Addiction Resources in Athens

How do place and space affect those experiencing mental illness, specifically addiction, in Athens, Ohio? In class, we’ve talked in length about the relationships between space/place and race, gender, class, ability, and sexuality. We’ve learned about how those experiencing homelessness are affected by the place rules of their region. In terms of those experiencing addiction, I’m curious about the resources available to those recovering and how the community has worked to be inclusive and sensitive to those struggling with drugs or alcohol. 

Naturally, resources for those experiencing alcohol or drug addiction vary from city to city. If a city does not have many resources then the lack of space dedicated to helping those struggling with addiction might indicate that there is not a place for them within that society. Indirectly, the area is erasing and excluding a population of people by not allowing them to thrive.

According to the Ohio Substance Abuse Monitoring Network, one of the most commonly abused drugs in the region was heroin. As of 2018, it had become increasingly common for heroin to be cut with fentanyl. Opioid availability and addiction are common in Appalachia and the trends in Athens, OH seems to support this.

As for resources in Athens, there seemed to be a fair amount of rehabilitation centers or halfway houses dedicated to addiction. Health Recovery Services Inc. is specifically dedicated to helping those with addiction and offers different forms of outpatient treatment. Hopewell Health Center offers mental health services as well as one form of outpatient treatment. Chillicothe VA Med Center also offers outpatient rehab and mental health services. The John W. Clem Recovery House on Dairy Lane is dedicated to helping male alcoholics and drug addicts through recovery and hosts multiple 12 step programs. 

In terms of 12 step programs in the area, Alcoholics Anonymous has a large presence in Athens, especially for a rural town. With eighteen available meetings throughout the week at varying times, they are a relatively accessible service in the community. Narcotics Anonymous, a slightly smaller offshoot of AA, has four available meetings in the city of Athens. Additionally, Al-anon, providing services for those affected by a loved one’s addiction, has three established and available meetings in the city of Athens. 

Furthermore, the Gathering Place, “a community support program,” provides recovery resources and support for adults coping with mental illness. Though not specifically established to help those with addiction, this nonprofit organization does offer recovery help. Through health and wellness activities, linkage services, and advocacy programs, this community-run nonprofit has been an established part of the Athens community since 1976.

As a whole, Athens provides a large amount of addiction support. Because rural areas do not have as many addiction services as urban ones, those struggling with addiction are often without many options. Athens, however; does seem to have a fair amount of services. Ultimately,  in its creation of place for those experiencing addiction, the Athens community would appear to be relatively inclusive and supportive of its fellow community members. 

links referenced:

https://mha.ohio.gov/Portals/0/assets/ResearchersAndMedia/Workgroups%20and%20Networks/OSAM/DrugTrendReports/2018-Jan-Drug-Trends-Athens.pdf

The Sex Strike, a form of resistance.

The first time I heard of a Sex strike, I was eleven years old, sitting in front of the tv, watching the news with my parents. The news echoed the peaceful protest organized by the librarian women in the form of a sex strike in 2002. The protest was indented to push the regime of Charles Taylor in power at this time to integrate women in the negotiation process for peace, which ends up being a success. This protest was initiated by Leymah Gbowee, who won the Nobel peace prize in 2011.


Leymah Gbowee: “The men in our society were really not taking a stance. … We decided to do a sex strike to kind of propelling these silent men into action.”
https://www.registerguard.com/news/20190212/nobel-peace-prize-winner-leymah-gbowee-to-speak-at-uo-friday

So what is precisely the concept of a Sex strike? According to Wikipedia, sex strike or sex boycott is a method of non-violent resistance, in which one or more people voluntarily deprive themselves of all sexual practices with their partner (s) for achieving certain goals. This type of resistance has been used throughout history by Women as a temporary but a militant tool to bend the patriarchal power in which they evolve. It has been used in:
- Togo in 2012 to compel men to invest more in the opposition protest movement against the regime of the president Faure Gnassingbe,
- Kenya in 2008  to push the dialogue between the country's President, Mwai Kibaki and the Prime Minister Raila Odinga,
- Belgium in 2011 where a Belgium senator called for a sex strike to compel the country to form a new government

In a more recent period, the American actress, Alyssa Milano, called for a sex strike to protest strict abortion laws earlier this year.

