Art Activist of the Week - Stanford Graphic Novel Project

By Whitney Gray

“Beware of powerful men: They may kill you if you refuse their advances. And beware of their wives: They may kill you if you do not.”

This warning was destined for a young girl, barely a teenager, with impoverished parents who were getting up in age (at least by Cambodian standards). She was compelled to drop out of the sixth grade to take up work and support her family. At the tender age of perhaps eleven or twelve, she began selling fruit shakes on busy intersections, even late into the night when most American preteen girls would be in the comfort of their bedrooms staying up late only to stalk their peers on Facebook.

Two years later, she was introduced into the life of a karaoke girl where she would saunter about in risqué outfits and flirt with cameras to make her living. Unfortunately she was even further introduced into the life of a mistress of one of the many prestigious older men who seek out these youthful girls already in a world too adult for them.

Lastly, she was forced into a situation that consequently altered her life forever. She couldn’t leave the married man taking advantage of her because of his threats, so she was brutally attacked with acid by his jealous wife and permanently physically and emotionally scarred.

This is the story of Tat Marina and many other impoverished Cambodian girls who have been seduced by older wealthy men and forced to face acid attacks from enraged wives. This is also the story that inspired the creation of “Shake Girl”, a massive collaborative effort between fifteen students and two instructors of the Stanford Graphic Novel Project and of journalist Eric Pape who interviewed Marina upon visiting her in 2001.

In the winter of 2008, this group worked vigorously to transform Marina’s experience into a graphic novel that would create awareness about the issue of violence against women in general, but would more specifically call attention to the horrifying acid attacks in Cambodia. It was also created to encourage donations to organizations that will strive to end human right violations in Cambodia and help establish women’s rights.

In a matter of weeks, their effort resulted in a heartfelt piece of literature that they hoped accurately captured the complexity of the lives of young girls living a world away from them. For their dedication and enthusiasm to make the story of these girls known, the members of the Stanford Graphic Novel Project are our Art Activists of the Week.

 Want to take a look? Check it out at http://www.stanford.edu/group/cwstudents/shakegirl/pageturn.html

Learn more at

http://www.stanford.edu/group/cwstudents/shakegirl/index.html