Feminist Theory

Empowerment

After this weeks lecture, readings, and videos I have decided to focus this blog post on the importance of empowerment that was emphasized in both our class lecture and the lecture given by Whitney Shadowens.  Dr. Smith told us in our weekly lecture that the feminist theory is: "An analysis of women's subordination for the purpose of finding out how to change, specifically to empower women."  Whitney Shadowens made a point of how important it is for women to gain empowerment when dealing with IPV.  She told us women who are victims of IPV don't need to be told one way to fix their problems, but they need to be able to go to a safe place to talk about what they are going through and have someone listen, without giving their 'two cents'.  These victims need to given different options of changing their situation and inevitably need to choose which method works best for their individual experience.
Each and every woman is different so it is important to realize that no two women will be going through the exact victimization of IPV.  Whitney also listed different reasons of why women do not leave their abusive relationships.  Some reasons were: shame, fear, shared children, denial, and lack of financial resources.  Depending on the reason for staying, each woman will handle her situation differently.  My step-sister was unfortunately a victim of domestic violence.  She wanted to leave but two reasons kept her in the relationship.... 1) She was fearful of her safety and what might happen if she just decided to leave one day.  2)  She and her then husband have three kids together.  At the time two of their children had moved out for college and the third was a Senior in high school, still living at home.  She feared that uprooting her son or leaving her son would interfere with his final year in high school and his future in college.  She feared that her family would fall apart.  She feared that her sons might blame her for everything.
After counseling and having someone there to listen to her and give her many different options she finally gained the courage to leave her situation.  All three of her sons are in college or working now, and she is happily living on her own with no fear, no shame, and no guilt to bear every day.

(photo retrieved from: http://transgenderlawcenter.org/archives/9392)