Mental Health and Wellness Event
Cordelia Anderson, a prominent speaker and advocate for the prevention of sexual violence, spoke at Anoka Ramsey Community College’s Mental Health and Wellness event yesterday afternoon.
Students and faculty alike were encouraged to take part in the event and talk to various local agencies and organizations whose booths lined the hallways. Some of the groups included the Vet Center, which helps council and rehabilitate veterans, and the Green Dot program, whose goal is to prevent violence and assault by encouraging people to speak up. Students were given a variety of resources as well as free screening for depression, PTSD, and mood disorders.
The highlight of the event was a visit from Cordelia Anderson, a well known speaker with 35 years of experience working with abuse victims and their abusers. Anderson runs Sensibilities and Prevention Services, which offers training and consultation and works with a number of organizations dedicated to ending sexual violence.
Anderson’s speech focused on the “Demand the Change” program launched by MNCASA, the Minnesota Coalition Against Sexual Assault. The program’s goal is to prevent commercial sexual exploitation and sexual violence by encouraging people to speak out against it and change the way it is viewed by society.
“The reality is, we live in a sexually toxic and pornified environment,” began Anderson. She referred to a number of pictures in her slideshow, ranging from billboard ads to children’s toys, explaining that while are there a lot of sexual messages used in advertising and media today, very few of them offer a healthy view of sexuality in general and many promote gender stereotypes.
In her many years working to prevent sexual violence, Anderson focused on teaching others how to not be victimized. Today, she addresses the bigger picture of what causes these problems and why they persist.
One of the problems she discussed was how sexual violence and sexual exploitation have become normal, accepted aspects of society, making it difficult to for people to speak up or recognize it. “If it’s just the way it is, if it’s perfectly normal, we’re not gonn’a speak up,” Anderson said.
“We are a consumer culture, and sex is a commodity,” Anderson further explained. She referred to the supply and demand aspect of society as another problem. Advertising, she said, especially products geared toward men, uses women’s bodies to sell products and promote the idea of women as commodities.
Anderson also explained how industries and the media reinforce and promote sexual violence and exploitation by influencing trends and redefining what is normal and acceptable, creating expectations in both men and women and defining what their roles are in society. These kinds of messages can also be profitable. “People make a lot of money knowing how to draw us in,” Anderson said.
Because many of these ideas are rooted in today’s popular culture, change is not easy. Many people do not want to act against what is normal, even if it means letting harmful trends continue, Anderson explained. People can help change these perceptions by speaking up, becoming socially accountable, and inspiring others to change as well.
Natascha, this is really well written and was very interesting to read. The quotes that you used were a nice enhancement to the story that was well organized and concise. I especially liked your closing paragraph - I like how you sort of made it a call-to-action type statement. good job.
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