Samantha Frew Blog Post #1

   

While I was reading "The Girl" by Sharon Olds there were certain points made during class that I wanted to comment on as well. This poem was a very harsh and depressing poem. It was something that one does not see talked about in many poems. However, this poem was one of my favorites that we have read in this class this far. Her poem is bold and disturbing but I do not think that many people realize that rape occurs in many women's lives. While the girl is being raped she is thinking about her normal life saying that while this was happening "everything went dark, the gym went dark, and her mother's kitchen, even the globes of light on the rounded lips of her mother's nesting bowls went dark." This girl was ready to give up. I think this part of the poem was when she thought that she was going to die and those were the last memories that she had of her normal life. However, she lives and goes on to having to relive her rape in order for the men that did this to her and her friend to be convicted. The poem writes "At the trial she had to say everything--her big sister taught her the words--she had to sit in the room with them and point to them." It seems as though many women who are rapped do not even tell anyone about their rape because they do not want to relive what had happen to them and they hope to forget. This is what I mainly wanted to talk about on why is it that women have to constantly relive what has happened to them in order for them to accept it and go on with their lives. Even when women seek counseling after getting raped the therapist makes them relive every last detail over and over again just so they can move on with their life. Many survivors of rape end up having PTSD or post traumatic stress disorder. I did not realize the extent to which what women go through after experiencing something as traumatic as rape and I found a web site that goes into what women deal with after they are raped. http://www.aaets.org/article178.htm.  I also wanted to talk about what the poem said at the end. Olds writes "Now she goes to parties but does not smoke, she is a cheerleader, she throws her body up in the air and kicks her legs and comes home and does the dishes and her homework". This statement can mean alot of things however, it seemed that in class everyone thought it was a way of saying that she over came her rape and was able to move forward. Alot of rape victims end up believing that they did something wrong to deserve being raped. Women also sometimes believe that after they are raped that sex is all that they are good for. It is very hard for women to conquer something like this and I was glad that the end of the poem showed that it was possible to recover after such a tragic thing such as rape can be overcame. I wanted to share a website I found for rape victims that gives support to those who need it. It was very interesting to see how many people conquer something this awful and this web site is a great source of that.
http://www.dancinginthedarkness.com/