DIY History | Transcribe | Campus Culture | Tess Catalano "Take Back the Night" and other academic essays, 1982 | Take back the night rewrite assignment Page 1

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Tess Catalano "Take Back the Night" and other academic essays, 1982

Take back the night rewrite assignment Page 1

[handwritten]
Catalano #10

Last month a women-only event called Women Take Back the Night was held in College Green Park. the purpose of the rally, as stated many times by the rally organizers, was to offer women a safe, public space to speak out about the violence experienced in their lives. As such, the rally was judged successful by the rally organizers.
   Many issues developed concerning the event. In particular the issue of the "rights" of men to participate in the rally -- [ostensibly] because it was held in a public park. In light of the plans of the rally organizers to hold a women-only event, and due to the nature and cultural dynamic of violence against women, attempts on the part of men to exercise their "right" to enter the park and participate in the rally can only be seen as selfish, disruptive and aiding the cultural permission given men to abuse women.
   The issue of ["public access"] rights is superfluous. Men who demanded to enter the park claiming they had a right to participate in the rally were only exercising a legal fist on the faces of the many women who were attending the rally. The rights of women have been violated for centuries. Women have been wanting and needing to enter that park, and public spaces like it, for years. Women can't -- because the risk is life threatening. (Sure, I can go in; I can also be kidnapped, raped, mutilated, and killed.) Men might say that it is not their fault that women cannot go into parks. They are wrong. It is their fault. Violence against women is a product of a sexist culture. Men receive priviledge from that culture in exchange for contributing and condoning it. It is time that men started taking responsibility for the priviledge they receive. Men are priviledged because they are men. Everything that exists in the mainstream culture, exists for men: jobs, sports, education, religion, sex, not to mention violence, war and nuclear destruction. The culture in which we live is patriarchal, it is man-centered. It also hates women. It objectifies us, sells us, rapes us and kills us. So you want to talk about rights? On

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[handwritten] Catalano #10 Last month a women-only event called Women Take Back the Night was held in College Green Park. the purpose of the rally, as stated many times by the rally organizers, was to offer women a safe, public space to speak out about the violence experienced in their lives. As such, the rally was judged successful by the rally organizers. Many issues developed concerning the event. In particular the issue of the "rights" of men to participate in the rally -- [ostensibly] because it was held in a public park. In light of the plans of the rally organizers to hold a women-only event, and due to the nature and cultural dynamic of violence against women, attempts on the part of men to exercise their "right" to enter the park and participate in the rally can only be seen as selfish, disruptive and aiding the cultural permission given men to abuse women. The issue of ["public access"] rights is superfluous. Men who demanded to enter the park claiming they had a right to participate in the rally were only exercising a legal fist on the faces of the many women who were attending the rally. The rights of women have been violated for centuries. Women have been wanting and needing to enter that park, and public spaces like it, for years. Women can't -- because the risk is life threatening. (Sure, I can go in; I can also be kidnapped, raped, mutilated, and killed.) Men might say that it is not their fault that women cannot go into parks. They are wrong. It is their fault. Violence against women is a product of a sexist culture. Men receive priviledge from that culture in exchange for contributing and condoning it. It is time that men started taking responsibility for the priviledge they receive. Men are priviledged because they are men. Everything that exists in the mainstream culture, exists for men: jobs, sports, education, religion, sex, not to mention violence, war and nuclear destruction. The culture in which we live is patriarchal, it is man-centered. It also hates women. It objectifies us, sells us, rapes us and kills us. So you want to talk about rights? On