Historians even found some proof of the use of such strategy in the ancient time, 411 years before j-c, by a Greek female comedian Lysistrata. Women through time have used sex strike to defend and claim rights or decisions generally in the seek of the wellbeing of the overall society. This strategy falls under what Hamdan-Saliba, Fenster (2012, July) categorized as pro-active tactics since it is indented to change an urgent situation with a method that is sure pacific, irredeemably aggressive in the eyes of men. Pro-active resistance includes the reclamation of meaningful space. In this case,  women take ownership of their bodies as a place and refine the rules that will be in effect in this space. It is interesting to see how a woman can use an instrument that is usually employed by the patriarchy to subvert them as a tool to fight this very patriarchy. Conversely, when looking at these stories, I paradoxically wonder if men can use sex strike as a protest strategy.




Hamdan-Saliba, H., & Fenster, T. (2012, July). Tactics and strategies of power: The construction of spaces of belonging for Palestinian women in Jaffa–Tel Aviv. In Women's Studies International Forum (Vol. 35, No. 4, pp. 203-213). Pergamon.

https://qz.com/958346/history-shows-that-sex-strikes-are-a-surprisingly-effective-strategy-for-political-change/

https://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2012/08/28/greve-du-sexe-au-togo-un-procede-deja-teste-avec-plus-ou-moins-de-reussite_1751986_3212.html

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gr%C3%A8ve_du_sexe

https://www.democracynow.org/2015/4/27/liberian_nobel_peace_prize_laureate_leymah

Ohio University Student Budget Protests

As the semester winds down for students in Athens, an impromptu protest group has sprouted up in response to the ongoing budget crisis the University's budget crisis. Recently, a group using the moniker "OU Fun Facts" has been plastering flyers in almost every building on campus, noting rising tuition costs and faculty cuts, while spending for administrators and athletics has been exponentially increasing. The group also recently held a rally on College Green, attracting about 100-150 participants total, combined of both students, faculty and residents. Several students and faculty members spoke out about the budget and demanded that the school take action to protect those who rely on the University the most. The rally then culminated in a march to Cutler Hall, where the group demanded to speak to President Nellis (https://www.thepostathens.com/article/2019/11/ohio-fun-facts-rally-budget-protest).

After the President refused to meet with the group, a motion was made to continue the protests at a later date. Recently, a round table discussion was held by the group which laid out some of it's goals and plans, "including no more cuts to faculty or academic programs, an improved research and teaching balance for faculty members, no more replacing tenured faculty positions with instructional faculty positions and no more reduction of benefits of faculty and staff" (https://www.thepostathens.com/article/2019/12/ou-fun-facts-holds-round-table-meeting).

I believe this issue ties in quite well to our discussion of resistance and protest that we finished the semester with. We clearly have a group of people are protesting their "right to thrive", who feel as though this budget issue is going to threaten people's academic and personal careers, while on the other hand, you have an administration who seems as though they are unwilling to make some of the cuts necessary to save the budget. As a senior who is about to graduate, I will be a bit sad that I won't be able to see the issue play out first-hand, but I will definitely be keeping an eye on things from afar, and hope that the students and faculty will be able to get the things they want accomplished done.

How Men "Walk a Mile in Her Shoes"

In reading and discussing geographies of fear and resistance in class, I was reminded of the international protest Walk a Mile in Her Shoes. Walk a Mile in Her Shoes is described on their website as “the international men’s march to stop rape, sexual assault and gender violence.” As an organization, their goal is to raise awareness about sexual violence against women by giving men an opportunity to educate other men. They claim that “you can’t understand another person’s experience until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes,” therefore they invite men to walk a mile in a pair of traditionally feminine high heels. 

On one hand, I think an event like Walk a Mile in Her Shoes can give men an opportunity to understand the real fear women feel on a day-to-day basis. If those participating in the walk choose to empathize and educate themselves then I think the event is an effective protest. It is widely understood that most violence against women is perpetrated by men. Through an event like this, men can hold each other accountable and take the time to gain respect and understanding for the intersectional experiences of women.

