaltern people. This
representation is disingenuous; it leads activists to assume that all subaltern need identical aid. Instead,
there are many differences between people, cultures, locations, and the reasons for their marginalized
states. Stepping in to ‘help’ them with one solution will not solve anything. An example Spivak gives
is how Western feminists often universalize women’s experience, assuming that a woman suppressed in
one area equals the suppression she will receive in every area around the world. She acknowledges a
great gap in experiences between women in different areas based on religious, social, historical, and
political practices
6
and ideals. The gap worsens between developed and developing nations, but can also differ within the
same nation between different classes, ethnicities, and religions. While a woman can be taken
advantage of in any part of the world, this does not mean that all experiences and reactions are the same.
Michael Shapiro (1988) agrees with Spivak, stating that:
…Representation is the absence of presence, but because the real is
never wholly presented to us—how it is real for us is always mediated through
some representational practice—we lose something when we think of representation as mimetic. What we lose, in general, is insight into the institutions and
actions and episodes through which the real has been fashioned (p. xii).
He agrees that an immediate representation loses the impact of the historical context that created
the marginalized situation. The act of representation errs in assuming the consciousness of the
object—the underprivileged in this case. When a real situation is based on assumption, the voice of the
object is silenced as the voice of the subject, the advocate, becomes stronger.
When the privileged construct the consciousness of the underprivileged, it is assumed that they
have the same needs and demands of the privileged. However, by trying to fit the underprivileged into
the privileged world, the hierarchy is recreated; this keeps them in an inferior position, forcing them
back into a system that marginalized them in the first place. An example given by Arthur and Joan
Kleinman (1997) is a picture that appeared in The New York Times in April 1993 of a child prostitute in
Dhaka, Bangladesh:
The prepubescent girl is shown bare-chested, wearing a Lolita smile, a
tousled adult hairstyle, many bangles on her arm, earrings and a necklace…
Outside the context of a major newspaper, this picture would qualify as child
pornography. The purpose of this picture and the accompanying story is to expose the degradation of child prostitution…But the picture simultaneously
appeals, probably not entirely without intention, to a prurient sensibility. It is
clearly not enough to picture a child’s body for sale; the picture needs to recreate
the atmosphere of sexual desire. Thus the media, by the success of its artistry,
gets caught up in the very processes it seeks to criticize (p. 11).
The picture’s intention was to give a voice to the voiceless, to capture the child’s life as trafficked and
spread awareness to end commercial sexual exploitation. But this image exploits her further; her face
and condition are commodified to gain profit from magazine sales. The consciousness and identity of
the young girl is constructed by the photographer in the name of activism. According to Spivak, when
the privileged constructs the consciousness of the underprivileged, the epistemic violence hides under
the advancement of learning and activism, and “the subaltern woman will be as mute as ever” (p. 295).
A similar concept is Michel Foucault’s (1995) theory of docile bodies. Foucault writes in
Discipline and Punish that “a body is docile that may be subjected, used, transformed, and improved.
And that this docile body can only be achieved through strict regiment of disciplinary acts” (p. 136).
People are considered to be unruly. In order to remain in society, they are manipulated and remolded to
become productive bodies. In the case of the subaltern, the underprivileged are constructed as
marginalized, deviant, and ‘needy.’ Under the guise of activism, advocates ‘give’ resources to the
underprivileged that, yet again, construct them into becoming ‘valuable’ in society’s eyes. The subaltern
will now be valued and objectified by the very society that demonized them initially.
In questioning whether the subaltern can speak, Spivak reveals an undertone of privilege when
one ‘speaks for’ the poor rather than them speaking for themselves. It is ethnocentric and essentialist for
scholars to ‘speak on behalf of’ those who cannot. Spivak (1988) notes that if subalterns must prove
their identity as a subaltern, they will, in fact, be re-instated into their inferior position in their society
(p. 293). The construction of the subaltern as an object depends on the privileged: you are only subaltern if the privilege exists. Having to prove that one is inferior in order to gain aid reinforces one’s low
status
7
on the social pyramid. The privilege lies in the ability to judge who is subaltern and the ability to
‘bestow’ resources upon those proven worthy.
Arthur and Joan Kleinman give an example of the underprivileged proving their inferiority. In
“Cultural Appropriations of Suffering in Our Times,” the Kleinmans reveal the World Bank’s economist
table to measure the cost of suffering by cause and region (p. 12). The World Bank created the chart to
give higher priority to those who suffer the most. It demands each person needing aid to prove their
suffering in order to fit on this particular scale. Though the intention of the chart was to allocate
resources to the worst of areas, it forms a social space where people fight to prove their inferior situation
in order to receive aid. The privileged bank has the power as the recipients struggle to demonstrate their
dire need for resources or aid.
What Spivak believes is key is starting a dialogue with a subaltern person rather than speaking
for him or her. Spivak (1988) uses the example of Western feminists: through verbal exchange, an
activist or scholar “‘unlearns’ female privilege. This systematic unlearning involves learning to critique
postcolonial discourse with the best tools it can provide and not simply substituting the lost figure of the
colonialized” (p. 295). While Western-taught feminists are oppressed in their own society, the
experiences faced in other places differ tremendously. When an activist universalizes the consciousness
and the needs of the underprivileged, the underprivileged will be poorly represented. This inaccurate
representation must be recognized and criticized in their relationship with the subaltern. What becomes
crucial is for the privileged to listen to the needs and demands of the underprivileged rather than what
the privileged activist believes is needed.
After reviewing the history of sati in India, Spivak concludes that the subaltern cannot speak.
She compares the post-colonial scholars to those who wish to save Indian women from the patriarchy of
Indian society. The term ‘good’ is a key element: for it is the view of the privileged elite, whether it be
an imperialist or an activist, to bestow upon the subaltern. Spivak reveals that imperialists try to impose
a ‘good’ society to save their colonies from ‘bad’ cultural practices (pg. 298) while advocates try to
‘save’ the underprivileged who have been subjected to ‘bad’ lives with their ‘good’ and ‘effective’
institutions and methods. Forcing the ‘good’ methods to ‘save’ marginalized groups further reinstates
the underprivileged into an inferior position and blames them for their subordinate state. The tone of
authorization from the elite does not speak for the subaltern, but furthers the silencing of them. With
their initially suppressed position that is reinstated with aid and resources—the marginalized can neither
speak for themselves, and can never be accurately represented.
According to Spivak, the underprivileged are marginalized so long as the avenues to
independence and autonomy are blocked. Without agency, these groups have no choice in consenting or
resisting hegemonic powers and hierarchal system. This lack of freedom constructs them to be inferior,
marginalized and controlled by those in power. However, to challenge Spivak, are there ways in which
the relationship of the underprivileged with the privileged and their institutions can be empowering,
rather than recreating the varying degrees of power?
The Possibility of Agency after Sexual Exploitation
Women who are victims of sex trafficking fall under the category of the underprivileged.
Simply put, sex trafficking is the forced migration of women and girls to cities where sex is exchanged
for money. Sex industry profits seldom reach the hands of the women and girls1 providing the services;
instead they go to the brothel owners, pimps or traffickers themselves. Socio-economic factors, gender
inequality, migration to cities through globalization and industrialization, and corrupt legislation are
pulling, pushing and keeping women in systems of commercial sexual exploitation.
The exploitation occurs out of the social idea that women can be controlled and objectified by
men. As Kathryn Farr (2005) states, “the forces that lead to the organization of the sex trade, and the
1
In some situations, young men and boys are also trafficked for sexual exploitation.
8
demand for it, are rooted in patriarchal constructs about women and men” (p.164). Class and status of
economic power within the increasing global economy contributes to the demand for sex tourism.
Saskia Sassen (2002) writes that “as Third World economies on the periphery of the global system
struggle against debt and poverty, they increasingly build survival circuits on the backs of
women....Through their work and remittances, these women contribute to the revenue of deeply indebted
countries” (p. 255-6). In this case, women who are trafficked are vulnerable and silent in several ways:
female, poor, and being from a postcolonial peripheral country. In “A Tale of Two Cities: Shifting the
Paradigm of Anti-Trafficking Programmes," (2002) Smarajit Jana, Nandinnee Bandyapadhyay, Mrinal
Kanti Dutta and Amitrajit Saha write:
The most critical element of trafficking is not necessarily the process
through which a person is trafficked…rather, it is the outcome of that process
that is instrumental in leaving the trafficked person with little or no option to
leave the please or position in which they find themselves" (p. 70).
