September 8, 2025 • 32 mins
When asked whether they'd rather be alone in the woods with a bear or a man, most women choose the bear - a startling reflection of how women perceive safety in modern America. Genesis CEO Jan Langbein joins host Maria MacMullin to explore this phenomenon and discuss the evolution of women's rights and domestic violence services as Genesis approaches its 40th anniversary.
We open season 5 of Genesis The Podcast reflecting upon how far women's rights have come—and how fragile those gains remain. Within the lifetime of Jan Langbein, married women couldn't open bank accounts, take out loans, or travel internationally without a husband's permission. Marital rape wasn't recognized as a crime. Women earned just 59 cents on the dollar compared to men. The right to vote came to all women in America only relatively recently, with barriers like poll taxes deliberately designed to discourage women of color from voting well into the 1960s.
Today, new threats loom on the horizon: proposals for one vote per household (cast by the man), efforts to repeal the 19th Amendment, and laws restricting women's healthcare access and freedom of movement. Drawing parallels to Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale," Langbein warns that rights disappear gradually—like being in a "slowly heating bathtub"—if we fail to recognize warning signs and stand together.
Despite decades of progress, Genesis currently must turn away 50 people seeking shelter daily due to lack of capacity. Langbein envisions expanding shelter services and creating a societal paradigm shift from asking "why doesn't she leave?" to "why does he abuse?" She reminds us that communities can never be safe if people aren't safe in their own homes.
Join us for this thought-provoking exploration of women's equity, domestic violence, and the power of unity. Subscribe to Genesis the Podcast and follow us on social media to continue these crucial conversations about creating a safer world for everyone.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
The past year has had its share of changes and
eye-opening moments, not theleast of which is when, asked,
would you rather be alone in thewoods with a bear or a man,
most women responded a bear.
How we got to this point was along road, but not too difficult
to understand, as men commitmore violent acts against women
than bears, who, in comparison,commit only about 20 attacks in
(00:21):
a year.
There's more to that story andwe are here to explore it as we
launch season five.
I'm Maria MacMullin and this isGenesis the Podcast.
Welcome to season five ofGenesis the Podcast.
To kick it off, my guest isGenesis CEO Jan Langbein.
Jan has been the CEO of GenesisWomen's Shelter and Support for
34 years.
(00:42):
Throughout her career, jan hasbeen an activist in efforts to
end violence against women.
As the CEO, she overseesinternal and external operations
, as well as funding andcommunity education.
Under her leadership, genesishas grown from a seven room
emergency shelter to a fullservice response for survivors
of domestic violence andmaintain its unique status as
(01:03):
one of the few victim servicesprograms that accomplishes
sustainability withoutgovernment funding.
She is also a recognizednational expert on domestic
violence and conducts trainingand workshops across the United
States.
In partnership with the DallasPolice Department and the FBI,
she co-founded the annualInternational Conference on
Crimes Against Women.
2025 marks Genesis's 40th yearof providing safety, shelter and
(01:28):
support for survivors ofdomestic violence.
Jan, welcome to the show.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
I'm excited and I'm excited.
We're kicking off this fifthyear of our Genesis, the podcast
.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
It's super exciting and may I also add happy 40th
anniversary.
We look pretty good for 40,don't?
Speaker 2 (01:42):
we Right, yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
Because 2025 marks four decades of domestic
violence services for women andchildren in North Texas, as what
started out as a seven-bedroomemergency shelter now serves
3,000 people annually acrossmultiple locations with both
residential and non-residentialsupport.
So we've come a long way andyou have been a part of that
(02:05):
progress for the better part of34 years.
So to begin, let's talk abouthow domestic violence services
have evolved and where they'reheaded.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
If I think back, I wasn't there on day one, but I
was pretty close because threeyears before joining the staff I
was the Tuesday morningvolunteer.
I'm not from abuse, I didn'tknow anything about it, I had
never heard of Genesis, but it'sa God thing I guess that I was
there and I'm there now, but howthat has changed.
I know that my board ofdirectors, when I first started
(02:35):
at Genesis, they thought if youjust could give them a couple of
days in a safe spot, if youcould give them a week where he
would cool down and then shecould go back home.
But they learned very quicklythat that is absolutely not the
case.
As we say at Genesis, abusedoesn't stop until abusers stop
abusing.
And for her to leave and whenhe doesn't know where she is,
(02:58):
it's almost like it makes itworse, right?
And so we extended the time, weextended the services and with
every roadblock that she wouldface, genesis would step up to
try to find a way to help herover that bridge, right?
So whether that's child care,whether that is access to civil
legal representation, whetherthat is school on site, so her
(03:20):
children would be safe.
What we've also recognized overthe years is getting a job,
getting a car, havingtransportation, having an
apartment, having a protectiveorder isn't enough.
The impact of trauma on thebrain is amazing.
Genesis is one of the leadersof stepping up and saying the
(03:42):
impact the physiological impact,but also the emotional impact
of trauma.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
Yeah, absolutely so.
Let's get a little moreinformation on all of that,
about how Genesis began, becauseI want to understand the
underpinnings of this journey.
What was it like for women whenGenesis first opened its doors,
and where are we headed?
Speaker 2 (04:00):
Yes.
Well, that's a big questionwhen I start thinking about what
it was like, not just forGenesis 40 years ago and how far
we've come, but what it waslike for women 40 years ago.
I have been married, 50 plusyears actually, and when I
married I was not allowed toopen a checking account on my
own.
I could not take out a loan onmy own.
(04:21):
I could not travelinternationally on my own.
That just absolutely I can'teven believe I'm sitting here
saying that that was even athing in my lifetime, much less
my married lifetime.
When I married, there was nosuch thing as marital rape, when
we know, of course, thatmarital rape is just about
stranger on stranger rape.
Only he can jump out of thebushes anytime he wants if he is
(04:44):
your spouse or partner.
I had to have my husband'spermission to go on birth
control.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
That is news to me.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
I did not know that Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
I earned 59 cents on the dollar.
We both graduated from collegesame time.
We both came back to Dallas andhe went to work at one bank, I
went to work at another bank andI earned 59 cents on the dollar
Incredible.
So yeah, we've come a long way,but when I tell these things,
particularly to young women,they had no idea.
(05:12):
They had no idea how recentlywe've had the vote.
They have no idea how not onlyhave we had to fight for this,
that how quickly it can be givenaway again, and so I think
that's something you and I wantto talk about today for sure.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
Yeah, absolutely, and you bring up so many valid
points, because I was born inthe seventies and so many of the
changes that came for womenincluding being able to open
your own bank account, beingable to apply for a loan or a
mortgage happened at the timethat I was in my childhood, and
so I really wasn't affected bythe lack of privileges that
(05:50):
women had.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
But think about this when you were born, then all
women only had the right to votesince 1965.
1965, I was in high school anddidn't realize that I mean, I
should have been marching andburning my bra way back then.
You know, Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
And I'm surprised that you weren't actually I was
not.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
I was taking home ec and learning how to sew.
I mean, what was the matterthat we were so ingrained in
this?
But August 26th, just shortweeks ago, august 26th marked
the 105th anniversary of women'sright to vote.
Now, was that all women?
Absolutely not.
