Member Profile:
Sharon Perpignani

Written by Peggy Melanson

SCAT member Sharon Perpignani has imaginative and pro-active ideas on "how to get women together to learn that 'It's better to be pissed off than pissed on.'"

"Somerville Community Access TV gives me the opportunity to try out ideas and allows me to express myself creatively, socially, and politically without criticism," she proclaimed. "Besides, I like hanging out at the place."

In 1994, Sharon intended to establish a women's roundtable at SCAT to discuss the issues surrounding raising children. She gathered a group of four women to begin the project. "They chickened out on the day of production, probably because of stage fright," she added. However, the show went on, with Mimi Graney producing and featured Sharon with her two children, Rachel and Alex, talking about the first day of school. "The three of us had a blast," Sharon said, "laughing and cracking up the camera crew during the shoot."

Being a single mother, she realized that producing a weekly show required more effort than she was able to give at that particular time. In 1997, when the kids were older, Sharon returned to SCAT with a vengeance and proclaimed, "I felt I had time to do something for myself, and other housewives."

Perpignani is learning more about SCAT and television. She attended the Media Literacy Workshop, taught by Jim Dunn and Mimi Graney, this past Fall. The course helps members learn about media advertising and how it affects our lives and the country. She also said that learning how to use the camera and the other equipment was a lot easier than she thought. "I found the staff warm, supporting, and patient during the learning process."

Sharon hopes to produce The Housewife series, which will proves that housewives need to be seen as gainfully employees in a worthwhile, fundamental, and essential occupation. She would like to interview people "who can give us information and the language that we need to assume our rightful place in the world." Three of several subjects she wishes to address are "To Spank or Not to Spank": the difference between spanking and abuse; "In Our Voice": a discussion on how to re-frame issues from the perspective of Hearth and Home; and "Beyond Rocking the Cradle": how housewives can change the world.

She is also working on a much-loved project involving the B'Nai Brith Jewish Temple (Church of the Covenant), located on Central Street. Sharon re-discovered ten hours of 3/4" tape at the Temple. The video consist of congregation members, some of whom have passed away. She intends to put together a few hour-long vignettes for presentation on channel three for the benefit of the Somerville community.

Another star performer lives in the Perpignani house: D.J. the goldfish, a fat little fish swimming around in an old fashioned fish bowl which occupies a special place on the kitchen table. D.J., who made her TV debut at SCAT along with the children, has been known to swim to the end of the bowl whenever anyone sits down at the table. She makes goofy, lip-gulping faces, begs for food, and won't leave the spot 'til someone feeds her. D.J. even kisses Sharon's fingers when she poked them into the water. Even this reporter noticed how jovial and happy the chubby orange fish appeared.

Look for The Housewife Show on SCAT, the place to meet a woman who will make a difference for all women.

Somerville Community Access Television
90 Union Square, Somerville, MA 02143
Phone: 617-628-8826 | Fax: 617-628-1811
Email: info@access-scat.org
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