labor body

by

The Body at Work

“That the body plays a central role in work is perhaps an obvious statement, yet it is easy to lose sight of human labor in a capitalist system centered on service, global outsourcing, and automated assembly…laboring bodies experience ailments and annoyances that are often hidden because they are experienced in isolation” – Ed Slavishak

When the worker is asked
To complete the task,
The body slaves away
For a measly pay.

In the big blue store
With the bright blue vests,
17 year old
Ken Kaneki rests.

School then work,
Day and night,
Week after week,
He does everything “right”.

He’s the star employee,
The best on the team,
But what does that
Truly mean?

His feet are aching,
He can barely walk,
But yet to every customer
He must talk.

Work through the pain,
Keep up your pace,
And never ever
Let your smile leave your face.

7 miles a day,
He walks across the store.
Pulling carts, stocking cases,
And watching the door.

Up on the ladders,
With boxes half his size,
His balance unsteady,
And dust in his eyes.

Down on the floor scrubbing,
He’s on his knees.
His body is screaming
“Help me please!!”

Work through the pain,
Keep up your pace,
And never ever
Let your smile leave your face.

Now in the present,
His joints are weak.
And every now and then,
The future looks pretty bleak.

Countless hours spent
To prove your worth,
But where’s that “family” now,
When you are hurt?

You are replaceable
Like a cog in a machine,
And in the end,
Your efforts were unseen.

4 years in a place
That worked him to death
And now his sanity
Is all he has left.

With the job of 6
And the pay of 1,
After 4 years
He’s glad to be done.

But when he looks down
At his physical form,
He can plainly see
That it is worn.

His body shows signs
Of labor intensive times,
And he bears the scars of physical labor.

Now that he’s free,
He can clearly see
That the odds were never in his favor.

He must push on
In his tired state,
He must succeed
Before it’s “too late”.

by

“it’s not for everybody”

Please do not read if Military Sexual Trauma is a trigger along with suicide.

I joined the Army in 2018 on a whim. I dropped out of college twice, worked in a warehouse, didn’t have many friends, and felt as if I were doing nothing with my life. I became obsessed with my weight to the point I was restricting food and went to the gym for 3+ hours a day or even twice a day. I craved being worthy in the eyes of society. On a Saturday night, I received a Facebook message “ever considered the army?” What better way to be worthy than to wear a uniform that carries the most meaning in America?

In two weeks, I was gone. At the age of 20, I was headed to Basic Training at Ft Jackson, SC. I had no idea my life would be altered so drastically.

Within my first 3 weeks in basic training, I began my first Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention (SHARP) case. After my report and when other females in training heard, I was outcasted for “ruining someone’s life.”

Little did I know, that was only the beginning.

In total throughout my 3 years in the military, I experienced sexual harassment from 10 DIFFERENT senior enlisted NCO’s. I experienced one extreme case of stalking that finalized the end of my military career. The harassment coming from your superiors in a place where you’re already alone is manipulating and ignites internal gaslighting. You begin to feel like an object, not a human being. Is this all I’m good for in the military? I excelled in my job…why am I not seen for that?

The stalking put me in constant fear. If I knew he had kidnapped someone, it would be easier to know what to expect. If he assaulted someone, it would also be easier to prepare myself, as I know his plan. I didn’t have an explanation, I didn’t have a plan, I didn’t have a single clue of what and why. I couldn’t brace for anything. I asked for help from my command and was accused of having a sexual relationship with him. I lost it after that.

I was sent home from my first and last deployment early with a diagnosis of PTSD from Military Sexual Trauma. I medically retired. For about a year after my separation, I couldn’t hold a job, I couldn’t function as an adult, I was on a high risk list at the VA, I had nightmares/night terrors every night, crippling social anxiety, I got in verbal altercations everywhere I went, I couldn’t drive without getting in to a road rage incident, I still lived in constant fear. In June of 2021, I received a call from someone in my old unit at 0700. She told me the man who stalked me took his own life after his possessions were seized by the Savannah Police Department for explicit images of children. When officers went to execute the arrest warrant, they found his body.

The amount of apologies I received was disgusting. If only someone had listened to my claims. I was easily dismissed for being a woman in the military. It was “typical” in the eyes of men, as if we were making it all up for attention. I was shamed for asking for help, I felt invalid and wished I just kept my mouth shut. I blamed myself, not the other people for what they did to ME but what I did to ME. Would I still be in the military if I had just shut up? If I behaved in the man’s world, would I still have a career? I don’t feel pride from joining the military like one should. I don’t like to talk in depth about it because it feels like I didn’t get all of the body I entered the military with back once I got out. It wasn’t my body in the military, it was everyone’s property and I had no control.