It was white women.
(06:31):
And you start thinking aboutwhere that right to vote started
, which was in 1860 something orother, where what today I call
my kitchen table ambassadors,they had a tea party, and that's
where that conversation started, in Seneca Falls, new York.
And so it still took until 1920, 1863 to 1920, before that
(06:53):
passed before Congress, and thenanother 40 years before women
of color could vote, or Nativewomen could vote, or women with
disabilities could vote, andstill they had to pay poll tax.
Take a literacy test in DallasCounty and I don't know why this
has just come to my attentionthere was a woman, an amazing
(07:13):
woman, in our city and in ourcounty.
Her name was Juanita Craft.
She was the firstAfrican-American woman to vote
in Dallas County and sheactually had to pay I think it
was $1.25 poll tax.
I don't think I had to pay it.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
Do you know what that was based on?
What was it based on?
Speaker 2 (07:31):
Yeah, I don't want you to vote.
You shouldn't be voting, so I'mgoing to put these things on.
I'm going to put these thingson you, like you have to be able
to read To discourage you, todiscourage you from voting.
The story that I heard aboutJuanita Craft was that she had
to save up all year long to getthat extra money, and I wonder
what that would be theequivalent of today.
What do you think in 1965?
(07:54):
And stood in line for hours toget to do it.
They slowed it down Anythingthey could to keep women from
voting.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
Yeah, I don't know what that would be in today's
dollars, but you raise a reallyinteresting point at this moment
in time, because we are hearingconversations about changing
the voting process.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
Absolutely.
This is why I bring thoseparticular thoughts up is
because there is a lot of talkabout removing women's rights to
vote.
In this administration thereare several, many, many people.
The policy that was reallyfounded on Project 25, I know
this president said I don't knowanything about it while he was
(08:34):
running.
He knew everything about it.
Included in there is one voteper household and the man cast
that vote.
So if grandma lives in thehouse, if you're taking care of
nieces and nephews in the house,if you have a married daughter
in the house, the man has thevote.
There is a group in Idaho there.
I don't even want to tell youhis name, you can look it up,
(08:56):
but it is Christ Church.
It started in Moscow, idaho,and now there's several across
the country, very, veryconservative Idaho, and now
there's several across thecountry, very, very conservative
.
But they are proposing therepeal of the 19th Amendment.
Now could that happen?
I don't know.
Do you read Margaret Atwood?
I do.
Okay, if you've watchedHandmaid's Tale, which I binged
again this summer because of thefinal episode coming up, you
(09:21):
know how quickly our creditcould be cut off, how quickly
our jobs could be done away withbased on whatever.
So I want to be sure for mygranddaughters that we protect
this.
I remember a quote and I'm notgoing to get this exactly right,
but by President Barack Obama,who said he will never forget
that the reason he is here thereis that somebody stood up when
(09:45):
it was risky.
Somebody stood up when it wasscary, when it was dangerous,
and when some people stood up,more people stood up and more
people stood up.
And that's a real positive spinon the message that came from a
prisoner.
He said when they came for thesocialists, I didn't say
anything because I wasn't asocialist.
And when they came for thegypsies, I'm not a gypsy.
(10:06):
When they came for the Jews, Isaid nothing because I'm not a
Jew.
And he said when they came forme, there was no one else to
speak out loud.
So I guess that's where I go.
I want my daughters and mygranddaughters never to miss an
election.
I want them to know how hardwe're standing on the shoulders
of people who were force-fedsemolina in a mental institution
(10:28):
, and I just don't think we cantake that lightly.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
I think it takes a lot of courage to say the things
that you've said and do thework that you have done, and I
know it's inspirational to me,to our listeners, about what it
takes to be a fearless leader inthe fight for women's rights,
especially when women are beingabused.
And because you've done justthat over the years and you
(10:53):
continue to do it as well.
And just back, one more commenton the right to vote it's
probably not impossible thatwomen could lose the right to
vote.
I mean, it is not impossible.
It is not impossible.
Will it happen?
We don't know.
But that's why we're havingthese conversations and bringing
it to the attention of ouraudience that these are things
(11:15):
that we need to stand up for.
We all need to band togetherand be concerned about these
things and be concerned aboutthe future and what it looks
like for our children, ourgrandchildren and all of our
descendants.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
But let me say this it is not always really overt.
There is an act that they wantto pass.
It has already passed the House, it's called the SAVE Act,
s-a-v-e, and they're proposingit as a right for non-citizens
to be denied the right to vote.
Right, but how it impacts womenis the thing.
(11:47):
You have to show ID, but youhave to show your birth
certificate and the same name onyour driver's license or you'll
have to have two forms of ID.
So and have the same exact name,Exact name.
So on my birth certificate itis Janice K Edgar.
On my ID right now it's JanEdgar Langbein.
So do I have to show that I didget married when I was 20?
(12:10):
Do I have to have the paperwork?
And even think about how hardit would be within the lesbian
community, the LGBT community ormaybe even Native American
community, that there perhapsweren't records of this person's
birth, right or rural orwhatever, born at home or
whatever.
And so sometimes I look at thesethings and it sounds like okay,
(12:31):
well, that sounds like a goodidea, until we look through the
lens of how does it impact women, particularly women who are in
a controlling environment?
To begin with, right, there'sanother law that they're looking
at to reactivate, I guess, andit's the Comstock Act.
Way, way back it was to keeppeople from sending pornography
through the mail, which soundsgood to me.
I mean, I'm like burn allpornography and anybody who
(12:55):
profits from it, right, but thisComstock Act is saying that you
cannot send drugs through themail, you cannot send anything
that has to do with abortion.
That can be stirrups for adoctor's office in California
for, well, woman's care, butthis mefapristone, it would be
illegal to deliver that Bottomline.
(13:16):
It's a national abortion ban.
So again, if you're looking at,just yeah, don't send porn
through the mail.
But if you again look throughthat lens of how does it impact
women, that's what it's about.
It's not about pornography.
Can we lose our right to vote?
You bet We've lost our right toour choice.
We've lost our right to healthcare.
You and I were talking beforewe taped this about a House bill
(13:38):
out of Montana, 609.
It has been shot down, votedout, but it'll raise its ugly
head again and it basically saysyou can't leave the state for
an abortion.
You can't leave the state ifyou're pregnant and you have an
abortion.
So how do you know?
You brought up the fact thatwomen who are leaving the state
for an abortion, if it'soutlawed in your state, they
(14:01):
don't look nine months pregnantor five months pregnant.
You can't tell.
So how would they evenimplement?
Speaker 1 (14:05):
that, how would it be enforced?
I mean, it would be hard to yespee in the cup right after you
put your laptop in the bucket.
Well, fortunately for thepeople of Montana, that bill was
shot down earlier this year,but to your point it could be.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
Do you think that's the last we'll hear of that?
I don't.
It's hard to say I don't, Idon't.
So it goes back to what are wegoing to do about it?
Right, are we calling ourelected officials?
I'm telling you, I called itwasn't four weeks after January,
swearing in, and my senator'soffice literally picked up his
(14:39):
cell phone and said hi, jan, Ithought I'd be hearing from you,
and rightfully so.
Did it make a difference?
