 |
| Ted Talk: Why domestic violence victims don't leave |
For my TED Talk analysis, I chose a TED Talk dealing with domestic violence, since domestic violence is the primary issue facing Sunflower Kids. This TED Talk was given in November 2012 at TEDxRainier in Seattle, Washington, by Leslie Morgan Steiner. She is a writer and advocate for survivors of domestic violence. In this TED Talk, which is called “Why domestic violence victims von’t leave,” she tells her story about her abusive relationship. She fell in love with Connor, a guy that she thought was sweet, kind, and gentle; however, he was abused when he was a child. He idolized her, which she explains is the first step of domestic violence. He then isolated her, the second step, by getting her to quit her job in New York and move to a small town in New England. He then introduced the threat of violence by purchasing three guns. However, she was so in love with him that when he first abused her five days before their wedding, she still married him. When he continued to abuse her, she didn’t even think of herself as a woman that was getting abused. She thought of herself as someone that was in love with a man that had problems and that she was there to help him get through his problems. Finally, when she realized that he was going to kill her if she let him, she starting telling people-the police, her family, neighbors, everyone-and got away.
This TED Talk is very powerful because it is her personal story. She maintains great eye contact with the audience, talks slow so that everyone can understand her, and conveys emotion in her voice. The only prop that she had was a gun, but this was a powerful prop because she held the gun up and said that Connor used to hold this gun to her head and threaten to kill her. She uses her personal story to explain to the audience that it is hard for the victim to leave when they are so in love with the person. She also points out that the chances of getting killed are greatly increased when the victim leaves because the abuser has nothing left to lose.
 |
| Leslie Steiner uses the powerful prop of a gun and explains that her abuser held it to her head and threatened to kill her. |
She goes on to talk about her present life. She is remarried, has three children, a black lab, and drives a mini van. She also shows a picture of her family. She uses this fact that she has now made a happy life for herself to encourage the audience to do the same. She says that this whole story has not been about herself, but it has been about he audience. She says that she knows there are people in the audience that have been abused, are currently being abused, or are abuser themselves. She encourages everyone to speak up because she says talking about domestic violence is the only way to get rid of it.
 |
| Leslie's new, happy family after she got out of her abusive marriage. |
This TED Talk was very powerful because she gave her own personal story and then called on the audience to get out of an abusive relationship if they were in one. Even though this was a great TED Talk, I think it could have been improved by having more visuals. If she had pictures of her bruises when she was abused, I think that would have been very powerful.
No comments:
Post a Comment