Bengali women activists2 Jana, Bandyapadhyay, Dutta and Saha examine trafficking from the
perspective of grassroots sex worker organizations. Addressing patriarchal legislation controls, they
confront the Bangladeshi government when a law was created that prevented single women from
traveling across its borders as a pre-emptive strike against sex trafficking. This act violated the rights of
all female citizens by stereotyping and universalizing women's experiences.
Also addressed by Jana et al. (2002) is the lack of standard3 methods by NGOs and state
agencies who implement rescue and rehabilitation programs. There are many instances where a woman
is sold into the sex industry, either by her family, pressures of poverty, or illusions of better jobs. The
police will ‘rescue’ them and force them into a remand home to undergo ‘rehabilitation,’ where there
have been cases of further abuse. Jana et al. notes that most women have two options: enter
rehabilitation or be sent to jail (p. 73); as if it is their crime for being exploited, and are only given the
choice to repent or be punished. To leave some programs, parents must take custody of the woman or
girl. In some cases the family cannot be found or they refuse to claim her for she has shamed her
family. Jana et al. (2002) questions “whether forced ‘rehabilitation’ ought to be seen as trafficking
too” (p. 73).
Despite the ineffectiveness of the aforementioned attempts to stop trafficking, Jana,
Bandyapadhyay, Dutta and Saha feel that better methods can be found:
If the basic objective of our anti-trafficking efforts is to enhance the
well-being of the individual and help improve her livelihood options, then the
role of that individual and that of other third parties involved in the individual's
rescue and rehabilitation should come under scrutiny (p. 75).
Jana et al. feel that the first step is to recognize agency within the women victims; “those who
have been trafficked should not be perceived as passive victims of their circumstances, manipulated by
others, but as human agents, who can—and often do—fight to gain control over their lives” (p. 69).
Arguing against Spivak, Jana et al. state that agency can be claimed by the subaltern in an organization
that recognizes a positive role of human agency.
To prove that positive methods of human agency exist, they turn to the Durbar Mahila
Samanwaya Committee (DMSC)4, one of the largest organized groups for sex work based in
Kolkata. The organization provides vocational training to women and girls who seek alternative
employment after trafficking. Through the concept of self-regulatory boards, the DMSC has
information channels to reveal traffickers, provide health services, and continue communication women
who left the program. Many services provided by the DMSC are collaborations with other organizations
and NGOs. The DMSC also recruits daughters of sex workers to teach education programs for sex
The authors are advisors for Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee.
Even if an approach is ‘standard or universal’ – it can be yielding to different circumstances.
4 http://www.durbar.org/index.html
2
3
9
violation of human rights within the sex economy. Through such initiatives, the DMSC listens to the
voices of its clients and provides resources for women who desire control over their lives.
Jana et al. (2002) argue that “the direct participation of those who are trafficked in preventing
and ameliorating the effects of trafficking is both ethical and effective” (p. 71). The victims are fighting
for their own autonomy, as well as their high risk peers in the design and maintenance of forward
efforts. Jana et al. state:
Sex workers’ and trafficked persons’ demands for the right to selfdetermination and autonomy represent an ideological challenge not just to the
prevalent development practices by NGOs, but to all discourses that reduce marginalized people, particularly women, to being submissive victims of their circumstance, devoid of human agency, and unable to steer their own destiny
unless ‘rescued’ through the benevolence of others (p. 78).
With different approaches and frameworks, such as self-regulatory boards, the role of the NGO
can tune to become more effective for the women who are seeking the path to agency. As Jana,
Bandyapadhyay, Dutta and Saha conclude (2002), these methods “ensur[e] the community’s right to
self-determination” (p. 78).
Methodology
My work5 in Kolkata, India gave me perspective as to the positive and negative effects that
NGOs can have on the development of agency for marginalized groups. For four months I worked four
hours a day for five days a week at All Bengal Women’s Union (ABWU).6 Since 1932, ABWU has offered various services such as shelter, counseling, education and skills training to thousands of women
and children to integrate them back into the world after violent experiences. Their main commitment is
to restore the rights and dignity of women who have been trampled upon. The young women and girls
admitted to the shelter are “lost, abandoned, below poverty line, under moral danger, abused, [and]
neglected” (All Bengal 2006 p. 34). One pamphlet states that ABWU is creating “new rehabilitation
programs and work centers to help the needy to become self-reliant” (All Bengal 1998). To meet this
goal, they have a series of different programs and facilities to cover the basic needs of the women and
girls who have been marginalized from society.
The first two hours of my day was spent in one dormitory called the Mid-way Home where I
would help 20 girls 7-18 years-old prepare for school. The following two hours of my day were spent in
two classrooms: the Non-formal School with 25 students, 4-14 years old; and the Primary School with
50 students, four and five years old. The Mid-way Home and Non-formal School exist to ease the
transition from living and working on the streets to working in the education system. Most of the young
women and girls I worked with were new to the program. During my time there, I took notes on my
observations and experiences within the organization as well as my interactions and conversations with
the students, staff and upper management.7
Case Study
When I began my work at the shelter, Ankita8 and I became fast friends. Her crooked teeth
mirror the curves of her mouth that form a mischievous smile. She grew up in a small village outside of
Dhaka, Bangladesh. Her mother left her family for the wealth of Dubai. Soon her father and younger
brother followed, leaving Ankita to her uncle. Scrambling for money, her uncle sold her to a trafficker.
The man illegally brought her to India. Sold again she was to another man who began to sell her body
I receive this position through the study abroad program International Partnership for Service Learning and Leadership (http://ipsl.org/)
6 http://www.abwu.org/
7 In my research I ignored reviewing ABWU finances. For NGOs, money fluctuates, so the structure and approach
should remain regardless of monetary status.
8 To protect the anonymity of these women, the names have been changed.
5
10
for sex every day. Abuse occurred to her body and mind as she was exploited daily for two years. The
police interfered and caught the man who brought her to India and found the brothel she was in.
Ankita arrived at ABWU, her heart empty but her belly full of the growth of an unwanted child.
ABWU paid for her abortion. She is now 17. Though it was a legal medical procedure, something went
wrong for there are frequent jolts of pain in her abdomen. She might not be able to have children; but
that is inconsequential because it is difficult to find a husband with the stigma attached to her. The man
who trafficked her is on trial and she must testify at the hearings. The trial proceedings keep her from
returning to her home in Bangladesh. Despite the allegations made toward her uncle, Ankita wants to go
back to him and his wife because they are the only family she knows. While she is at ABWU, she learns
to stitch as a part of her vocational training and is constantly giggling.
Another young girl named Raii has a beautiful slender hands and loud voice. Raii is very
aggressive with many outbursts of anger. While she craves attention and love, she is hidden by the
estimated 45 scars all over her body. ABWU shaves the girls’ heads when they arrive to get rid of lice.
On Raii’s beautiful head, there were at thirteen little scars where hair can’t grow anymore. The police
brought her here after finding her on the street. Therapy revealed that she was abused by her parents.
Her parents and sisters, who might also be abused, cannot be found. I never found out the results of the
doctor’s examination to see if she was sexually assaulted.9
Findings and Analysis
All Bengal Women’s Union has three dormitories for females ranging in ages: children, young
adults and older women. Each shelter provides meals, sleeping arrangements and bathing facilities for
the females residing within their property. A physician is available for sudden illnesses and scheduled
check-ups to ensure that they are healthy.10 These services are provided for free. One student of mine
became HIV positive after being raped daily in a brothel, and the anti-retroviral medication needed to
survive with HIV/AIDS is extremely expensive. Through ABWU’s sponsorship program, the young
woman is set up to receive monthly financial support that pays for her medication. On the side of health,
ABWU provides essentials needed to live and develop with a strong body.