I don't think so, because hecontinues to vote very
conservatively here in Texaswe're looking at gerrymandering,
at a mid-decade redistrictingand you cannot tell me that that
(15:07):
doesn't have a bigger.
Why five seats in Texas?
Why not someplace else, right?
Well, I know RepresentativeCrockett is a big thorn in
people's sides and good for her.
We all ought to be thorns inpeople's sides wherever you are
on which side of the aisle right.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
Amen to that and because you had me thinking that
very thing as you were goingthrough all of this.
We're facing a lot ofchallenges, yes, yes, they're
making women jump through a lotof hoops, but I'm not put off by
that.
All this time, all thesecenturies, all these years,
(15:43):
women have had to jump throughhoops.
Rise to occasions todemonstrate that we are better
than that, we are stronger thanthat and we are worthy of equity
.
So let us not be put off by allof the challenges coming toward
us, but rise above it.
And you want proof, you wantpaperwork, you want $1.25 or
whatever it is for the poll tax.
(16:04):
I'm here, I'll pay it and I'llmake sure you've got the $1.25
to pay it Absolutely, and that'sthe message.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
You know you were asking where do we go, when are
we going from here?
And I think voting rights isone of the big ones that we're
going to be facing.
Immigration is another one thatwomen who are being just picked
up off the street without dueprocess.
You think about walking yourkids to school and you're not
walking back to pick them up inthe afternoon.
At Genesis, we actually in ourlegal clinic.
(16:33):
There we have attorneys who arewriting powers of attorney for
women who are afraid they won'tbe there Again.
You add all of these thingsthat are going on, but take a
look at okay now what's it likeif there's domestic violence in
the home?
Yes, because one out of everythree of the women that we've
been talking about whethervoting or immigration, or
(16:54):
women's healthcare, one out ofevery three of them are
experiencing violence in thehome.
Right, so there are a lot oflayers.
There are so many layers, maria.
There are so many layers, andso where do we begin to attack
that?
I heard Jordan Lawson, our chiefresidential officer, the other
day say when women come in, weask them what are your goals,
what are your dreams?
What do you want to be?
Which is what it's about.
(17:15):
It's not my program and we'velearned over the years that
we're there, obviously fourdecades for her.
And she said we give theanalogy of a pizza.
You can't stuff a whole pizzain your mouth and so you divide
it into slices, and one slice ischild care.
Before I can do anything, Ihave to have child care.
One slice is housing or living,wage, job, and so which one are
(17:36):
you going to take a bite offirst?
So back to your layer analogy.
We could stack those up, and ifyou take on that one, I'm going
to take on another one.
I was at the countycommissioner's court the other
day.
They were so nice to give aproclamation to Genesis, but it
was so interesting to hear theother proclamations.
One is about firearms, keepingchildren safe in the home.
(17:57):
It wasn't like get rid of them,they were like lock them up,
just lock them up.
And I knew from looking therewere some sad grandmothers
sitting there talking and somesad moms that were talking.
And you know, I think back towhen my girls would go off to a
sleepover.
I'd say I'd call the parents,which humiliated them, of course
.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
But I'd say I know where you're going with this.
You know where I'm going withthis.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
I've had these conversations Is there alcohol
in the house?
And will there be a parent, anadult, in that house, a
responsible parent?
Never asked.
Is there a loaded gun in thehouse and yet so many kiddos,
anyway.
So I have asked that question.
Speaker 1 (18:33):
They're taking that load, you have, yeah in this day
and age, so we're like ageneration apart, but I have
asked that question, especiallywhen my children were younger
and going to a house of a familyI wasn't familiar with.
Yes, and it could be a family Iam familiar with.
I have no idea who's a gunowner and who isn't.
Speaker 2 (18:50):
There's no advertising of that.
And how do they keep them?
You know, like we're gun owners.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
I have very strict rules about what places even I
will go into if there are gunspresent and how I feel about how
they should be stored.
Speaker 2 (19:06):
How they're being stored ammunition somewhere else
.
But anyway, if this group, thatgroup will take the layer of
women who are dying by firearms63% of women who are killed by
an intimate partner the choiceof weapon is a firearm.
So we know that it ratchets upthe danger if someone is living
in an abusive home, 500 timesmore likely to be killed if
(19:29):
there is just the presence of agun.
So I'm going to let them worryabout that layer right and I'm
going to continue to call mysenator's office and I want you
to work on that women safewalking their kids to school.
And if we all did that, insteadof standing back and saying
gosh, isn't it a shame?
And just wringing our hands, wehave to all bear some
responsibility.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
I absolutely agree with that.
For the environment that welive in, but very often we know
that abusers are men, and thosewho are, in this case, trying to
take rights away from women are, in fact, men.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
It's a gendered crime .
There's no doubt about it.
Sexual assault, stalking,domestic violence, those are
gendered crimes.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
So as we consider all of this progress that we've
made that you talked about, andalso the current atmosphere
where we find ourselves in 2025,I want to revisit a question
that first surfaced in 2024 andwas viral on social media, and
we mentioned this in thebeginning of the show.
That question would be wouldyou rather be alone in the woods
(20:31):
with a bear or a man?
So most listeners are likelyfamiliar with this debate and
the answer most often respondedwas a bear, a bear.
But we bring this up againbecause it begs the questions.
First of all, why, why wouldyou choose a bear over another
human, a man?
And also, how did we get tothis point where women would
(20:52):
prefer risking it all with awild animal?
Let's review what is behindthis decision.
Speaker 2 (20:58):
Well, for sure, if you think about all the people
listening to this podcast.
For sure, if you think aboutall the people listening to this
podcast, and particularly thewomen, most all of us have
experienced some type of abuseagainst me, right?
Whereas I've never been afraidof a bear, I've been in the
woods, I've hiked, I've stayedin the mountains in a cabin.
I've seen bears at a distanceand none have ever hurt me in
(21:23):
any way.
You talked about only 20 bearattacks a year, compared to the
millions of women who aresexually assaulted, who are
stalked, who are afraid, womenwho have experienced gaslighting
, women who are currently in arelationship with a toxic,
controlling narcissist.
Narcissism is a weapon almostas deadly as a firearm, I
(21:45):
promise you after years andyears of working with women at
Genesis.
But you put that whole packagetogether and all of us know
someone like that or have hadlittle peaks of things like that
in our relationships, right?
Speaker 1 (21:57):
Well, yeah, If a woman is sexually assaulted,
they ask her how much she had todrink, Correct?
If a woman gets attacked by awild animal, no one's going to
ask her were you drinking thatnight?
What did you have on?
Speaker 2 (22:10):
Why were you there in the first place?
How much did you have to drink?
No, exactly, she doesn't becomeanything more than a victim.
She did not participate in thatattack, whereas if you look at
whether it's in our courts orjust the way, we in society,
we're having the judgment, thejudgment, the judgment,
absolutely judgment and theshame that's inflicted upon
women who are victims of rape,domestic violence and so on.
(22:33):
Yeah, no doubt about it.
So yeah, women are choosing thebear.
To be real honest, they don'trape you, they don't stalk you,
they don't attack you unlessthey feel attacked.
