The Sexual Assault Resource Unit (SARU) hosted local writer Kenneth Rogers, Jr., on Tuesday to speak about sexual violence, identity and healing. A Baltimore native and School of Education alum, Rogers is part of the Speakers Bureau for Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN), the nation’s largest anti-sexual violence organization. The RAINN Speakers Bureau is composed of survivors of sexual violence who volunteer to share their stories.
Rogers is the author of Raped Black Male and Heroes, Villains, and Healing: A Guide for Male Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse Using D.C. Comic Superheroes and Villains. At the event, he discussed his latest book, How to Kill Your Batman.
He explained that he writes comic books for an audience that he found was underrepresented when he himself was looking for help.
“I am a male survivor of childhood sexual abuse. I was sexually abused by my sister from 8-10 years old,” he said. “Even though my therapist said there were other male survivors out there, I did not believe her, because there’s no material out there. Male survivors — we do not talk. As males, we’re supposed to be quiet and hold our emotions in.”
Rogers began writing comic books, he said, because he sought to break the silence of male survivors — to let them know that they are not alone. According to Rogers, there are connections between comic book characters and real-life healing and coping mechanisms.
In his books, Rogers aims to break down down these connections and help readers heal by analyzing their favorite characters.
How to Kill Your Batman explores hypervigilance, a symptom of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Rogers explained that the book uses Batman to demonstrate how hypervigilance can be destructive.
Rogers related Batman’s storyline to the experiences of childhood survivors of sexual abuse.
“On the inside, he’s a poor, helpless boy who watched his parents be murdered. He suffered that childhood trauma, and he spends his entire life trying to control the fact that he does not want to feel that fear and shame and survivor’s guilt that he has felt his entire life,” Rogers said.
In an interview with The News-Letter, freshman Eleanor Franklin stated that she appreciated how Rogers connected superheroes and survivors of sexual violence.
“It’s amazing to see how he studied and picked out symptomatic behavior in different comic book characters,” she said.
Franklin described learning more about the experiences of male survivors.
“I knew the basics — that men were less likely to come forward and there was lots of stigma around being a male survivor — but I’ve never heard anyone actually name those unhealthy trauma responses,” she said.
At the event, Rogers explained why hypervigilance manifests particularly strongly in male survivors of sexual violence.
“We are told, as male survivors, to not talk about our childhood trauma. ‘You’re crying? You’re a crybaby. Shut up. Anything bad happened to you? Do not talk about it,’” he said. “In essence, it’s being Batman.”
He argued that men are unlikely to talk about their abuse and seek out help because they are taught by society to idolize characters like Batman.
Next, Rogers reflected on the effects of hypervigilance in his own life.
“It’s hard to not be hypervigilant until you lose absolutely everything, until you bury your son. And then you realize that sometimes bad things happen to good people... but that does not mean that there’s anything wrong with you,” he said. “If you try and control every little thing, something’s not going to work. And then when that one thing doesn’t work, the whole house of cards is going to fall.”
Rogers’ personal grief inspired him to write How to Kill Your Batman, in which he advises male survivors how to break the socialized cycle of hypervigilance. His suggestions are based on the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study, a research study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Kaiser Permanente, a health-care organization.
According to Rogers, the ACE Study revealed that abuse was more common in the “typical” American family than previously thought.
In an interview with The News-Letter, junior Sonomi Oyagi said that they enjoyed learning about the ACE Study.
“Hearing about the ACE Study was cool because I hadn’t known about it before or that it existed,” Oyagi said.
Rogers told the audience that the ACE Study found that the impact of childhood trauma can be reversed, recommending survivors to develop interpersonal skills.
“Talk to other individuals — the exact opposite of Batman. He sits in his cave, brooding over his plans,” he said.
He highlighted the importance of supportive relationships with adults, noting that the adult in question does not have to be a parent. He stated that this is why he is a teacher.
Rogers added that intimacy can also help cure hypervigilance. He expressed that the media portrays an inaccurate version of intimacy.
“As men, we are taught that intimacy is having sex on a rooftop on top of diamonds. That’s not intimacy. Women are taught ‘Did he propose? He loves you!’ That’s not intimacy either,” he said. “Intimacy is being able to be vulnerable with the person around you and letting them know it’s okay. You can cry. You can feel upset. You can feel sad.”
In an interview with The News-Letter, Franklin mentioned that she appreciated Rogers’ vulnerability.
“He was open and really vulnerable with us, and it was an incredible show of strength,” she said. “I’ve spent a long time working on my own ability to be vulnerable, and he really reminded me that being unafraid to share your emotions takes a lot more courage than holding everything in.”
During the event, Rogers expressed his hope that male survivors reading his book would learn the value of being emotionally open.
Rogers concluded his talk by reminding survivors of their worth.
“Just because you were sexually assaulted as a kid or as an adult, it is not because of what you wore, it is not because of something you can control. It is nothing but a horrible situation,” he said. “You are still human and you are still loved and you are still awesome and you are still fucking great.”