Each dormitory has a ‘house mom’ that oversees the activities of the girls. The house mothers
also receive course training in child development and psychology to ensure a healthy, stable environment for the girls (All Bengal 2006 17). This is helpful not only to the development of the new girls but
to the career of the house mom; for she receives a letter of certification. Though the idea of having a
house mother present seems helpful, one house mother expressed how she dislikes her job and was
trying to find another. After complaining of no jobs being available, she often lounged around the
dormitory when girls would act out towards each other. Though never abusive, she lacked care and
patience with the girls. Her passive authority did not provide a secure, calm environment. Having a
positive, dedicated role model would have a more profound impact on their path to self-agency.11
The Mid-way Home is the first dormitory for new clients. The reason is that the organization
fears girls off the street bring bad habits of violence, addictions, and depression that they do not want the
other girls to follow in their bad behavior. They are placed into the Mid-way Home until they are
considered stable enough to move into the bigger home with the rest of the girls. Though the
organization’s intent is to protect the girls’ development, this approach places blame on the young
women for developing habits during lives within structural violence. While there is logic in separating
unstable girls from stable ones, it is done under the assumption that the girls are solely at fault for their
marginalized situation. Most habits are expressions of anger or fear, or survival tactics learned from the
streets.
I became extremely close with the girls, so much so that my nickname became: paagli didi, which translates as
‘crazy older sister.’
10 The women and girls arrive at the shelter with varying health conditions, typically from living on the street.
11 I only had solid interaction with one house mother. This observation is an isolated situation and is not to judge
other house mothers or their role in the dormitory.
9
11
The separation of the dormitories and placement into the Mid-Way Home states: ‘you’re not good
enough—yet.’ The patronizing attitude alludes that their ‘bad’ behavior is consequently and entirely the
girls’ fault. Many of my students competed with each other to receive a spot in the ‘good’ home and
some girls were teased for being in the Mid-Way Home for a long time.12 The competition between
dorms is not beneficial; these girls should be working together and not divided among each other.
The girls are also given counseling from hired psychologists through the means of art therapy,
drama therapy, group therapy and special one-on-one guidance.13 As the girls have various histories that
require unique attention, the psychologists provide different avenues of therapy to discover what works
best for each girl. ABWU believes that the traumatized lives of their clients need this additional help to
accept and overcome their past experiences. This acceptance of one’s past should create a stable body
and mind. I agree with ABWU that it is necessary to confront past demons in order to move forward
with independence. With various approaches available, each client can recognize her self-worth and
begin to establish a happy life for herself.
One of the strong methods I found to achieve victim agency was the drama therapy program.
With one psychologist, fifteen of the girls from Mid-Way home gathered together to write a play based
on their experiences during commercial sexual exploitation.14 The play revolved around a girl in a rural
village living with her family. She is first visited by a friend who has her own job in the city, and has
nice clothes. The protagonist desires her friend’s life and independence, and begs her mother for
permission to move to the city. When the girl arrives in the city, the job market is not what it seemed.
The play shows the ways in which the girl is vulnerable to trafficking; from having to sleep on the
streets to running from traffickers and beaconing prostitutes. When the girl becomes afraid, she finds
shelter at All Bengal Women’s Union and is reunited with family.
Before I left India, the girls insisted on performing their work for me.15 They organized a
dress-rehearsal in their auditorium space. When ABWU’s upper management and board members heard
of the impromptu performance, they wished to attend. Towards the end of March, the girls’ put on their
self-made performance for myself and twenty Bengali women who run the organization. First, the
support from ABWU’s upper management gave the girls great pride in their efforts. I then discovered
that ABWU planned to produce the play as a community performance and invite families from the
surrounding community to be the audience.16
The initiatives surrounding the performance achieve many goals of agency for the young
women. First, as a therapy program, it allows the girls to reveal and alleviate some of the pain, fear and
anger they experienced in their pasts. Sharing experiences with women of similar histories helps lessen
feelings of alienation and self-blame. Second, the community learns from the performance by seeing the
surrounding vulnerabilities of young girls and how commercial sexual exploitation manifests itself. The
consciousness acquired can be brought back to the community to end the stigma of sex trafficking as
well as becoming more aware to suspicious activity. This consciousness empowers the community to
guard their families and neighbors. Third, if girls are discovered to be trafficked, the community now
knows of a shelter to report to; a shelter that will care for them. Last and most importantly, the girls
writing and performing will gain empowerment by having the space to be leaders and create an original
Young girls like Raii, who has a difficult time in therapy and violent tendencies, stay in the Mid-way Home
longer than most. She was often teased for it, causing her to become more violent out of embarrassment for not
moving to the next dorm.
13 The organization takes on different initiatives each year in a trial-and-error approach, to see what programs work
best.
14 Sometimes girls who were not victims of trafficking sat in on the sessions to support their friends’ work. There
was a sense of community created with this program that did not exclude any girl.
15 The young women were always very eager to share their work and skills.
16 I have not heard from ABWU to see if the performance occurred. The following observations are theories of its
success.
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work to educate their community. Empowerment extend to both the young women writers and the
listening community.
Education is provided at ABWU and is seen as essential for the future independence the young
women and girls. Different education is available; children and teens from different backgrounds can
receive primary and secondary education based on their effort and intelligence. For older teens and
women who are considered too old to receive basic education, ABWU provides skill training that would
be of more helpful for them once they leave the shelter. In-house vocational training includes weaving,
block printing, needlework, and cooking. It also supports a few women to receive computer, teaching,
and paramedical training from outside-credited institutions.
The organization analyzes and places a new female into the instructional facility that would suit
them best based on their age, background, measured intelligence and effort. The services offered are
skills that will be useful for the careers of the women when leaving the shelter. The required placement
is completed by ABWU and is comparable to the placements of the Mid-Way Home. This placement
judges them as ‘smart’ or ‘dumb.’ Girls ‘too old’ or ‘not smart enough’ go to vocational trainings or the
Non-Formal school. It is true that some young women arrive at 15 years-old and cannot
write17—however, some girls never had the choice. An approach towards the girls’ intelligence can be
more sensitive to their career goals instead of, again, assuming their voices.
In embroidery section of vocational training, one instructor was a previous client of ABWU.
Her presence can comfort the lives of the new students. The teacher has suffered similar experiences
and went through the same process to achieve independence at All Bengal Women’s Union. She now
has her own home and job. As an instructor to the girls, she has unique insight as to the problems they
face.
The products the girls make during vocational training are sold. The organization gives the
items to outside vendors and the girls receive a profit of what they created. As the girls reap the rewards
from their hard work, they now have full agency as to how to spend their money.18 Another strong
strategy of agency was the week long craft fair mentioned at the start of this paper. With the fair open to
the community and with the skills learned in training, the young women and girls presented their crafts.
The young vendors had the opportunity to sell their products and handle their own financial transactions.
At the end of the week, they were allowed to keep their money. With their training put into action, there
was a sense of empowerment as the girls’ new talents were being rewarded.
While many of the All Bengal Women’s Union services are for young women and girls living
on the premises, the organization also retains programs to serve the surrounding community. One
example is the Primary School, which provides free education for children of the slums. A special
addition to this program is the mid-day meal provided for all students. Many come from the
surrounding slums without reliable sources of food. Struggling parents prefer their children to find odd
jobs or beg instead of attending school, which puts them at a high risk of becoming trafficked, lost or
killed.19 Providing a meal allows for the parents to not have to choose whether to give their child food or
an education—both needed and valued.
Another initiative is the Child Watch Programme created to survey the health in the surrounding
slum areas. Since many current clients come from poor areas with little resources to obtain health
services, ABWU strives to protect the families’ health by sending out a van to medically cover over 50
families in the slums. The program recently introduced interaction with mothers who are adamant
Like Western schools, there are standards to be placed in Indian schools. It is difficult to have a 15 year-old
among 8 year-olds.
18 The salary received is never much more than Rp200, equivalent of around 6USD.
19 In many families, the girl child is chosen to remain home while the boy is sent to school. This difference stems
from societal ideas that a daughter is worth less than a son.
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about improving the program. ABWU organizes health camps with mothers of the slums to discuss
various health issues: AIDS, TB, diarrhea, prenatal care and family planning. This program, though
small, is successful as it provides services for improving health and does not force change upon the
families. ABWU heard the mothers of that area asking for health and safety information, then
collaborated with them to improve their knowledge and conditions. Here is an instance where the
underprivileged spoke and how an NGO could respond without dehumanizing or imposing them.
Conclusion: Where is their voice?
