Reneé Gasser [1960] CH
Biography
I am the daughter of working parents who have little time for their five children
At age nine, I have my first period and hide this fact during five years from my parents
At age fifteen, I am raped by a man who hits me and threatens me
At age fifteen, I do not suspect my pregnancy
At age sixteen, my unwanted child dies
At age seventeen, I use my mother’s tranquilizers
At age eighteen, I cut and burn my body and drink alcohol
At age nineteen, my suicide attempt fails
At age nineteen, I feel safe in the comfort of my shared life with my beloved wife
At age nineteen, I drink excessive amounts of alcohol
At age twenty-four, I am being asked too much by my wish-child
At age thirty-one, I divorce the father of my second child and am sober
At age thirty-six, I am independent, and secretly drink
At age forty, my boyfriend is dependent on drugs and on me
At age forty-one, my boyfriend rapes and abuses me every day
At age forty-one, I drink and my friend gives me cocaine without my knowing
At age forty-one, I am submitted to enforced psychiatric treatment after a nervous breakdown
At age forty-two, I snort heroine, drink continuously, and no longer defend myself against being raped and abused
At age forty-two, I am convicted for the illegal possession of guns, after my boyfriend has shot at me
At age forty-three, in a state of apathy and self-neglect, I allow my boyfriend to terrorize and blackmail me, use heroine and cocaine, and deal in drugs
At age forty-five, I live in agony, am arrested, convicted, and endure my punishment
From a dialogue with the participant and with the aid of the matrix a biography of basic facts is developed, which portrays the person’s life as a sequence of events and decisions, of acts and reactions.
The texts of the biographies are spoken by the participants themselves, and recorded for the audio modules of the Baby Dolls and the project’s audio archive.