Further, this entire march reminds me of Kristen Day’s 2006 article “Being feared: masculinity and race in public space.” Day (2006) noted that many men in her study “seemed to find it strange to think that women would fear them in public spaces,” thus articulating how men, often white, are unaware of the threat many women feel they pose in public. In my experience as a woman, I have felt fearful of men in public spaces, particularly at night, due to contextualizing my vulnerability. I am given pepper spray, I am told never to walk alone, I am pressured to always remain alert and aware when by myself at night. These practices are pretty much universal for all women, especially young women on college campuses, and they are socially constructed for us to protect ourselves against men. 

On the other hand, some have criticized Walk a Mile... for reinforcing gender conformity. Many fraternities participate in annual Walk a Mile... marches and have come under fire for making light of the violence they are meant to be fighting against. Krista Millay discussed this issue in her 2017 article “We Need Fraternity Men to Do a Lot More Than ‘Walk a Mile in Her Shoes.’” Millay (2017) stated that many view the event as “fun or funny because ‘men don’t walk around in high heels.’” She then goes on to discuss how this interpretation of the march reinforces gender conformity due to heels being gendered female. Apparently, it’s funny for a man to dress like a woman because femininity can only be performed by cis women. As stated above, I think that if men wishing to participate in Walk a Mile... choose to further educate themselves, empathize, and understand the way women experience the world, then I think the event is great. However, if men simply slip on a pair of heels and walk a mile, then I agree that more needs to be done.

Photo credit: Frank Baird 

Day, Kristen. 2006. “Being feared: masculinity and race in public space.” Environment and Planning A 38(3):539-586.

Millay, K. (2017, July 4). "We Need Fraternity Men to Do a Lot More Than 'Walk a Mile in Her Shoes'", retrieved from https://everydayfeminism.com/2017/06/fraternity-men-need-to-do-more/

Women's Role in Public Space and the kNOw Fear Movement

Women's use of public space and women's fear have a correlated connection. No matter where you go, you are likely to see the physical layout and the construction of urban landscapes designed by men. It's realized that these public spaces are ultimately to be used by men and they have access over those spaces. We have to start accessing how organizational structures are contributing to the overall play in gender meanings and identities. Women's behavior, identity, and mobility around the city all take effect on their lives, (Whitson, pg. 78, 2017) ultimately leading to fear in using those public spaces. As developing countries and other areas modernize, more urban centers are increasing and that calls for us to take action and give a voice to those who are marginalized because of their class, gender, and ethnic background. If we do this, it will encourage women to take use of public space and not be afraid during certain scenarios.

Looking at public space in India specifically, the kNOw Fear movement was established to solve this problem of restricted access and fear with women. Conducting research on public space, they interviewed men and women in separate cities and villages throughout India. What they found is that men's movement was unrestricted while women's movement was kept to a minimum. Women only felt safe going to shops and markets by themselves in contrast to recreational areas such as movie theaters, restaurants and parks due to the feeling of encountering harassment or sexual violence. The kNOw Fear movement states that "Young men are a part of the kNOw Fear movement to redefine male roles by rethinking the notion of masculinity." They've began to counteract women's fear by monitoring areas of public space, advocating for political change, and raising other types of awareness. As a man, I think this is really cool, considering we often don't think about how public space benefits us.

As time progresses and more cities develop, we hope to see a change in the way cities are planned. In the future, spaces should be accounted for everyone using them and give equal mobility for everyone no matter their background or gender. With active participation and effort in taking back public space, we can change the landscape of women's fear.

References

Whitson , R. (2017). Gendering the Right to the City, 78–86. Retrieved from https://learn-us-east-1-prod-fleet01-xythos.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/5c1270dbb5a74/6396270?response-content-disposition=inline; filename*=UTF-8''feminist%20spaces%20ch%204B.pdf&response-content-type=application/pdf&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Date=20191207T194201Z&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Expires=21599&X-Amz-Credential=AKIAIBGJ7RCS23L3LEJQ/20191207/us-east-1/s3/aws4_request&X-Amz-Signature=a1118e3bb87b9aaa25a3a54418469e77b594cf9ca186aa8e1425214c6e08aa36

IDRC Website . (n.d.). Retrieved December 7, 2019, from https://www.idrc.ca/en/about-idrc.