Of the effective strategies and approaches for the underprivileged, Foucault’s concept of docile
bodies is applicable. While many positive actions were taken towards building agency, the NGO must
work within one framework: a capitalist patriarchy. At All Bengal Women’s Union, the drama therapy
was only performed because the theme and ending fit into the desires of the community. The
protagonist’s story, however, is not the common story; seldom do victims of sexual trafficking have
happy endings. The craft fair trains the women to participate in society by giving them skills highly
valued by the capitalist society—the same society that marginalized them in the first place, the same
society that drives sex trafficking. Also, most skills these women learn are ‘feminine’ skills, continuing
to keep them in the patriarchal structure. The women are becoming independent, but only independent
within the society that marginalized them. Lastly, judging the women on their intellect and behavior
upon their immediate arrival into the institution divides the women into ‘bad’ and ‘good,’ placing blame
upon them, then assuming their voice.
The programs for women who are trafficked at ABWU could be modeled on organizations like
the Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee. However, can All Bengal Women’s Union escape their
creation of docile bodies? Foucault argues that institutions, by nature, cannot guarantee the exercise of
freedom and independence; structures are meant to control. However, Foucault (2007) also argues that
approaches or institutions cannot be so rigidly divided between ‘liberation’ and ‘oppressed.’ He states,
“there always remains the possibilities of resistance, disobedience and opposition” (Foucault 2007 p.11).
If resistance does not succeed fully in overthrowing hegemonic power, we cannot assume that
oppositional voices were not present. ‘Failed resistance’ is an oxymoron in that if an action is classified
as resistance, it succeeded.
In the case of ABWU’s young women and girls, though they are now entering into the
oppressive structure, it is important to recognize that they are entering the structure; they are less marginalized and have found agency and expression in particular settings. With this agency, they now
possess choices; the ability to make a decision is what defines agency. While structures possess the
ability to oppress their constituents, critically analyzing approaches and methods, in dialogues with its
owners/privileged and clients/underprivileged members, can lead to more effective strategies. Also, the
dialogue and exchange that occurs between the privileged and underprivileged is, in fact, itself a step
towards empowerment for the underprivileged. For women and girls after trafficking to have a voice in
the societal structure that oppresses them, critical and opposition structures like NGOs need to serve as a
space to achieve agency, a space where they can demand their choice.
Can the subaltern speak? The answer lies within the subaltern. Who are we, as Western, or
even Eastern, academics and activists, to claim that someone does not have self-agency? The identity
conflict should be discovered and defined by those seeking self-agency. In creating spaces for agency, it
is best to be critical of approaches to ‘help’ the subaltern to listen more often—perhaps the subaltern are
speaking but we are not listening.
14
Works Cited
All Bengal Women’s Union. (1998). A concern to help helpless women: All Bengal Women’s Union. Kolkata: VST
Industries Limited.
All Bengal Women’s Union. (2006). All Bengal Women’s Union: Annual Report for 2005-2006. Author.
Chatterjee, P. (2000). Community, gender, and violence: Subaltern XI. Delhi: Ravi Deyal Publisher.
Farr, K. (2005). Sex trafficking: The global market in women and children. New York: Worth Publishers.
Foucault, M. (1995). Discipline and punish. (A. Sheridan, Trans.) Hopkinton, M.A.: Vintage Books, Inc. (Original
work published 1975).
Foucault, M. (2007). Space, power and knowledge. In S. During (Ed.) The Cultural Studies Reader (3rd ed.) (p.161
-7). London: Routledge.
Guha, R. (1998). A subaltern studies reader. Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Jana, S., Bandyopadhyay, N., Dutta, M.K., & Saha, A. (2002). A tale of two cities: Shifting the paradigm of antitrafficking programmes. Gender and Development. 10(1), 69-79.
Kleinman, A. & J. (1997). Cultural appropriations of suffering in our times. In A. Kleinman, V. Das, & M. Lock
(Eds.) Social suffering (pg. 1-24). Berkley: University of California Press.
Sassen, S. (2002). Global cities and survival circuits. In B. Ehreneich & A. R. Hochschild (Eds.) Global woman:
Nannies, maids, and sex workers in the new economy (254-74). New York: Holt Paperbacks.
Shaprio, M. J. (1988). The politics of representation: Writing practices in biography photography, and policy
analysis. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.
Spivak, G. C. (1988). Can the subaltern speak. In C. Nelson & L. Grossberg (Eds.) Marxism and the Interpretation
of Culture (pg. 271-310). Chicago: Univ. of Illinois Press.
15
Acting and Activism
Preparing for My Name is Rachel Corrie
Theresa Johnson
Précis
Rachel Corrie, the activist from Olympia, Washington, always had a journal with her. Wherever
she went, she had a small notebook nearby in which she would record every little detail around her.
From when she was a young girl growing up near Mt. Rainier to when she traveled to Palestine, where
she was killed by an Israeli bulldozer while trying to prevent the demolition of a doctor’s home, Rachel
took stock of the world around her and the feelings inside of her.
Shortly after her death in 2003, every single captivating journal entry from when she was twelve
years old become a published work entitled Let Me Stand Alone. Alan Rickman and Katherine Viner
then edited this to create the one-woman show My Name is Rachel Corrie. And what better way to
prepare to perform this show than doing just what Rachel Corrie would do—keep a journal.
This journal follows all of the preparation steps taken for My Name is Rachel Corrie.
Everything written in it falls under one of five categories: research about Palestine, table work, research
about Rachel, technical notes, and personal responses. The first kind of preparation includes research
done solely about Palestine, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the politics surrounding the controversy.
Some of this knowledge was acquired through speaking personally with Palestinians or people who have
traveled there or checking web sites. Additionally, a large part of the information also came from
documentaries, such as Occupation 101 or The Killing Zone.
Actors also prepare by doing “table work,” where every section of text is dissected. This
ensures that the actor understands everything he says, has a clear visual of every detail in his mind, and
understands the motivations for speaking every line. An actor must comprehend every minute element
in the script in order to present a precise and accurate performance.
Since the show is about an actual person, another part of preparation that went into My Name is
Rachel Corrie included researching Rachel Corrie herself. From reading the entirety of her published
works to viewing interviews of her in Palestine, any and all information must be considered. Even the
discovery of small details, such as the college she attended, her summer jobs and vacations, and her
favorite bands add to the overall understanding of the person and the character.
Last, technical notes and responses after rehearsals and performances are included. Technical
notes consist of changes in blocking (movement on the stage), reminders of when blackouts occur, or
lines that an actor may have skipped. A written response is simply a record of how an actor feels about
his or her personal performance. It may include comments about concerns, emotions, and what did or
did not go well.
My Name is Rachel Corrie reveals the true personality and passion of a young woman who
wanted to change the world. An actor preparing for the role of Rachel has an enormous task. However,
keeping an actor’s journal while working on the show not only helps the actor prepare, but also find a
close relationship with Rachel by doing what she knew how to do best—to write and to see.
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Table of Contents
Author’s Note……………...….16
Journal…………………………17
Conclusion…………………….44
Author’s Note
I strived to keep the layout of this paper as close as possible to the journal I kept while
working on my project. Any abbreviations, symbols, or layout choices were written as such
in my journal.
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1/4/09
So much work to do for Rachel Corrie.
Research:
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Russia
Rafah
Gaza
Israeli-Palestine Conflict
Ha’aretz
ISM
Israeli Army
Middle East Report
Al-Ahram Daily
Electronic Intifada
Book—1 Land, 2 Peoples
Arafat
Evergreen State College
Olympia, WA
Colin
Mount Rainier
Rachel is determined, she speaks out. She is passionate about this, about life.
1/6/09
Research and stuff
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Hamas—political group in Palestine, other is Fatah
Mahmoud Abbas—Palestinian prez., Fatah
Salam Fayyad—Palestinian Prime Minister
Yasir Arafat—former Palestinian prez, prez while Rachel was there
West Bank and Gaza Strip—points of interest
Fatah is largest party
Issues—Jerusalem, refugees, settlements, security, borders, water
Oslo Peace Process—1993, give control to Palestinians slowly
Jerusalem —> mostly Jews in West, Muslims in East
Yasir Arafat founded Fatah
Rafah is largest town in Gaza Strip
Rafah—only crossing between Gaza Strip & Egypt
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I have to know everything—Rachel, her life, what she believed in
*Pat Benatar
1/7/09
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Aseel —> great resource to talk about conflict
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Do kids know that life is not like that everywhere?
