Every day of my life is in some way devoted to sexual health. Whether it is in class, in medical school, working for an organization dedicated to promoting healthy sexuality through sex-positive education and activism or writing this column, I spend a great deal of time reading, writing and discussing various aspects of sexuality that impact people's lives in both positive and negative ways.
This past week, I have spent far too much time dwelling on the negative. I accept the fact that I am currently working to improve sexual health in an atmosphere that is generally permissive and dismissive of sexual assault (which is clearly a tremendous detriment to sexual health).
Nonetheless, it has come to my attention that some individuals and/or organizations on this campus have no qualms about publicly using sexual assault as a source of humor or entertainment, and this must be immediately addressed.
The problem I have with these lighthearted rape ""jokes"" lies in the fact that we are terrible at recognizing rape when we see it, and even when we do recognize it, we unfailingly do our very best to deproblematize it. Individuals who choose to use it as a cheap source of laughs validate the already too prevalent perception of sexual assault as a casual problem of no real consequence.
The vast majority of us are capable of recognizing, for example, what happened in Richmond, Calif. last week as rape: a two-and-a-half-hour gang rape and battery of a 15-year-old girl. There are no other descriptors, but rape has many more ugly faces.
What is it called when one partner is too drunk to give consent? Rape. What is it called when a sexual act has begun, but someone refuses to listen when his/her partner wants to stop? Rape. Whoopi Goldberg famously described a difference between ""rape"" and ""rape-rape"" while discussing Roman Polanski on ""The View"", but no such difference exists. In case I was unclear the first time: sex without consent (which by definition is clear and given-freely) is called rape. See how there's a period at the end of that sentence? Rape is rape no matter how many times you repeat it.
Second, we do a spectacular job of downplaying (even the idea of) sexual assault when encountered by it. Amanda Hess, of Washington City Paper's The Sexist column and blog, quotes some online commentary from her discussion of the Richmond rape:
""Men need to learn how to respect women better and with that said, women also need to learn how to have respect for themselves and their bodies! ... she could have been flirting a little and tempting the men to force themselves on her.""
""Rape is a crime, but girls are getting wild and boys will be boys no matter what.""
""Wait wait wait.....she was drinking prior to this? Hmmm, I'm not sayin it's her fault or she deserved this or anything but she's 15 and drinking outside on a bench by herself in a dress...""
This, my friends, is called victim-blaming, and it inevitably occurs even when we correctly identify rape, as in the Richmond case. Why do we also know that before the girl was raped, she was drinking? Why do we know she allegedly came to the dance alone, and that no one saw her leave? Why was it worth reporting that she wore a sparkly purple dress and silver heels? As Hess notes, if you have the stomach, you can find any news story covering the case and scroll down to the comments section to see how we (anonymously, of course) use these irrelevant factoids as ways to write off the rape of a 15-year-old girl.
Here is where we can perhaps wring just a little bit of positive discussion from this outstandingly insensitive oversight. How is it that some individuals chose to portray our legitimate outrage over the mockery of rape as inflationary or overreactive? Why is it that we so often refuse to see rape for what it is? Why do we find so many reasons to excuse sexual assault, and why do those reasons so often include some characteristic of the survivor? Why do we unfailingly dismiss sexual violence even when it is staring us straight in the face?
These are questions that have complex answers. However, we ourselves can start working to ensure they no longer need to be asked. We can talk to our friends about consent; we can get consent from our lovers; we can learn how to be an ally if someone we love is sexually assaulted. Let us now direct a concerted and organized effort toward rooting out the poisonous attitudes that are being exposed on our campus.
Erica is a first-year medical student concerned with sexual assault awareness on campus. If you have any questions, comments or concerns in this area, e-mail her at sex@dailycardinal.com.
