ENG121 Week 5 - Discussion 2- Reflection and Library Search

One of the essays that I chose from the class is “The Audacity of Voice”. The essay gives a reflection of a woman called Lena Dunham. In the essay, Lena Dunham is portrayed as being capable of taking bold risks (Gay, 2014). She takes the bold risks to speak out for women and in doing so she inspires women to take a firm stand on what they deserve. In airing her position, she is able to talk about the past atrocities in which she was a victim (Gay, 2014). Therefore, she wants women to take bold risks and champion for what they deserve. During a library search, I came across an article entitled “Role of Social Media in Showcasing Women Atrocities”. In the article, the author gives a description of how the social media is a very significant platform in airing the atrocities and injustices that women go through in the society (Mukherjee,2016). For instance, social media has been vital in the formation of protests and strong opinion groups and mass demonstrations against the atrocities committed against women. Mukherjee (2016) says, “In the present times, we find the widespread use of blogs, social networking websites, twitter and smart phones as highly powerful and extremely influential platforms where issues related to women injustices and atrocities as well as violation of human rights, domestic violence and infringement of freedom of speech, thought and expression can be discussed or shared, thus contributing in building strong opinion groups or lobbyists with a very focused point of view and giving rise to people’s movements” (pg. 1). This article therefore, gives a description of how good the social media is at airing their issues.

The two essays are related in that they both empower women to share their issues. In the essay “The Audacity of Voice”, women are inspired by Lena Dunham to air their issues without any fear. This is depicted by the way she shares some of her past experiences that not all women would be ready to share on. An example of such an experience is her past sexual encounter with a rapist in campus. However, in the article, she only inspires women to be bold in airing their issues but does not give them the right platform to share such issues. The article “Role of Social Media in Showcasing Women Atrocities” that I found through library search gives women a good platform for airing their issues. Through the essay, women can learn that social media is a very good platform for them to share on the injustices done against them. Social media has been found to be a vital platform for airing injustices such as rape. Through social media, women can be heard through the use of platforms such as Twitter. Therefore, women who are victims of various atrocities need to learn how to use the various social media platforms to air their issues. This can lead to the formation of strong opinion groups and protests that make their voices to be heard.

Based on the reading it can be predicted that the voices of women will fully be put into consideration in the future. This is because, the shortcomings in using the social media to air the issues of women in the society are not many. There is expected to be some criticism of those airing the atrocities and injustices done on women. For instance, those airing the injustices against women may be considered to be doing it for commercial reasons. However, women who are inspired to air their issues by the use of social media can never be stopped. It has been shown that the voices of women are readily listened to on social media. Women airing their issues in social media has led to mass demonstrations and protests that have in turn led to governments listening to women. Therefore, in future, it can be predicted that the with intense inspiration, voices of women will be given a priority by those on social media.

References

Gay, R. (2014). The audacity of voice. Time, 184(13), 50-51. Retrieved from http://time.com/

Mukherjee, T. (2016). Role of Social Media in Showcasing Women Atrocities: A Study on Jaipur Youth. Amity Journal of Media & Communications Studies (AJMCS), 6(1), 32–41.