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Why red? for bedroom
Colin
Russia
Attending Evergreen State College—6 years
the other girl—alter ego
“I am inside a terrifying mirror”
glue on wall—leaves mark
Why does she write what she writes? (p6)
“I’ve got a fire in my belly”—think of this my whole time
Being awake for the first time—relate to it, others will, too passionate
Find out w/ every passage what’s going on in her life
Josephine? p9—distant relative?
Rilke —> poet
p11—there before, Palestinians there first
Dadaism—anti art artistic movement.
p16—Marxism w/ Colin
Disillusioned
Look up Russian drinking songs
Traffic laws in Palestine
Beit Sahour—pronounce?
Arabic songs
Border Police fr. Israel
p22 Election in 2003 Jan. 28
Map of
1/10/09
Reading thru “My Name is Rachel Corrie”
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Why red? How old when she painted her bedroom red?
Relive waking up
Imagination
The real world ready to devour her?
The other girl—the girl she is vs. the girl she’s trying to be
Making her own way, creating a path for herself
“inside a terrifying mirror”—her chaotic room reflects what she feels inside of her
impulsive
who is she talking to? This must be determined for every entry
Why must she share this story right now?
She is a poet and an artist.
She doesn’t care what others think of her work, she just wants to write
1/11/09
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takes place 1990-1993
2 siblings —> the youngest? Yes
an introduction of herself
boys in her life
different from the beginning
Everyone must feel safe.
Middle school in the 90s
Relationships w/ her father, she admires him greatly and finds him to be very smart
“new view for ea. Hour”
born 4/10/79
wrote this as a pre-teen/young teen
*reflecting on her young self, she just read the journal entry of 12 yrs. Old and she is remembering
amused at her own young ambition but also concerned b/c of what she hasn’t accomplished by a
certain age.
Memories
“nervous I would do it wrong”? —> waiting for the bus? nervous, scared of total independence?
this is who I am
this is my ideal world
lots of passion in the last ¶, it is what I want, what I dream of, full of imagination
Relationship w/ mother—closer than w/ father, loves both
? Are her parents still together?
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1/11/09 cont’d
• An intro of her older self
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Throwing it all out there, not hiding
- What does this say about her character?
- Straightforward
- If you don’t like me, then go away.
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contradiction of the meaning of her name (sheep) and her passion
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Sheep
“fire in my belly”
tried to be cool —> unsuccessful
trip to Russia —> another country for the First time
- holds Russia trip dear to her
A different world from hers—the beauty in its ugliness, in its differences
sad that she had to be home
sister & brother —> overachievers
knew she had to stay
she let the trip change her
she knew it was what she had to do
1/14/09
Still need to look into:
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Do kids there know life is not like that everywhere?
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Why red for the bedroom
- different, unusual, power color, gets you thinking
-on the other hand, color of blood
Who she was and who she is, a long intro
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Josephine? distant/dead relative?
Rilke the poet, EE Cummings—writer/painter, Gertrude Stein—American writer in France, Zelda
Fitzgerald
- Must know all of their work
Dadaism—anti-war politics in the arts, anti-art
Marxism—not necessarily communism, but opposed to capitalism
Beit Sahour (pronounced Bayt Saahoor)
Election Jan 28, 2003
1/14/09 (cont’d)
• First mention of Gaza—excitement, something new
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Explain why she needs to go
The part that’s been missing from her work
She always seems to have so many ideas swirling around in her head
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find voices
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Israelis bulldoze fig trees
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imagery of hope and tanks
- the tanks loom there
fig symbols of home & peace
symbol of the keys —> when they go back
good hosts, hospitality
constantly being watched
Starts
*giving land back to Palestinians
colonialist reasons
Ask Aseel re: curfew
kids in M.E. who know more a/b American stuff & Global policy b/c it affects them more
not able to see the ocean
big families
the wall
*drones—look up a pic
see pics of towers
Iraq—pronouncing
IDF—not wanting to be there
- Min 1 yr. service for everyone
p30 right before Bush declared war
- Feb. is massive around the world rallies
go to a rally
rallies were around 1 mil. People
“I know who cares” —> she realizes she’s found her place.
in & out of Gaza only 2 places
Pet Semetary —> v. violent, but the people are laughing
their television shows —> v. American
like Bway shows
“the work we do needs people” p36
- Know how to connect w/ ppl
- Not just a/b a cause
Internation Solidarity Shit Shows—like on Facebook w/ war scores, it’s not a football
- Not really doing anything
Rachel got it
The Leftist movement
1/14/09 cont’d
• press release
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p38 matter of fact a/b whether they will be alive in a few years
kids understand that others will die
The Who’s Tommy Pinball —> a Rock Opera
- by the Who
- boy who witnesses his father killed by mother’s lover
- break his own visage
- willful ignorance
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P41 —> ”how can we…” replaces dip cones w/ olive trees, homes, hospitals to not have proper supplies
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“How do you…” p43
think a lot a/b that poem
Bobby (Bob Weir & Phil from Grateful Dead)
p43—ppl think Palestine doesn’t exist
outsider stuck on the inside
1/19/09
• easier to not be involved
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talking a/b her class, what all she has done b/c of this class
grateful for taking the class
“Who is this person?” How did I get here?” her journey
there b/c of the class
concerned a/b others
used to be in her bubble world, now things are open
kindness
The salmon—importance of salmon in Olympia, WA?
salmon trying to get back home
Moxlie Creek?
the salmon are an example of our human life
salmon were there before but now must deal w/ people & technology & buildings
they were here first
becoming a more aware person
loves her home
always references to her mom
relationship w/ mom vs. dad
leaving message for her mom
excitement, preparing for departure
how she talks to her mom, she is striving to stand alone
the thought process
“was smart” —> when did her mom talk to The Olympian?
v. aware of what she says
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talking a/b her mother
involved mother
bad & good things a/b their involved mom
generally good kids
a child’s choice
defining spirituality for myself
what do I believe in?
literal discoveries in cupboards & drawers? or the tiny overlooked parts of life?
the memories and the secrets. What did I know a/b, what didn’t I know a/b?
A/B her mom; precious
her everyday life —> she is grateful but maybe also guilty b/c her mom’s life is what it is b/c of her?
her habits & everyday rituals
love & resentment
her mom is always there.
her mom just trying to protect her
“I want to see” to go places, to explore, to MAKE MISTAKES
Owes lots to her mom
explaining herself to her mom
Dad is on a business trip (there for how long?)
sarcastic attitude
animus
a different relationship w/ her dad
her sentimentality for him is deeper
probably teases her more
ridiculous that her father says he has disabilities, but he is earnest
find his voice
never a word —> this is his word
the type of dad who says he walked uphill both ways to school
re-enacting
oppressor; does she really think he is stifling her thought?
neo-liberal jabs are close to the mark
What does this mean?
Schedule being indecipherable?
Dadaism—anti-art art
her future—poetry, art, travel
packing to leave
taking inventory of life so far and goals
Colin’s pic—does she pack it?
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Loves Olympia, but feels sheltered.
Tuesday’s minutes for what?
Tom?
explaining her love of lists, excited to share
research all people!
packing to go—nerves, scatterbrained?
Local knowledge class @ Evergreen
isolated
new ppl moving in
Activism fits w/ her, but she hasn’t always been that way
Mt. Rainier
“part-owl” woman —> progressive work
product of ourselves
“changed by what you are looking for”
Famous people from Olympia?
bravery
everything’s relative
“We can look at that history and then choose which side we want to be on now” ?