Art's Spatiality with Kara Walker

Artist Kara Walker incorporates space in her explorations of identity, race, gender, and violence. Gone: An Historical Romance of a Civil War as It Occurred b’tween the Dusky Thighs of One Young Negress and Her Heart (1994) and A Subtlety, or the Marvelous Sugar Baby (2014) both impact and are impacted by historical narratives, inviting spectators to be audience members. The first piece is a wall art installation of silhouettes cut from black paper. In addition to the title, these eighteenth-century caricatures allude to Mitchell’s (1936) Gone with the Wind, a literary work that impacted Walker. She was captivated by the novel but frustrated by the heroine’s limited perspective; Scarlett O’Hara’s lens illuminates nuances that have resounding implications for positionality Walker later suggests ("A Subtlety, or the Marvelous Sugar Baby", 2014). Thus, her installation is her subsequent personal tension as an African American reader, “wanting to be the heroine and wanting kill the heroine at the same time” ("A Subtlety, or the Marvelous Sugar Baby", 2014). This visual storytelling utilizes projectors to augment the white walls and black figures into a cyclorama, which is a panoramic image often associated with depictions of Civil War battles. Walker’s (1994) piece plays with depth and perception, while also acting as an illusion. The silhouettes themselves could simply suggest the past, yet also embody avoidance; one doesn’t look directly at the subject—being the figure—which notates a narrative that is often silenced.

Ten years later, the sphinx and Mammy archetype transform into a gigantic sugar sculpture. A Subtlety, or theMarvelous Sugar Baby (2014) notates power dynamics itself, let alone being within a former Domino Sugar Factory. A “subtlety” was a miniature sugar sculpture depicting royalty and for royal consumption. Incorporating Mammy within a different context challenges its associated connotations of servitude; her position isn’t one of subjection or abuse, but rather withholding. Additionally, she’s surrounded by thirteen children formed from molasses. This juxtaposition of a desired commodity—sugar—and its unwanted, lingering bi-product—molasses—shows exploitation and marginalization; slaves often harvested sugar for the white and wealthy. However, shaping bodies from both sugar and molasses highlights slaves as individuals, materializing their experience.

Thus, while they explore power dynamics, Walker’s artworks resonate with Mitchell’s “representations of space” and “representational space” (1995). The Domino Sugar Factory—once a place of industry, capital, and order—became disordered by molasses sticking to its walls but then reclaimed by Walker, who sought visibility for a population. While I’m sure she’d like individuals to view her work, A Subtlety, or the Marvelous Sugar Baby (2014) sought to legitimize a narrative that often is overshadowed by Protestant colonists. In her interview with Art 21, Walker states, “What ‘black’ stands for in White America, what ‘white’ stands for in Black America are all loaded with our deepest psychological perversions, and fears, and longings” (2014). Ultimately, Walker’s pieces notate space’s tendency to be palpable yet abstract, manipulating social and cultural codes to offer different meanings (Hamdan-Saliba & Fenster, 2012)

References

"A Subtlety, or the Marvelous Sugar Baby". (2014, May 23). Retrieved from Art 21: https://art21.org/watch/extended-play/kara-walker-a-subtlety-or-the-marvelous-sugar-baby-short/

Contemporary Art from the Collection- Kara Walker. (2010-2011). Retrieved from The Museum of Modern Art: https://www.moma.org/collection/works/110565?

Kara Walker. (2019). Retrieved from Walker Art Center: https://walkerart.org/collections/artists/kara-walker

Hamdan-Saliba, H. and Fenster, T. (2012). "Tactics and Strategies of Power: the Construction of Spaces of Belonging for Palestinian Women in Jaffa-Tel Aviv." Women's Studies International Forum 35: 203-213.

Mitchell, D. (1995). "The End of Public Space?: People's Park, Definition of the Public, and Democracy. Annuals of the Association of American Geographers 85:108-133.