photoshoot at Avant

Sunday we had a photoshoot over at Avant, and we had make-up artists from L.A. come down and copy actual photos from women who have been beaten by thier partners. there were probably about 15 women of all ages and ethnicities and walks of life. While they went in one at a time, I took a Panasonic and did "behind the scene" type interviews with them while they had thier make-up on, I asked them questions like "does this hit home for you?", and "what does it mean to be able to wash this off after looking at yourself with it on, knowing that there are women who will never be able to wash away the scars?", "how do you think having someone you love and trust do this to you would affect you differently than say, a random mugging?", "why do you think women put up with this happening to them?", "how do you think this relates to emotional abuse, and do you think they are equal, and what are the differences in the scars?" and whatever else I could come up with in the moment. I got so many good answers, some of them almost made me cry, and they DEFINITELY made me think. It was also difficult to see people I knew to have HUGE bruises and blood dripping out of thier nose and open wounds...I knew they weren't really there, but it was difficult to keep the situation in perspective, especially seeing two prof's and 2 classmates with it. after I left I drove around for about a half hour and just cried. I've had bruises from a guy on me before, and it could have gotten so much worse, and it makes me hurt so bad for the women who have had it, and I've had people in my family deal with emotional abuse as well, and it just hit me so hard as to what they have gone through. It was one of the hardest things to come to grips with. On a good note however, the Ikea chair I put together didn't fall apart...thank goodness.