- discovering yourself from the past
going back to the basics about human rights, what you think is right and wrong
still packing
How this relates to a modern setting
trying to understand where I stand
it’s easy to forget the big problems and stay in a bubble
1/14/09
Rehearsal 2
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cross used in colonialist way —>
- missionaries w/ explorers
- barbaric people
- sword or cross
- meshing of religion
Khan Younis —> Kahn Yoo-nis
P24 —> places
“re:” —> how to say
*lots of reporting, also flashes look for them
Why put that diary onstage
“Go back”—to your country?
p26 intense
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the memory of Colin —> when things between them were great, the best they had ever been
Why they didn’t really work
1/21/09
Viewing Occupation 101
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“something is wrong w/ the treatment of these people”
this is the reality
American only hear a fraction of the story
foreign army physically controls your life
living in tent
no right to go to Jerusalem to worship
Christian Palestinians
WWII, Jews fled to Palestine, doubling population there
UN divided it into Arab & Jewish states
Arabs given less than ½ land, Jews more, but more Arabs there
Zionist Movement
1/22/09
More of Occupation 101
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harsh conditions
Oslo
territories got worse after that, but U.S. wouldn’t know
economic/social (health) rights declined the worst
wasted $
Jan. 2006—Hamas got the seats to form a majority government
since ’67, 12,000 homes destroyed
Jews get many luxuries Palestinians don’t get
being there first
day to day life
women being beaten
1/24/09
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Hamas—gov. in Gaza
- responsible for lots of suicide bombings
- also Fatah—West Bank
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1/27/09
“I can’t die”—p26, she thinks that she is still safe amid the danger.
Personal read-through
This makes it seem so much more possible
1/28/09
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“bump into”--.planning an accident
personal moments, private moments —> this gives us a feel for who she is
comfort herself
trying to impress, make jealous
Did she ever stop loving Colin?
what is imagines, what is real?
her voice of Colin
loves him
he beats her @ scrabble, uses big words, and tells all stories as if they are blues songs
love him but he doesn’t fit into her life
Does he stifle her?
She admired his adventurousness
they are equal
she has loved and learned
her goodbye to Olympia
this freedom
becoming who she is
Russian drinking songs?
Right before she leaves
A realization?
Aloneness
Reflecting on a recent break-up?
Preparing herself
“to console myself”—giving meaning to what she cannot understand
She has privileges
What she brings to the table
Overseas
Why did that outfit make a difference? How could it have helped?
That woman’s voice
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Culture shock
Extremely scary to feel like you could tumble off the edge
More Israelis killed in car crashes—this can say many things
Decide who certain ppl are: Michael, Joe, Gili
*What kind of technology do they have over there? How connected to the outside world?
Intro to curfew—Not feeling real
Shift into speaking about the situation
policies of Israel and Jewish ppl—draw a line
ideas evolve
*What’s she write, what does she speak
Notes from training—give an idea of the ISM
Still in Jersusalem
Noticing her privileges. This makes her feel somewhat safer?
Still in awe
Jehan
curiosity—“What’s your name”—brought in later
start smoking—again
1/28/09
My passion needs to grow throughout
1/28/09
Rehearsal
1/29/09
Occupation 101 part 5
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majority Israelis there b/c it’s cheap
Jewish settlers have privileges @ expense of Palestinians
like Apartheid
US supports Israel; Israel could not do what it’s doing w/o US
US support for Israel
lying through omission
the occupation is technically illegal —> Rachel mentions this
US taxpayers pay for this
Israel receives 1/3 US $ for aid
Rachel would be horrified that things are worse now
loving resistance, not a loving outrage
Did Rachel not take that advice?
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She was protecting a Dr.’s home
Met Joe @ college
Joe Carr
“initiative, creativity, incredible organizer”
“kind, warm, passionate light-hearted, fun”
Alan Rickman
2/4/09
Rachel had doubts.
2/25/09
Been working on lines, need to get back to table work
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Jan. 31st
Joe
remember Russia
Neighborhoods!
shocked by the low standard of living, comparing it to US
still adjusting—I didn’t know what at all to expect
The leaders make war—marinate w/ this
*What are the banners for?
Feb. 1st
This is a story a/b retrieving the body
Recall it, relive it
“go back” to your country?
This is fucking scary.
This is not easy to talk about, I am disturbed
Olive grove
What is it a/b that hand?
Dream a/b falling —> all this scary shit brings it up
I’m starting to understand better why I’m there
She’s lost, she’s young, in her 20s, and trying to find herself
She’s just like anyone else
Feb. 4th
Dr. Samir? A man w/ fam who has accepted her?
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the fig tree
The peaceful, homey scene w/ the bulldozers
ominous, lurking
the normality of their lives vs. the extraordinary circumstances
Dr. Samir is someone special to me
Feb 6th
Rode on bulldozer—“Cowgirl”
Starts fun but it was so dangerous
the constant ominous presence of the IDF
Feb 7th
children…it comes back to this so much
my experiences w/ kids there
the differences for me
I’m constantly thinking
the current situation as I see it
2/26/09
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“I am in Rafah” ¶ where does this come from
We’re all children —> this ties in all together.
What is so disturbing a/b the curiosity? They care but they don’t care
That is what is disturbing a/b it
These tanks seem very creepy, eerie, v. “1984”
This bizarre new life
4/6 others
How could this have happened?
Politics
tutelage
Resisting
unbearable lightness
This is what I have learned
I have come to see this
It makes more sense to me now
I feel a duty to these ppl.
Feb 11th
observations
What was I doing there?
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Scary life
Feb. 20th
Do you understand?
She is naïve, she thinks she cannot be hurt, she still feels outside
My mom
Reading mom’s email
Rachel has made her mom more aware
Her passion must be infectious
support
Feb 28th, letter to mom
the strangeness of their lives—cartoons & unusable rooms for example
Their sense of humor is warped to me
Palestinians have really accepted me
They amaze me, after all I’ve seen there
confessing her worries
- DOUBTS
she shares w/ her mom
her hopes and dreams
ashamed of America
joking she is changed but the same
We see a new Rachel now
This is a change
This is who she is
She’s always writing
Todd—close friend from home?
She knows Todd understands
talk w/ Alice?
choosing new house?
2/28/09
Scattered
Deviant
too loud
Puget Sound—location?
Reading through…not focused
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Play w/ it, have fun
3/2
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March 1st
Some kind of announcement?
An email from her father—strange? exciting?
How does she read this?
Don Remfert?
Opening up, honesty
Not feeling at risk
She goes to her dad for lots of advice
Explain why re: France
imagination
What brings this memory on? Jobs?
Memories of Olympia
“hippie”
HAVE FUN
Why is she so calm?
insecurity
feel like an outsider
What does she mean exactly, the image is unclear. What is the image?
What is this list?
choices—she is thinking ahead
- she is excited for her future
Realization
I want to not be afraid, there is this weakness inside me
March 9th, March 13th
daily life there
She feels toward this
How does this affect her? How does she change from being there?
Written to her mom—v. strong connection
Doubts, fears
This is who she has been all along but also who she has become now. This monologue is Rachel.
She just can’t see how someone could side w/ Israel & defend them
Explaining to her mom
Defensive
Passion
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Situational differences
Feelings
Who else would she share this w/?
Desire to be home, to go home
fear of after, how she will feel after
She knows how hard it will be to go.
3/3/09
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“I am allowed to see the ocean” p17 in script—this is ridiculous to me
Lighten it up. The subject matter is serious but she is an extraordinarily fun person
pS28—list of what?
pS30—guilt of translation issue
- guilty, worried, clearing head
S32—she did think @ one time it was extremist
Read-thru
Goal: be completely off-book by March 18th
3/9/09
• messy
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smokes
writes
thinks
draws
hesitates
asks
ponders
entertains
loves
attaches herself
falls
contemplates
remembers
experiences
sees
watches
helps
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wonders
Cries
Aches
ethereal
It’s got to be real for me.
What is she feeling every moment?
3/11/09
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Rachel is always busy doing something
She’s not usually just talking
Crayola —> arms down
Eyes to sky —> hand down
Who I’m talking to, given circumstances, what I want
*Night before I leave for Gaza
“Mother used to walk me” —> play to Y.R., use Y.R.
S6—“shell-shocked” —> refer to journal
“I will not turn in…” S6, odious, terrible: turn in more work, etc.
S7—split line—salmon, ppl who were here first, mom—all should flow
3/15/09
Lines are less of a concern, not it’s Rachel I have to focus on:
Her style, look, stance, movement, voice, way of speaking, likes, dislikes, and EXPERIENCES.
3/19/09
Rachel Corrie Facts . org
Web site claiming that “MNiRC” does not tell the whole story. I think that even though this does
not lead me to learn/understand much about Rachel herself, it is good info to know about.
