First, in the Saturday Essay, Kate Lebo looks back at her Seattle neighborhood, Ballard, in 2007, before gentrification. Recalling details about her neighbors’ homes lead Lebo to reevaluate a particular time in her life, as well as to experience nostalgia for a version of Ballard that no longer exists.
Then, Debra Monroe takes aim at victim blaming and society’s failure to address sexual violence, in the late 70s and today, in the Sunday Essay. In 1977, the term ‘date rape’ was just finding its way into the wider culture. Monroe recalls the guilt she felt and the trauma she experienced after being date raped herself. Solutions are difficult to find. “What is my advice?” Monroe says. “It’s new-fashioned: men must stop. Theory. It’s old-fashioned: women, be wise as you can be. Practice.”
