Our very own educator, Duane DeFour, was recently published in Slut: A Play and Guidebook for Combating Sexism and Sexual Violence. We sat down with him to learn about it and to get some of his thoughts around sexual assault prevention education in general:
1. What is your favorite part about presenting?
The joy of sharing knowledge – when you see people have those “aha” moments and you see that they get it. The excitement that you made an argument that convinced somebody. And there’s ego involved too – being in front of a crowd and guiding them and all that.
2. Do you have a pre-presentation ritual or habit?
Shower, brush teeth, put on clean underwear. So…not really, basically.
3. What is your favorite way to practice self-care?
I’m not always great about the exercising part of self-care. I’m a fan of video games. The biggest thing for me is, over time I’ve learned how to turn it off when I’m not at work. The minute I leave, I‘m done with the presentation and I’m not thinking about rape culture and all that. I make time to keep up with what’s going on, but I also make sure I have plenty of time to not think about it. I’ve been doing this work for 20 years and I did burn out at one point. I went and got a Masters in marketing, and worked in Advertising for a bit, but that’s not the work I love.
4. If you had to pick ONE book or movie to bring to a desert island, what would it be?
I’d pick music over a book or movie. That’s the one thing I can’t live without. When I need to relax, my go-to is Theivery Corporation.
5. Tell us a little about SLUT: A Play and Guidebook for Combating Sexism and Sexual Violence.
There’s this play called Slut about slut shaming. In the published version they included words from teenagers and then essays from “thinkers in the field.” It was sort of an accident that I ended up writing a chapter for it. One of the people they asked is a colleague of mine and he wasn’t able to finish his chapter. They called me with a two week deadline and I did it. They wanted to include some male perspectives on the issue. I don’t really think of myself as a writer but I was happy to do it. The chapter reads a lot like a lesson from Got Your Back (I got permission from Gail and Heather of course). The title of the chapter is “Who Really Benefits from Slut Shaming.”
You can purchase the book today on Amazon or at your favorite local feminist bookstore!
The opinions expressed in this article represent those of the author, and not necessarily Catharsis Productions. Our blog may occasionally host content that does not directly reflect the sentiments of the company because the dialogue it generates may have value to our readers.
Maura Kinney
Maura Kinney has been working with Catharsis for several years in various capacities and is pleased to now serve as the Marketing and Communications Coordinator.