REPP Videotape Project

In 1984, REPP set out to start a video tape project, in which the REPP program at Ohio State would create video tapes about how to start a prevention program.

The Office of Women’s Services circulated these videotapes as part of REPP’s outreach program to other universities and institutions that were interested in creating their own program. Sue Blanshan described the project:

“REPP is producing a series of video tapes on rape education, self-defense, rape education for men, and the development of rape education programs. Very shortly, cassette tapes of radio talk shows in which REPP has participated will be available. Through this and other multi-media/outreach activities, we hope to build a flagship program, upon which other universities and community groups can draw in developing similar programs.”

The video tape project was created with the intention of training other REPP facilitators, as well as for dissemination to other universities. The tapes were were scripted, and were all taped in a workshop setting, with one or two facilitators and a group of attendees. The videotape project was created mostly in 1985, and contained five parts: the basic workshop/training, self defense, young women’s workshop, men’s rape awareness workshop, and rape prevention for black women.

Each workshop discussed the myths about rape, and the importance of women trusting their gut instincts. The advice and attitudes of the facilitators was very radical and women’s lib-oriented, and very cutting-edge for its time. Overall the workshops seemed very empowering, even 40 years later. They were very typical of their time in certain ways, as they focused mainly on the scenario where a woman is raped by a man, but they took care in debunking racial stereotypes about rape, and acknowledged the role that power and privilege play in upholding a rape culture. The workshops were really the first of their kind, and garnered a lot of attention from other universities in the country, and in organizations within Columbus and on campus.

Each of the five workshops took several minutes to go over REPP’s five point “re-definition” of rape:

Violence
Humiliating/degrading
Power and Control
Public Issue
Affects all women
Affects all men (added by the Men’s Task Force in their presentation)

The point of the definition was to emphasize that rape is a means of controlling, humiliating and maintaining power over women, and it is a violent act, and not a sexual act. The facilitators were very empowering in their sessions, and stressed that since rape affects all women, it needs to be treated as a public issue. The only way to fix a broken culture is to bring the issues to light.

The men’s workshop was interesting, because it did not talk at all about situations where men might feel vulnerable or be vulnerable to sexual assault, and did not cover issues of male sexuality. It was heavily focused on how men perpetuate a rape culture, and a discussion of toxic masculinity. The facilitator tried to give scenarios where the attendees could imagine themselves feeling vulnerable or violated in order to help them understand how frequently women feel vulnerable and violated in a patriarchal society. The workshop also addressed the confusion of sex and violence.

For the most part, the workshops are still relevant. They were very typical of the 1980s, and were very engaging to watch (especially the self defense training). They were very empowering, and focused on encouraging women to feel safe in their own bodies, without the possession of a weapon, and without relying on a man for protection. The aggression and defensiveness that was encourage in the self-defense workshop was very typically second-wave feminism, and focused on rape as a way of exercising power. Now, rape is recognized as a way of exercising privilege, and the focus is less on women protecting themselves from men, and more on education, which was also a part of REPP in the 1980s. However, I do not feel that we have an effective empowerment program on campus, especially since SCE was disseminated. The self-defense workshop was empowering, and the visibility of REPP on campus for both men and women made a clear statement about what was wrong with the culture on Ohio State’s campus--a problem that still has not been solved.

Although the tapes did not focus at all on LGBT perspectives, or Asian-American and Latin-American perspectives, a whole hour-long tape was focused on rape culture for black women. eThe rape prevention for black women tape mostly consisted of discussion on how rape is different politically for the black community, and delved into the history of rape as a form of racist violence. The facilitator, Ruth Gresham, gave a comprehensive account of rape as a way of controlling black women during slavery and disorganizing black family life. Gresham’s lecture was reminiscent of ideas expressed by Angela Davis in her book, Women, Race & Class (1981). In the text, Davis discusses the myth of the black male rapist, as well as the myth that black women cannot be raped. Davis explains that rape charges were used to justify the lynching of black people, and that the oversexualization of black women became a stereotype used to invalidate instances of white men raping black women.

“The fictional image of the Black man as rapist has always strengthened its inseparable companion: the image of the Black woman as chronically promiscuous. . . If Black men have their eyes on white women as sexual objects, then Black women must certainly welcome the sexual attentions of white men. Viewed as ‘loose women’ and whores, Black women’s cries of rape would necessarily lack legitimacy,” (Davis (1981): 182).

Gresham referenced the Moynihan reports, which argued that black Americans were not economically disadvantaged compared to white Americans due to a lack of job opportunities, but instead due to the structure of black families. Moynihan created a caricature of black mothers as emasculating, and black men as lazy, and Gresham addressed these stereotypes in her workshop. She discussed how sexism and violence against black women works to create a rift within the black community and black family, and stated that the only way to tackle the issues of rape and racism together is by working through it within the black community as a whole. Gresham then goes on to compare African and European worldviews, with African worldviews being more community oriented, and European worldviews being more individualistic and centered on individual rights.

Gresham’s workshop was not exclusively for black women, and was intended to reach any gender or race, but specifically all members of the black community. Gresham also discussed the double dilemma that black women faced when bringing cases of rape and violence to court, because not only was rape not taken seriously in the 1980s, but black Americans were highly discriminated against in the court of law (not to say that either of those statements have changed since the 1980s). Overall, Gresham’s message for prevention was the same as all other workshops, and advocated that black women follow their instincts. However, she heavily stressed that black women and men know their history and organize together around issues of rape and violence against women.

I was most impressed by Gresham’s workshop, as well as by Deb Schipper and Nell Myhand’s Self Defense workshop. Schipper was a radical feminist, and wanted to advocate methods of prevention that did not require that women depended on other men or on weapons for protection. Knowing how to protect yourself and use your body as a weapon is empowering, and made me want to take a self-defense class! Schipper advocated that women replace sadness and anger and fear with self-confidence, and get in touch with their bodies and feeling so that they know how to aggressively and assertively respond to situations that bring them discomfort. Schipper and Myhand went over all of the weakest target points on the body, which included the eyes, nose, throat, solar plexus, groin, knees, shins, instep, and fingers.