Meet Giordona Aviv – the woman who will play me in the Dates from Hell episode on Wednesday, July 11 on Discovery ID. I am always a bit fascinated by the casting director’s selection.
Clearly, Giordana and I have a lot of similarities…and by clearly, I mean not at all. Furthermore, she has way better clothes than me. I protest…
But seriously, if you are wondering why I agreed to sit for the interview and subject myself to this, this excerpt from a recent USA Today article about Discovery ID, nails it:
“Women ages 25 to 54 are the network’s core audience, Schleiff says. “In 3½ years, this network has come out of nowhere to be within the top 10 of all networks for women 25 to 54.”
Overall, the channel averaged about 700,000 viewers in prime time for the first three months of 2012, an increase of 20% from the year before, and its day-long audience grew 40%.”
I have tried to be thoughtful in my selections and whereas Travel Channel reached people who travel, Discovery ID most definitely will reach women – mothers, sisters, friends, many of whom have been victims themselves. I am looking forward to the episode. But more than that, I really hope to hear from some women after it has aired. A writer at CABLEFAX Daily emailed me today to tell me that the episode (he had a review copy) mentions my advocacy work. I sincerely hope he means they mention this site. Before that shoot in April, this site is the only thing that has helped me feel like I’ve done something meaningful and educational. Since then, so much has changed with the Walk a Mile event, meeting people from the anti-sexual violence world, and pointedly setting aside time – and even crafting my work schedule – to accommodate my desire to be better educated in this space.
I feel as if I am on the brink of a breakthrough. Back when I was going through this ordeal, I would send letters and emails to every possible organization I could think of to help me navigate the Italian system. By and large, I was met with perfunctory answers. Those days are well behind me. I sense a subtle shift and fervently hope I am able to affect change on a larger scale. Fingers crossed.
A Fight Back Woman 