Speaker 1 (22:44):
They probably don't know how to gaslight you either
I bet they don't right I betthey don't Going back to the
question of equity and how wecan continue to pursue equity
for all people, especially women, and we've been warning others
for ages that we must stand insolidarity because the rights we
have come to know, as we'vediscussed, can be, and have been
(23:06):
, taken from us.
Let's consider somecontemporary authors' words, and
there are lots of warnings inMargaret Atwood's the Handmaid's
Tale, but this one inparticular is a very powerful
warning and an important thingfor us to remember, and this is
a quote from the book theHandmaid's Tale.
Now I'm awake to the world.
(23:27):
I was asleep before.
That's how we let it happen.
When they slaughtered Congress,we didn't wake up.
When they blamed terrorists andsuspended the Constitution, we
didn't wake up.
Then either.
Nothing changes instantaneously.
In a gradually heating bathtub,you'd be boiled to death before
(23:47):
you knew it.
It's a powerful quote becauseit talks about how, very slowly
and insidiously, things can bechanged Right, and then you get
to a point where you havenothing left and you feel like,
in retrospect, you seeeverything Right.
There's a study out of Hungary,at a university in Hungary.
(24:08):
It's called the GradualElimination of Gender Equality.
The four Ds distinction,dependence, division and
dominance.
Tell us about that.
Speaker 2 (24:17):
Let's look at those four things with regards to
Handmaid's Tale the distinction,the division, the dominance,
the dependence.
They're all there in theHandmaid's Tale.
You take each one of thosecharacters and you ask what was
of Joseph dependent on?
As long as she could breed, aslong as she could give a baby,
then she could live.
(24:38):
Otherwise she was sent to theClean up the toxic waste.
Speaker 1 (24:41):
Exactly.
Speaker 2 (24:42):
Or the Jezebel house or something like that.
Speaker 1 (24:45):
Which I mean that is a really fascinating part of the
Handmaid's Tale is that therestill was a trafficking
operation of women, so they werelooked down upon, but then they
were used by men.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
But the hypocrisy of the commanders who sat around
and boasted about how they arepure and they are godly and then
they go and participate inhuman trafficking, Den of
iniquity.
The taking away women's rightsto read, that's another thing.
Even if you have written before, this would not be allowed us
sitting here talking about thisright.
(25:16):
But not allowed to read.
So how much information then iscut off?
The isolation again, thatdistancing.
I thought it was reallyinteresting to lay those four
words, those four Ds, over thatparticular show, and I think, if
you pulled up any of the otherones, there's so many out there.
Speaker 1 (25:31):
It's a brilliant novel, obviously, that we can
learn a lot from when we compareit to our current environment,
and I think all of us are veryaware that what happened in
Gilead could happen anywhere.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
It's happened in other countries, yes yes,
absolutely, absolutely, and I goback to the quote that you were
talking about.
I didn't fight when they didaway with Congress.
Are we going to fight when thathappens?
Are we going to arrest thesepeople and then let an executive
order let them out of prisonthat tried to destroy our
Capitol?
I don't understand where therage is not.
(26:08):
Yes, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (26:11):
I think that what might be lacking at this moment
in time is the unity of theAmerican people to stand
together rather than allowourselves to be divided on the
issues and the division which iscalled out in this study that
is being forced upon usAbsolutely.
If we could band together andbecome one and really rise up
(26:34):
together and say this is what westand for, this is what we all
want and stand for.
There's another quote in theHandmaid's Tale where we only
wanted to make the world abetter place.
And better never means betterfor everyone, for everyone.
Speaker 2 (26:48):
But it should.
Speaker 1 (26:49):
It should, it should, it should and it can, but it's
going to take a lot of effort.
Speaker 2 (26:53):
It reminds me of what we talk about with our at
Genesis.
As you know, we have a men'sauxiliary called HEROES, and
they are gentle men.
It stands for, he RespectsOthers, and their life's motto
is not only am I not going toabuse in my own home, it's not
okay with me if it's happeningin your home.
And whether that's throughaccountability or whatever
(27:14):
efforts they have, these menhave come together and said it's
just wrong.
This is not a gender issue.
It is gendered, but it is not agender issue.
Yeah it's not a women's issue,it's not a women's issue
Absolutely, because men are sonsand brothers and fathers,
because it hurts the women intheir lives.
It hurts their lives as well.
And if we could get over whichside?
(27:34):
Are you an R or a, d, or areyou white?
Are you of color?
If we get past all that crap,then maybe, maybe we could make
this country what it ought to be.
We could make our community.
We can't have safe communities.
You can bring in all theNational Guard you want to, but
our communities will never besafe.
Our streets will not be safe ifpeople are not safe in their
(27:56):
own homes.
Speaker 1 (27:57):
You're absolutely right, and so it begs the
question then where do we gofrom here, and what is the
vision for the next 40 years atGenesis?
Speaker 2 (28:05):
The next 40 years is, honest to goodness, I have it
already.
A little short-range plan formy long-range plan, okay, good,
but we continue to recognizewhat those roadblocks are.
Maria, right now, today, wewill turn away 50 people on our
hotline.
We have no more room at ourshelter.
Now that's not to discouragesomebody from calling, because
there are other alternatives,alternative programs or programs
(28:28):
that we have, like ournon-residential or emergency
client assistance for a hotel orwhatever.
I want people to call, I wantpeople to text, but the fact
that there is such a shortage ofsafe beds we are in the next 40
years, you and I are going tohave to raise some money and
build a larger shelter.
I think also, my dream is tochange the conversation.
(28:50):
I want Genesis to be thethought leader that creates a
societal paradigm shift fromasking the question why doesn't
she get out?
For a hundred different reasonsto why does he do it?
If we could have fixed thiswith shelters and women's
programs, we would have alreadydone it right Over the centuries
.
We would have already stoppedit if we could have this
violence against us.
(29:11):
And so when does it become asocietal norm that hurting your
family is unacceptable?
What we've accomplished atGenesis is a lot, but it's not
nearly enough.
(29:35):
These atrocities that impactwomen not only out on the street
, in our voting booth, in ourcommunities, but also in our own
homes.
We can't fight for women'srights to vote if we're not
fighting for the womenthemselves, if we're not
fighting for her right to besafe in her own home, to live
abuse-free, to make the choicesto travel across state lines or
vote the way she wants to vote.
It can't happen.
As women, as employees ofGenesis, as human beings, we
(30:00):
need to be able to stand up,turn each to the other and say
I'm scared for you.
And I think if this communitydid this across the way, don't
even go into who did you votefor or what's happening If we
all turned each to the other andsaid I'm scared for you, there
is help and there is hope.
What a better community wouldthis be?
We don't need the NationalGuard to make this a safer place
(30:21):
for women.
We need Genesis.
We really do and we do.
Unfortunately, we have to bethere.
But we also need, as we callthem, our kitchen table
ambassadors to stand up with usand say that violence is never
acceptable, that it is pervasive, it is very damaging, very
dangerous and it is so oftendeadly.
Speaker 1 (30:43):
Circling back to the question about the bear or the
man.
How do you listeners feel now?
Bear attacks are less commonthan domestic violence, an
experience that impacts one inthree women in Texas and has
traumatizing effects that canlast a lifetime.