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I have to make people care about Rachel
grit, energy
finding voice & purpose
“Thank you for your email”—she always thanks for emails
No matter what, she believes it
trying to initiate a “sister city” program
“Death of an Idealist” on YouTube
-the music
Ponytail
Rachel Corrie interview on Youtube
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children
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Israel claims to have been digging out bombs
middle & ring
passionate
never did dishes
messy
met Colin 1998
Paul Gaugain—google
lived on Adams St.
Rachel Aliene Corrie
Joe Carr—American ISM AKA Joseph Smith
British ISM: Tom Dale
Occupation 101
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some think God has promised the place to the Jews
majority—ordinary Israelis for cheap housing
comparison to apartheid
not understanding
US supports Israel
Americans see Israel as an asset
Lying thru omission
The Occupation goes against 4th Geneva Convention
Israel receives 1/3 $
Veto power for Israel in UN
OIL
2nd Intifada in 2000
shooting @ children w/ stones
suicide bombers—“weapons of the weak”
- act of desperation
Checkpoints
little access to schools, hospitals
freedom of movement
75% of Palestinians live in poverty
Access to university
carry on as if life is normal
medical care
Aug 2005—Israel comply w/ int’l. law
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Over 4 mil in camps
“cleansing”
protecting a dr.’s home
Opposition
stupid tactics
3/20/09
The Killing Zone
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planes flying overhead constantly
3 Palestinians for every 1 Israeli
all say it’s a response
Rachel—1st American killed
Alice Coy—Brit
thought she could protest like in America
Dr. Samir—smoker
little girl shot in back of head
Tom Hurndall
Alison Phillips—older woman, Scottish?
Laura Gordon—from Pittsburgh
3/23/09
Run-through
3/25/09
Work on scenes
From “I didn’t intend” to “damn fine situation to go out in”
Notes:
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loosen up
pS6—record “Studying the history…possible” and play back
Note to self: take risks
Feb. 7 —> I must really feel that anger. Imagine someone I love inside that camp
get familiar w/ props/costume
fun
pauses not so big
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lines lines lines!!!
Colin is a bit of a stoner
comfortable anywhere
great @ laptop on floor
the shock of a new place
pS16 demonstrate white truck w/ hand
leaving message for Mom—make it message-y
3/26/09
Special Thanks:
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Feb. 7th
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Grant Kretchik
Doc Woertendyke
Andrew Stephens
Chris Malone
Thom Caska
Roger Salerno
last monologue
the anger should build in these 2 b/c eventually I stand in front of this tank
passion
anger, scared, sad, guilty
last mon. “ I think it’s a good idea” as response
her experience in Palestine
- leaving high school
- no clue compared to after
bigger than I ever though
not leaving so slowly
experiment w/ “company car” scene, almost like stand-up
During rehearsal Ashley asked me how I was feeling. I do feel concerned but at the same time I feel
like it will all come together. I told her that I don’t yet feel in the right spot, both physically and
emotionally. Ashley says the physicality is definitely getting there.
I just want to do justice to Rachel Corrie and her experiences.
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After tonight’s rehearsal, especially, I feel like I am taking more of an emotional journey w/ it all.
Rachel is a different person from when she goes to when she leaves.
How is she different?
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she has seen what she could never even imagine
She knew the facts before, but to really live it brings out that anger
Questioning “goodness of human nature”
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3/28
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Run-thru of whole show
hard on voice, need to breathe
Rachel has a wider stance
Notes:
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beginning:
- more nrg
- project
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wrap jacket around waist
show craig pic
Harvard prof—stand
pin bangs
fun life—needs work
Russian—diagonal when on box
Jan 23, 2003
Outrage—ppl shooting in front of me
2 bulldozers—tanks —> keep imagery
p31 discover it’s a shrug
bag on SR of block
“Dad?”—excited
company car—work w/ Robby
grab bed “when that explosive”
How many times have I moved?
Today’s rehearsal:
This is the first rehearsal where I feel like I’ve really become Rachel. I am so physically and
emotionally exhausted. I’m a little worried because I’m not sure how exactly I will make it through
Sunday—not only 2 shows in one day, but the opening day!!
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3/29
Before run-thru
• They just shot right in front of me
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Should show personal responses —> move from narrating into feeling
SEND BIO
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find tape recorder sooner
Notes on Line
“Write article for Mon…”
“Almost everyone I know & have known”
“Notes from training”
“Palestine” —> not Rafah
“We’ve been wavering”
“Hitler vs. Mom, Witney”
“Call Gili for talk”
“March 1st”
“April”
“Shooting inside hospital”
Russian
Scene Work
“Fun Life”
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Sure of self on “They are here…strawberry milkshakes”
“We are all born”
• find passion
be at peace
“Feb 1st”
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outrage
OMG
almost on top of self
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not grounded nrg
Olives —> talk to Aseel —> way of life
this happened and this happened and this happened
Crazy van
• play it up
“Choices”
• after go down SR
“I think”
• bittersweet
4/1
Very few days till show!
w/ fun-thru, felt like I was finally getting comfortable as Rachel, esp. w/ set. It felt like my own
My 2 concerns are:
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the arc. Rachel is different when she is in Palestine—a change occurs there
What happens:
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She believes she can change this
She meets wonderfully sweet people who care for her even though she sees that no one cares for
them
• She doesn’t understand this, she wants to change this
She experiences their world and wants to help.
Emotionally, at the end of the run-through I wasn’t feeling it. For most of the show “in Palestine” I felt
like a robot. In a way I do feel that she is a bit of a shell of her former self. But still, she feels. Need to
access some sense memory as well as watch some more footage.
4/2
Notes! on yesterday’s run-thru
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don’t show kaffeyah till pS6, put it on on S9
after “Chris in Gaza” —> use it to explain
pS8 —>more playful
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4/3
After today’s rehearsal I feel good. We unfortunately didn’t get to run through the whole thing, but we
got through to “How you survive in a non-existent place” which is nearly the end.
I feel like emotionally I am on the right track. Physically I am there. I understand her movements, I get
her body.
Emotionally…I wish I could have gotten to do the whole show (which will happen tomorrow many
times during tech). So much comes together in the last monologue that I feel is a buildup from the
whole beginning of the show.
But I am having more fun with it, exploring more.
I have talked w/ Grant also tonight. He told me it’s great work but his only suggestion would be to try
and discover more. He told me that there is great storytelling going on, which is good, but to also try to
discover things in the moment. He said not to worry, they are just minor adjustments. I agree, I think
it’s just about that last step to take me to where the show needs to be.
Excited for tech tomorrow.
4/4
Notes on last night’s performance:
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Find the discoveries. Make it new
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Show shirt on “Progressive white kids”
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“Our voices” —> show
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Connect Dairy Queen to “I look at things”
- don’t keep it separate
Tech—not really for the actors, so unfortunately I didn’t get even one single run-thru.
I am not concerned so much a/b lines or transitions, but just the character. Like I mentioned before,
physically I am alive. I just need more nrg from the beginning (this is a not I’ve gotten a number of
times). Also, I need to find the passion and change of Rachel from being a young, optimistic girl to a
knowledgeable, capable woman. She grows so much. She finds her calling in Palestine. She understands her purpose.
This MUST be clear to the audience. Realize that her education about Palestine happened a lot in Palestine. When she goes there she is shocked by what she sees. Then she begins to understand how life is
there & then finds her calling.
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She is unorganized & organized at the same time
She is young, excited, and confused and lost
She wants everything
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pS10 —> ”Hey-Hey, Hey-Hey”
- while shooting six-guns
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hand on stretcher, arm up in air
pS16 dream delivered to DSL “Had a dream a/b falling”
“I swear on my mother’s grave” —> Freak Out
weapons of mass destruction
Ashley’s notes:
• stand farther out w/ diary-reading in beginning
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great use of bed
show pictures sooner & longer
“implications of words” w/ sweet smile
Feb 7 more grim
“Nasser Hospital”
more passion @ end
“Had a dream about falling” SR below ladder
Blocking Changes
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“Rafah. Ghost homes. Glow…” around bed
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How does she feel about this? How is she affected by what she sees?
“Had a dream a/b falling” after Feb 1st—by stair bottom.
arm up w/ white stretcher
What emotions she feels:
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anger
confusion
despair
sympathy
Sadness
fear
She is young, she is naïve
“I know it’s me. That’s my job.”
A realization
This is where a change should happen into even more passion, more directed.
