Buried Voices

Story by Anonymous

Photograph by Misaki Saito

As a woman myself, I resonated strongly with the survivor’s story “Train Experience in NYC”. Almost any woman can testify that they have been sexually abused in some way in their lives. It's very frustrating and sad, but unfortunately it has been the reality for most of us through history. Victims of rape and sexual assault are often held accountable for the clothes they wear, some even claiming that their clothes were used to seduce the perpetrators of assault.

In our world, wearing a short skirt automatically makes you “slutty”, appearing as wanting to have sex with a man. On the other hand, if wearing a long skirt, the woman is seen as obedient, in a position of supports and servitude that disallows the expression of sexuality and any interest in sexual activity. Why should what we wear have to be interpreted in such a male-centric view? Clothing should be worn as a tool for self-expression, rather than reducing the wearer’s worth to the length of the dress.

In this photograph, I used shadows to portray the divide between external expression and internal perspective. No one’s inner feelings should be judged based solely on appearance. All sexually-harassed women should never be blamed for dressing in certain ways. We are never asking for it, and should never be treated like such.