As a call to action today, weurge you to support one another.
Equity is not a guarantee andit is something worth fighting
(31:06):
for.
Jan, thank you for being withme.
My pleasure.
Genesis Women's Shelter andSupport exists to give women in
abusive situations a way out.
We are committed to our missionof providing safety, shelter
and support for women andchildren who have experienced
domestic violence and to raiseawareness regarding its cause,
prevalence and impact.
Join us in creating a societalshift on how people think about
(31:29):
domestic violence.
You can learn more atgenesisshelterorg and when you
follow us on social media onFacebook and Instagram at
Genesis Women's Shelter, and onX at Genesis Shelter.
The Genesis Helpline isavailable 24 hours a day, seven
days a week, by call or text at214-946-HELP, 214-946-HELP,
(31:53):
214-946-4357.
The past year has had its share of changes and
eye-opening moments, not theleast of which is when, asked,
would you rather be alone in thewoods with a bear or a man,
most women responded a bear.
How we got to this point was along road, but not too difficult
to understand, as men commitmore violent acts against women
than bears, who, in comparison,commit only about 20 attacks in
(00:21):
a year.
There's more to that story andwe are here to explore it as we
launch season five.
I'm Maria MacMullin and this isGenesis the Podcast.
Welcome to season five ofGenesis the Podcast.
To kick it off, my guest isGenesis CEO Jan Langbein.
Jan has been the CEO of GenesisWomen's Shelter and Support for
34 years.
(00:42):
Throughout her career, jan hasbeen an activist in efforts to
end violence against women.
As the CEO, she overseesinternal and external operations
, as well as funding andcommunity education.
Under her leadership, genesishas grown from a seven room
emergency shelter to a fullservice response for survivors
of domestic violence andmaintain its unique status as
(01:03):
one of the few victim servicesprograms that accomplishes
sustainability withoutgovernment funding.
She is also a recognizednational expert on domestic
violence and conducts trainingand workshops across the United
States.
In partnership with the DallasPolice Department and the FBI,
she co-founded the annualInternational Conference on
Crimes Against Women.
2025 marks Genesis's 40th yearof providing safety, shelter and
(01:28):
support for survivors ofdomestic violence.
Jan, welcome to the show.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
I'm excited and I'm excited.
We're kicking off this fifthyear of our Genesis, the podcast
.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
It's super exciting and may I also add happy 40th
anniversary.
We look pretty good for 40,don't?
Speaker 2 (01:42):
we Right, yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
Because 2025 marks four decades of domestic
violence services for women andchildren in North Texas, as what
started out as a seven-bedroomemergency shelter now serves
3,000 people annually acrossmultiple locations with both
residential and non-residentialsupport.
So we've come a long way andyou have been a part of that
(02:05):
progress for the better part of34 years.
So to begin, let's talk abouthow domestic violence services
have evolved and where they'reheaded.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
If I think back, I wasn't there on day one, but I
was pretty close because threeyears before joining the staff I
was the Tuesday morningvolunteer.
I'm not from abuse, I didn'tknow anything about it, I had
never heard of Genesis, but it'sa God thing I guess that I was
there and I'm there now, but howthat has changed.
I know that my board ofdirectors, when I first started
(02:35):
at Genesis, they thought if youjust could give them a couple of
days in a safe spot, if youcould give them a week where he
would cool down and then shecould go back home.
But they learned very quicklythat that is absolutely not the
case.
As we say at Genesis, abusedoesn't stop until abusers stop
abusing.
And for her to leave and whenhe doesn't know where she is,
(02:58):
it's almost like it makes itworse, right?
And so we extended the time, weextended the services and with
every roadblock that she wouldface, genesis would step up to
try to find a way to help herover that bridge, right?
So whether that's child care,whether that is access to civil
legal representation, whetherthat is school on site, so her
(03:20):
children would be safe.
What we've also recognized overthe years is getting a job,
getting a car, havingtransportation, having an
apartment, having a protectiveorder isn't enough.
The impact of trauma on thebrain is amazing.
Genesis is one of the leadersof stepping up and saying the
(03:42):
impact the physiological impact,but also the emotional impact
of trauma.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
Yeah, absolutely so.
Let's get a little moreinformation on all of that,
about how Genesis began, becauseI want to understand the
underpinnings of this journey.
What was it like for women whenGenesis first opened its doors,
and where are we headed?
Speaker 2 (04:00):
Yes.
Well, that's a big questionwhen I start thinking about what
it was like, not just forGenesis 40 years ago and how far
we've come, but what it waslike for women 40 years ago.
I have been married, 50 plusyears actually, and when I
married I was not allowed toopen a checking account on my
own.
I could not take out a loan onmy own.
(04:21):
I could not travelinternationally on my own.
That just absolutely I can'teven believe I'm sitting here
saying that that was even athing in my lifetime, much less
my married lifetime.
When I married, there was nosuch thing as marital rape, when
we know, of course, thatmarital rape is just about
stranger on stranger rape.
Only he can jump out of thebushes anytime he wants if he is
(04:44):
your spouse or partner.
I had to have my husband'spermission to go on birth
control.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
That is news to me.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
I did not know that Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
I earned 59 cents on the dollar.
We both graduated from collegesame time.
We both came back to Dallas andhe went to work at one bank, I
went to work at another bank andI earned 59 cents on the dollar
Incredible.
So yeah, we've come a long way,but when I tell these things,
particularly to young women,they had no idea.
(05:12):
They had no idea how recentlywe've had the vote.
They have no idea how not onlyhave we had to fight for this,
that how quickly it can be givenaway again, and so I think
that's something you and I wantto talk about today for sure.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
Yeah, absolutely, and you bring up so many valid
points, because I was born inthe seventies and so many of the
changes that came for womenincluding being able to open
your own bank account, beingable to apply for a loan or a
mortgage happened at the timethat I was in my childhood, and
so I really wasn't affected bythe lack of privileges that
(05:50):
women had.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
But think about this when you were born, then all
women only had the right to votesince 1965.
1965, I was in high school anddidn't realize that I mean, I
should have been marching andburning my bra way back then.
You know, Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
And I'm surprised that you weren't actually I was
not.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
I was taking home ec and learning how to sew.
I mean, what was the matterthat we were so ingrained in
this?
But August 26th, just shortweeks ago, august 26th marked
the 105th anniversary of women'sright to vote.
Now, was that all women?
Absolutely not.
It was white women.
(06:31):
And you start thinking aboutwhere that right to vote started
, which was in 1860 something orother, where what today I call
my kitchen table ambassadors,they had a tea party, and that's
where that conversation started, in Seneca Falls, new York.
And so it still took until 1920, 1863 to 1920, before that
(06:53):
passed before Congress, and thenanother 40 years before women
of color could vote, or Nativewomen could vote, or women with
disabilities could vote, andstill they had to pay poll tax.
Take a literacy test in DallasCounty and I don't know why this
has just come to my attentionthere was a woman, an amazing
(07:13):
woman, in our city and in ourcounty.
Her name was Juanita Craft.
She was the firstAfrican-American woman to vote
in Dallas County and sheactually had to pay I think it
was $1.25 poll tax.
I don't think I had to pay it.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
Do you know what that was based on?
