When I was 10 years old I was raped by a 14 year old boy, I barely knew.
It changed my life forever. I was terrified. And I was silent. I
pretended that it didn't happen, that it was just a very bad dream. But
boys talk. It wasn't long before I was called "Nora Whora". ( Nora is
my birth name.) My identity as a "slut" was established. It was a burden
that I was unprepared to deal with. And it poisoned me. Mine was a
silent rage that gave way to a tornado of self destruction. I learned to
hate- mostly myself-for somehow becoming the slut everyone said I was.
Time
marched on. And I unleashed my rage in my music. In 1995, I wrote a
song about rape called "Father's Field". It appeared on my first album
1000 Fires. In 2004, I wrote my autobiography
Traci Lords: Underneath It All
. I discussed growing up in a small Ohio town and the devastating
effects of rape. Then I wrote and directed a short film for the Fox
Searchlab, "Sweetpea" in which I dramatized the event. In the
intervening years I've spent more than a few hours on the therapist's
couch. I came to terms with the rape and my destructive, crazy behavior
as a teen age porn star. And although I have managed to succeed in my
life, launch a reasonably success Hollywood career, marry a wonderful
man and give birth to the most glorious boy a mother could wish for, my
past is always there-trying to drag me back in time. Reminding me that
sluts are sluts and we don't deserve to be happy, right?
Bullshit.
When I heard about the Steubenville "rape crew" I literally threw up. In
case you've somehow missed the coverage, a drunk, unconscious, high
school girl was repeatedly raped by members of the high school football
team as they took her to several parties over the course of the evening.
The girl didn't know what had happened until the next morning when
texts and photos started to appear on Twitter and Facebook. Blogger
Alexandria Goddard got wind of it. And started digging. By January,
Anonymous threatened to expose information they had about the rape and
it's subsequent cover-up. And finally there was a crime!!! But what if
Alexandria hadn't noticed? What if the legion of Anonymous didn't exist?
If Roseanne Barr didn't blast them from her radio show? What if like
most rapes WE were the ones who were counted on to testify? Could you be
that brave? Would you stand up for your neighbor? Would you fight
someone else's battle?
Do you have the heart?
Fans of mine know, I try to stay on the light side of things. Frankly,
I've seen my share of ugly. But time...man, it's changed again. I can't
look the other way! I can't be silent and watch as this vicious sickness
continues to contaminate our planet. This is not just a "Steubenville"
thing. It is a GLOBAL plague. We must be fierce in fighting for the
safety and protection of all human beings. We MUST stop this now.
Nothing will change until we all care enough to put ourselves in others
shoes.
Really. Can you imagine? How would you feel?