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I feel that good & kind of exhausted drain after this rehearsal, even though I didn’t get to do an entire,
full run-thru. I can go there. I feel like I just need to open up and take risks and explore.
4/4
To do:
print more pics!
Tomorrow:
Ask a/b
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door @ end
curtain call
Reviewed lines
Ones I’ve been missing (and didn’t even realize):
pS6 “combing for what was here before and taking inventory of what is now. There’s the chance”
pS13 “By the time the whole group of us had schwarma and…”
“As the training went on, there was noise and…”
pS16 “like the cliffs in Utah, but I kept holding on, and when each new foothold…”
“I didn’t have time to think about anything…”
pS21 “Maybe you should try to get Dad to quit his neo-liberal job and become a math teacher.”
pS23 “For information about the report and other issues related to the destruction of civilian water supplies in Rafah, please contact Rachel.”
pS28 “sleep in those beds w/ the white knitted blankets.”
“And you’re inside w/ the box of blue plastic gloves for cooking and the no self-harm contracts and the
anti-bacterial hand cleanser.”
pS30 “9pm Intensive Care Unit. 12 year-old girl shot from tower in school near Nasser Hospital.”
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4/7
Performance 1, Sunday 4/5, 2:00
Didn’t feel too nervous before the show. Remembered all lines/cues, had no trouble there. Audience was rough, didn’t react to anything. I felt a little stiff, but overall was pleased w/ my characterization.
Performance 2, Sunday 4/5, 8:00
Much better performance on my part, and much more responsive audience. Had energy and
passion at a level that I need to have every performance. Did lots of jumps backstage to keep energy up
which I think helped.
Performance 3, Monday 4/6, 8:00
Good performance, starting to feel comfortable in the role—in a good way, though, that allows
me to explore and dig a little deeper with the character.
Small audience. Hope that Pace people come out tomorrow for the last show.
Death in Gaza
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*Why did Yasser Arafat reject deal to have control of Gaza?
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4/8
Performance 4/7, #4
Final performance, and best audience turn-out. Wasn’t as vocally warmed-up as I should have
been, but overall a good performance. Every show I feel like I find something different to explore with
the character, physically & emotionally.
After the performance I am so incredibly sad that the majority of my project is finished. Not
only is the character so close to my heart, but the subject itself is so important to me. Working on this
actually makes me want to go to Palestine. This is the best project I could have ever picked to do.
4/10
Even though the Kraine performances are done, there will still be more. One on 4/25 at Bluestockings, a small bookstore on the Lower East Side. Also, hopefully one at Pace with Left Forum, if I
can get in touch with the man in charge.
Overall Review of my project:
What I set out to do:
Choose a challenging show and have it performed both in the Pace Community and in the NY
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Theater community.
My Name is Rachel Corrie is perhaps one of the most challenging shows I could have picked. It
is a 1-woman show, involves a lot of narration, and is about a real person.
Through my project I hoped to not only work on my skills as an actor, but learn more about how
NY theater is run (as opposed to university theater).
What I learned from it all:
I took away much much much more from this project than I intended.
First, I learned a lot about putting on shows and about performing in NYC. I never would have
guessed everything was going to be so expensive to start with. Also, I was involved in every aspect of
the show—not just the acting. I helped with set, costumes, recruiting an SM, booking the space, getting
grants, publicizing, and anything in between. I wasn’t the mastermind behind it all, of course, but I was
involved in so many ways. I have the feeling that this is what my theater experiences are going to be
like for a while—I’ll have to pitch in for more than just acting.
As an actor, I love exploring characters who are or were once living people. For this show,
there were so many resources for me—photos online, documentaries, Rachel’s entire published works,
among websites for certain aspects of her life—her school’s website, the ISM website, and so on. I
found it most fascinating to actually watch Rachel speak in some interviews I found on Youtube. All of
this was great for me to look at. It was a challenge and a pleasure to get to explore Rachel’s deep passion and creativity.
The last and most important thing I gained from this is what I can least explain. First, I feel an
unbelievable connection to Rachel and the Corrie family. I absolutely love them all and want to perform
this show any chance I get. I also now have a real understanding of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and I
am much more educated about it. I would actually like some day soon to travel to Palestine myself, because I feel that even though I understand what’s going on, I really don’t understand at all.
5/2/09
Last night was the Pace performance, which was by far the best one.
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I think having a bit of a break in between the Kraine performances and the Pace on gave me time to
let everything get into my body more.
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I feel like I understood how to execute the humor better as well
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I had more passion, which I think I got from doing more research, such as seeing Rachel, a documentary as well as meeting Rachel’s parents.
Overall I feel like everything that was there before was there, but magnified by 10.
Conclusion
Keeping a journal throughout the rehearsal process of a show offers many benefits for an actor. First, it
serves as an outlet to organize thoughts, from basic research to character research, table work, and technical and personal notes. Additionally, it allows the actor to document his process. Understanding how
actors work can seem like an impossible task, even to the actor himself, but having the opportunity to
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get everything out of their head and onto paper. Not everything in the journal will make sense, but eventually it all comes together. Oftentimes actors will have questions about a character but not have an immediate answer. By simply writing the question down in the journal, having time to think, and then to
come back to the question will sometimes bring realizations to light that no one would have had the ability to notice before. Last, having the chance to look back at all the work put into a show is beneficial for
an actor who finds that he suits the role well, and that he may return and perform the role once again.
Additionally, keeping a journal for this particular show is essential. To truly understand the role
of Rachel in My Name is Rachel Corrie, an actor must constantly have a journal and want to write everything in it. By the conclusion of my project and while finishing my journal, I discovered an inexplicable connection to Rachel and her family. I also have opened my eyes to what is going on in Palestine
and hope to one day travel there to gain an even better understanding. And most importantly, through
keeping an actor’s journal, I have learned more about how I function artistically and can utilize that
knowledge on future projects which will only help me develop as an actor.
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A New Media Plan for VisitBritain’s “Transatlanticism”
Gabrielle Goetz
Précis
The success of an advertising campaign lies in its media plan. No matter how inventive an idea
or how creative the execution, it is all a waste if the proper audience doesn’t receive the message. When
a representative from VisitBritain, Britain’s national tourism agency, came to speak with my
International Marketing class in November I found a glaring problem with their “Transatlanticism”
campaign. Transatlanticism is VisitBritain’s attempt to market Great Britain to 25 – 34 year old
Americans through the use of cultural and artistic references. I found Transatlanticism compelling, it
seemed like a campaign that would strike a chord with the desired target - until I was informed the
campaign ran entirely on-line. While I understand the strength of digital advertising, I felt this campaign
would benefit by utilizing different media vehicles – so I decided to create a new media plan for
Transatlanticism.
The first step in trying to solve Transatlanticism’s problem was to understand the British culture.
The International Marketing Field Study course provided a comprehensive education in European
culture and advertising. It was in this class that I was introduced to the Transatlanticism campaign and
intrigued to choose this as the focus for my thesis. Through site visits on the field study portion of this
course, in Brussels and London, my eyes were opened to different aspect of international marketing. We
were fortunate to meet with experts in the marketing industry, visit the European Union, and get an
overall introduction to the European culture. My time in London led to a better understanding of the
Transatlanticism campaign and the message it was trying to sell to American travelers. After visiting
London, I was convinced that Transatlanticism could be a successful campaign if the message was
aimed at proper media vehicles.
Now that I had a full understanding of the campaign and the product, I needed an understanding
of the target. The VisitBritain representative had explained that they target market for Transatlanticism
was a group being named “Grups”. In the New York Magazine article, “Up With Grups” Adam
Sternbergh explains Grups as the new yuppie, the trendy group of young adults who are living adult
lives, with adult paychecks, but still enjoying the whims of youth. They are the exact target that would
react to a campaign focused on British culture, are interested in traveling, and have the money to travel
to Great Britain. To learn more about this target I utilized Simmons Choice III. It was through this
research that I discovered outdoor, print, and digital advertising would be the best vehicles to reach
Grups. These vehicles are highly targeted, which ensures that the message is reaching the correct target
and not being wasted on an inappropriate target.
It was through this target analysis that I found the media vehicles that will reach the Grup target
directly and with minimal waste. I can say with confidence that if VisitBritain implemented this media
plan the Transatlanticism campaign would be successful.
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