What was it based on?
Speaker 2 (07:31):
Yeah, I don't want you to vote.
You shouldn't be voting, so I'mgoing to put these things on.
I'm going to put these thingson you, like you have to be able
to read To discourage you, todiscourage you from voting.
The story that I heard aboutJuanita Craft was that she had
to save up all year long to getthat extra money, and I wonder
what that would be theequivalent of today.
What do you think in 1965?
(07:54):
And stood in line for hours toget to do it.
They slowed it down Anythingthey could to keep women from
voting.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
Yeah, I don't know what that would be in today's
dollars, but you raise a reallyinteresting point at this moment
in time, because we are hearingconversations about changing
the voting process.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
Absolutely.
This is why I bring thoseparticular thoughts up is
because there is a lot of talkabout removing women's rights to
vote.
In this administration thereare several, many, many people.
The policy that was reallyfounded on Project 25, I know
this president said I don't knowanything about it while he was
(08:34):
running.
He knew everything about it.
Included in there is one voteper household and the man cast
that vote.
So if grandma lives in thehouse, if you're taking care of
nieces and nephews in the house,if you have a married daughter
in the house, the man has thevote.
There is a group in Idaho there.
I don't even want to tell youhis name, you can look it up,
(08:56):
but it is Christ Church.
It started in Moscow, idaho,and now there's several across
the country, very, veryconservative Idaho, and now
there's several across thecountry, very, very conservative
.
But they are proposing therepeal of the 19th Amendment.
Now could that happen?
I don't know.
Do you read Margaret Atwood?
I do.
Okay, if you've watchedHandmaid's Tale, which I binged
again this summer because of thefinal episode coming up, you
(09:21):
know how quickly our creditcould be cut off, how quickly
our jobs could be done away withbased on whatever.
So I want to be sure for mygranddaughters that we protect
this.
I remember a quote and I'm notgoing to get this exactly right,
but by President Barack Obama,who said he will never forget
that the reason he is here thereis that somebody stood up when
(09:45):
it was risky.
Somebody stood up when it wasscary, when it was dangerous,
and when some people stood up,more people stood up and more
people stood up.
And that's a real positive spinon the message that came from a
prisoner.
He said when they came for thesocialists, I didn't say
anything because I wasn't asocialist.
And when they came for thegypsies, I'm not a gypsy.
(10:06):
When they came for the Jews, Isaid nothing because I'm not a
Jew.
And he said when they came forme, there was no one else to
speak out loud.
So I guess that's where I go.
I want my daughters and mygranddaughters never to miss an
election.
I want them to know how hardwe're standing on the shoulders
of people who were force-fedsemolina in a mental institution
(10:28):
, and I just don't think we cantake that lightly.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
I think it takes a lot of courage to say the things
that you've said and do thework that you have done, and I
know it's inspirational to me,to our listeners, about what it
takes to be a fearless leader inthe fight for women's rights,
especially when women are beingabused.
And because you've done justthat over the years and you
(10:53):
continue to do it as well.
And just back, one more commenton the right to vote it's
probably not impossible thatwomen could lose the right to
vote.
I mean, it is not impossible.
It is not impossible.
Will it happen?
We don't know.
But that's why we're havingthese conversations and bringing
it to the attention of ouraudience that these are things
(11:15):
that we need to stand up for.
We all need to band togetherand be concerned about these
things and be concerned aboutthe future and what it looks
like for our children, ourgrandchildren and all of our
descendants.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
But let me say this it is not always really overt.
There is an act that they wantto pass.
It has already passed the House, it's called the SAVE Act,
s-a-v-e, and they're proposingit as a right for non-citizens
to be denied the right to vote.
Right, but how it impacts womenis the thing.
(11:47):
You have to show ID, but youhave to show your birth
certificate and the same name onyour driver's license or you'll
have to have two forms of ID.
So and have the same exact name,Exact name.
So on my birth certificate itis Janice K Edgar.
On my ID right now it's JanEdgar Langbein.
So do I have to show that I didget married when I was 20?
(12:10):
Do I have to have the paperwork?
And even think about how hardit would be within the lesbian
community, the LGBT community ormaybe even Native American
community, that there perhapsweren't records of this person's
birth, right or rural orwhatever, born at home or
whatever.
And so sometimes I look at thesethings and it sounds like okay,
(12:31):
well, that sounds like a goodidea, until we look through the
lens of how does it impact women, particularly women who are in
a controlling environment?
To begin with, right, there'sanother law that they're looking
at to reactivate, I guess, andit's the Comstock Act.
Way, way back it was to keeppeople from sending pornography
through the mail, which soundsgood to me.
I mean, I'm like burn allpornography and anybody who
(12:55):
profits from it, right, but thisComstock Act is saying that you
cannot send drugs through themail, you cannot send anything
that has to do with abortion.
That can be stirrups for adoctor's office in California
for, well, woman's care, butthis mefapristone, it would be
illegal to deliver that Bottomline.
(13:16):
It's a national abortion ban.
So again, if you're looking at,just yeah, don't send porn
through the mail.
But if you again look throughthat lens of how does it impact
women, that's what it's about.
It's not about pornography.
Can we lose our right to vote?
You bet We've lost our right toour choice.
We've lost our right to healthcare.
You and I were talking beforewe taped this about a House bill
(13:38):
out of Montana, 609.
It has been shot down, votedout, but it'll raise its ugly
head again and it basically saysyou can't leave the state for
an abortion.
You can't leave the state ifyou're pregnant and you have an
abortion.
So how do you know?
You brought up the fact thatwomen who are leaving the state
for an abortion, if it'soutlawed in your state, they
(14:01):
don't look nine months pregnantor five months pregnant.
You can't tell.
So how would they evenimplement?
Speaker 1 (14:05):
that, how would it be enforced?
I mean, it would be hard to yespee in the cup right after you
put your laptop in the bucket.
Well, fortunately for thepeople of Montana, that bill was
shot down earlier this year,but to your point it could be.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
Do you think that's the last we'll hear of that?
I don't.
It's hard to say I don't, Idon't.
So it goes back to what are wegoing to do about it?
Right, are we calling ourelected officials?
I'm telling you, I called itwasn't four weeks after January,
swearing in, and my senator'soffice literally picked up his
(14:39):
cell phone and said hi, jan, Ithought I'd be hearing from you,
and rightfully so.
Did it make a difference?
I don't think so, because hecontinues to vote very
conservatively here in Texaswe're looking at gerrymandering,
at a mid-decade redistrictingand you cannot tell me that that
(15:07):
doesn't have a bigger.
Why five seats in Texas?
Why not someplace else, right?
Well, I know RepresentativeCrockett is a big thorn in
people's sides and good for her.
We all ought to be thorns inpeople's sides wherever you are
on which side of the aisle right.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
Amen to that and because you had me thinking that
very thing as you were goingthrough all of this.
We're facing a lot ofchallenges, yes, yes, they're
making women jump through a lotof hoops, but I'm not put off by
that.
All this time, all thesecenturies, all these years,
(15:43):
women have had to jump throughhoops.
Rise to occasions todemonstrate that we are better
than that, we are stronger thanthat and we are worthy of equity
.
