Shame

Abstract

From sadness to shame, women’s shirts depicted the heart as central. But shame, unlike sadness, involves blame and invokes judgment. Sadness involves a sense of loss, shame a sense of having been found out. This chapter, drawing from interviews with women who contributed to the Global Clothesline Project, explores the ways in which shame can keep women from acknowledging they are being abused or raped and/or from speaking out about the abuse. It also explores the ways in which perpetrators in particular and the society in general may use shaming as a tactic to silence victims, often enabling the violence to continue.