So let us not be put off by allof the challenges coming toward
us, but rise above it.
And you want proof, you wantpaperwork, you want $1.25 or
whatever it is for the poll tax.
(16:04):
I'm here, I'll pay it and I'llmake sure you've got the $1.25
to pay it Absolutely, and that'sthe message.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
You know you were asking where do we go, when are
we going from here?
And I think voting rights isone of the big ones that we're
going to be facing.
Immigration is another one thatwomen who are being just picked
up off the street without dueprocess.
You think about walking yourkids to school and you're not
walking back to pick them up inthe afternoon.
At Genesis, we actually in ourlegal clinic.
(16:33):
There we have attorneys who arewriting powers of attorney for
women who are afraid they won'tbe there Again.
You add all of these thingsthat are going on, but take a
look at okay now what's it likeif there's domestic violence in
the home?
Yes, because one out of everythree of the women that we've
been talking about whethervoting or immigration, or
(16:54):
women's healthcare, one out ofevery three of them are
experiencing violence in thehome.
Right, so there are a lot oflayers.
There are so many layers, maria.
There are so many layers, andso where do we begin to attack
that?
I heard Jordan Lawson, our chiefresidential officer, the other
day say when women come in, weask them what are your goals,
what are your dreams?
What do you want to be?
Which is what it's about.
(17:15):
It's not my program and we'velearned over the years that
we're there, obviously fourdecades for her.
And she said we give theanalogy of a pizza.
You can't stuff a whole pizzain your mouth and so you divide
it into slices, and one slice ischild care.
Before I can do anything, Ihave to have child care.
One slice is housing or living,wage, job, and so which one are
(17:36):
you going to take a bite offirst?
So back to your layer analogy.
We could stack those up, and ifyou take on that one, I'm going
to take on another one.
I was at the countycommissioner's court the other
day.
They were so nice to give aproclamation to Genesis, but it
was so interesting to hear theother proclamations.
One is about firearms, keepingchildren safe in the home.
(17:57):
It wasn't like get rid of them,they were like lock them up,
just lock them up.
And I knew from looking therewere some sad grandmothers
sitting there talking and somesad moms that were talking.
And you know, I think back towhen my girls would go off to a
sleepover.
I'd say I'd call the parents,which humiliated them, of course
.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
But I'd say I know where you're going with this.
You know where I'm going withthis.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
I've had these conversations Is there alcohol
in the house?
And will there be a parent, anadult, in that house, a
responsible parent?
Never asked.
Is there a loaded gun in thehouse and yet so many kiddos,
anyway.
So I have asked that question.
Speaker 1 (18:33):
They're taking that load, you have, yeah in this day
and age, so we're like ageneration apart, but I have
asked that question, especiallywhen my children were younger
and going to a house of a familyI wasn't familiar with.
Yes, and it could be a family Iam familiar with.
I have no idea who's a gunowner and who isn't.
Speaker 2 (18:50):
There's no advertising of that.
And how do they keep them?
You know, like we're gun owners.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
I have very strict rules about what places even I
will go into if there are gunspresent and how I feel about how
they should be stored.
Speaker 2 (19:06):
How they're being stored ammunition somewhere else
.
But anyway, if this group, thatgroup will take the layer of
women who are dying by firearms63% of women who are killed by
an intimate partner the choiceof weapon is a firearm.
So we know that it ratchets upthe danger if someone is living
in an abusive home, 500 timesmore likely to be killed if
(19:29):
there is just the presence of agun.
So I'm going to let them worryabout that layer right and I'm
going to continue to call mysenator's office and I want you
to work on that women safewalking their kids to school.
And if we all did that, insteadof standing back and saying
gosh, isn't it a shame?
And just wringing our hands, wehave to all bear some
responsibility.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
I absolutely agree with that.
For the environment that welive in, but very often we know
that abusers are men, and thosewho are, in this case, trying to
take rights away from women are, in fact, men.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
It's a gendered crime .
There's no doubt about it.
Sexual assault, stalking,domestic violence, those are
gendered crimes.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
So as we consider all of this progress that we've
made that you talked about, andalso the current atmosphere
where we find ourselves in 2025,I want to revisit a question
that first surfaced in 2024 andwas viral on social media, and
we mentioned this in thebeginning of the show.
That question would be wouldyou rather be alone in the woods
(20:31):
with a bear or a man?
So most listeners are likelyfamiliar with this debate and
the answer most often respondedwas a bear, a bear.
But we bring this up againbecause it begs the questions.
First of all, why, why wouldyou choose a bear over another
human, a man?
And also, how did we get tothis point where women would
(20:52):
prefer risking it all with awild animal?
Let's review what is behindthis decision.
Speaker 2 (20:58):
Well, for sure, if you think about all the people
listening to this podcast.
For sure, if you think aboutall the people listening to this
podcast, and particularly thewomen, most all of us have
experienced some type of abuseagainst me, right?
Whereas I've never been afraidof a bear, I've been in the
woods, I've hiked, I've stayedin the mountains in a cabin.
I've seen bears at a distanceand none have ever hurt me in
(21:23):
any way.
You talked about only 20 bearattacks a year, compared to the
millions of women who aresexually assaulted, who are
stalked, who are afraid, womenwho have experienced gaslighting
, women who are currently in arelationship with a toxic,
controlling narcissist.
Narcissism is a weapon almostas deadly as a firearm, I
(21:45):
promise you after years andyears of working with women at
Genesis.
But you put that whole packagetogether and all of us know
someone like that or have hadlittle peaks of things like that
in our relationships, right?
Speaker 1 (21:57):
Well, yeah, If a woman is sexually assaulted,
they ask her how much she had todrink, Correct?
If a woman gets attacked by awild animal, no one's going to
ask her were you drinking thatnight?
What did you have on?
Speaker 2 (22:10):
Why were you there in the first place?
How much did you have to drink?
No, exactly, she doesn't becomeanything more than a victim.
She did not participate in thatattack, whereas if you look at
whether it's in our courts orjust the way, we in society,
we're having the judgment, thejudgment, the judgment,
absolutely judgment and theshame that's inflicted upon
women who are victims of rape,domestic violence and so on.
(22:33):
Yeah, no doubt about it.
So yeah, women are choosing thebear.
To be real honest, they don'trape you, they don't stalk you,
they don't attack you unlessthey feel attacked.
Speaker 1 (22:44):
They probably don't know how to gaslight you either
I bet they don't right I betthey don't Going back to the
question of equity and how wecan continue to pursue equity
for all people, especially women, and we've been warning others
for ages that we must stand insolidarity because the rights we
have come to know, as we'vediscussed, can be, and have been
(23:06):
, taken from us.
Let's consider somecontemporary authors' words, and
there are lots of warnings inMargaret Atwood's the Handmaid's
Tale, but this one inparticular is a very powerful
warning and an important thingfor us to remember, and this is
a quote from the book theHandmaid's Tale.
Now I'm awake to the world.
(23:27):
I was asleep before.
That's how we let it happen.
When they slaughtered Congress,we didn't wake up.
When they blamed terrorists andsuspended the Constitution, we
didn't wake up.
Then either.
Nothing changes instantaneously.
In a gradually heating bathtub,you'd be boiled to death before
(23:47):
you knew it.
It's a powerful quote becauseit talks about how, very slowly
and insidiously, things can bechanged Right, and then you get
to a point where you havenothing left and you feel like,
in retrospect, you seeeverything Right.
There's a study out of Hungary,at a university in Hungary.
(24:08):
It's called the GradualElimination of Gender Equality.
The four Ds distinction,dependence, division and
dominance.
Tell us about that.
Speaker 2 (24:17):
Let's look at those four things with regards to
Handmaid's Tale the distinction,the division, the dominance,
the dependence.
They're all there in theHandmaid's Tale.
You take each one of thosecharacters and you ask what was
of Joseph dependent on?
As long as she could breed, aslong as she could give a baby,
then she could live.
(24:38):
Otherwise she was sent to theClean up the toxic waste.
Speaker 1 (24:41):
Exactly.
Speaker 2 (24:42):
Or the Jezebel house or something like that.
Speaker 1 (24:45):
Which I mean that is a really fascinating part of the
Handmaid's Tale is that therestill was a trafficking
operation of women, so they werelooked down upon, but then they
were used by men.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
But the hypocrisy of the commanders who sat around
and boasted about how they arepure and they are godly and then
they go and participate inhuman trafficking, Den of
iniquity.
The taking away women's rightsto read, that's another thing.
Even if you have written before, this would not be allowed us
sitting here talking about thisright.
(25:16):
But not allowed to read.
So how much information then iscut off?
The isolation again, thatdistancing.
I thought it was reallyinteresting to lay those four
words, those four Ds, over thatparticular show, and I think, if
you pulled up any of the otherones, there's so many out there.
Speaker 1 (25:31):
It's a brilliant novel, obviously, that we can
learn a lot from when we compareit to our current environment,
and I think all of us are veryaware that what happened in
Gilead could happen anywhere.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
It's happened in other countries, yes yes,
absolutely, absolutely, and I goback to the quote that you were
talking about.
I didn't fight when they didaway with Congress.
Are we going to fight when thathappens?
Are we going to arrest thesepeople and then let an executive
order let them out of prisonthat tried to destroy our
Capitol?
I don't understand where therage is not.
(26:08):
Yes, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (26:11):
I think that what might be lacking at this moment
in time is the unity of theAmerican people to stand
together rather than allowourselves to be divided on the
issues and the division which iscalled out in this study that
is being forced upon usAbsolutely.
If we could band together andbecome one and really rise up
(26:34):
together and say this is what westand for, this is what we all
want and stand for.
There's another quote in theHandmaid's Tale where we only
wanted to make the world abetter place.
And better never means betterfor everyone, for everyone.
Speaker 2 (26:48):
But it should.
Speaker 1 (26:49):
It should, it should, it should and it can, but it's
going to take a lot of effort.
Speaker 2 (26:53):
It reminds me of what we talk about with our at
Genesis.
As you know, we have a men'sauxiliary called HEROES, and
they are gentle men.
It stands for, he RespectsOthers, and their life's motto
is not only am I not going toabuse in my own home, it's not
okay with me if it's happeningin your home.
And whether that's throughaccountability or whatever
(27:14):
efforts they have, these menhave come together and said it's
just wrong.
This is not a gender issue.
It is gendered, but it is not agender issue.
Yeah it's not a women's issue,it's not a women's issue
Absolutely, because men are sonsand brothers and fathers,
because it hurts the women intheir lives.
It hurts their lives as well.
And if we could get over whichside?
(27:34):
Are you an R or a, d, or areyou white?
Are you of color?
If we get past all that crap,then maybe, maybe we could make
this country what it ought to be.
We could make our community.
We can't have safe communities.
You can bring in all theNational Guard you want to, but
our communities will never besafe.
Our streets will not be safe ifpeople are not safe in their
(27:56):
own homes.
Speaker 1 (27:57):
You're absolutely right, and so it begs the
question then where do we gofrom here, and what is the
vision for the next 40 years atGenesis?
Speaker 2 (28:05):
The next 40 years is, honest to goodness, I have it
already.
A little short-range plan formy long-range plan, okay, good,
but we continue to recognizewhat those roadblocks are.
Maria, right now, today, wewill turn away 50 people on our
hotline.
We have no more room at ourshelter.
Now that's not to discouragesomebody from calling, because
there are other alternatives,alternative programs or programs
(28:28):
that we have, like ournon-residential or emergency
client assistance for a hotel orwhatever.
I want people to call, I wantpeople to text, but the fact
that there is such a shortage ofsafe beds we are in the next 40
years, you and I are going tohave to raise some money and
build a larger shelter.
I think also, my dream is tochange the conversation.
(28:50):
I want Genesis to be thethought leader that creates a
societal paradigm shift fromasking the question why doesn't
she get out?
For a hundred different reasonsto why does he do it?
If we could have fixed thiswith shelters and women's
programs, we would have alreadydone it right Over the centuries
.
We would have already stoppedit if we could have this
violence against us.
(29:11):
And so when does it become asocietal norm that hurting your
family is unacceptable?
What we've accomplished atGenesis is a lot, but it's not
nearly enough.
(29:35):
These atrocities that impactwomen not only out on the street
, in our voting booth, in ourcommunities, but also in our own
homes.
We can't fight for women'srights to vote if we're not
fighting for the womenthemselves, if we're not
fighting for her right to besafe in her own home, to live
abuse-free, to make the choicesto travel across state lines or
vote the way she wants to vote.
It can't happen.
As women, as employees ofGenesis, as human beings, we
(30:00):
need to be able to stand up,turn each to the other and say
I'm scared for you.
And I think if this communitydid this across the way, don't
even go into who did you votefor or what's happening If we
all turned each to the other andsaid I'm scared for you, there
is help and there is hope.
What a better community wouldthis be?
We don't need the NationalGuard to make this a safer place
(30:21):
for women.
We need Genesis.
We really do and we do.
Unfortunately, we have to bethere.
But we also need, as we callthem, our kitchen table
ambassadors to stand up with usand say that violence is never
acceptable, that it is pervasive, it is very damaging, very
dangerous and it is so oftendeadly.
Speaker 1 (30:43):
Circling back to the question about the bear or the
man.
How do you listeners feel now?
Bear attacks are less commonthan domestic violence, an
experience that impacts one inthree women in Texas and has
traumatizing effects that canlast a lifetime.
As a call to action today, weurge you to support one another.
Equity is not a guarantee andit is something worth fighting
(31:06):
for.
Jan, thank you for being withme.
My pleasure.
Genesis Women's Shelter andSupport exists to give women in
abusive situations a way out.
We are committed to our missionof providing safety, shelter
and support for women andchildren who have experienced
domestic violence and to raiseawareness regarding its cause,
prevalence and impact.
Join us in creating a societalshift on how people think about
(31:29):
domestic violence.
You can learn more atgenesisshelterorg and when you
follow us on social media onFacebook and Instagram at
Genesis Women's Shelter, and onX at Genesis Shelter.
The Genesis Helpline isavailable 24 hours a day, seven
days a week, by call or text at214-946-HELP, 214-946-HELP,
(31:53):
214-946-4357.
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