Since attending a fairly large university such as OU, the
word “rape” has become a much more circulated word. Pre-college, I thought of
the word rape much differently. I imagined some creepy old man popping out of
an alley way attacking there victim. I never put the harsh word in the context
of a rapist to be my age. Why would a college student ever risk losing what
they worked for over a malicious act like rape? I thought the answer was that
they wouldn’t.
I remember the summer before my freshmen year, my mom FORCED
me to watch an ABC special on the Steubenville Ohio Rape Case. This was at the
time the trail was taking place. Long story short, some male members of the Steubenville
High School Football team were accused of sexually assaulting a female from a
neighboring school in West Virginia. The disturbing part about this case is
that there was documentation. There was clear indication that the female was
highly intoxicated and the men were getting pure pleasure from taking advantage
of her. At the time, my thoughts of this case were “Oh yeah it’s high school,
there just young and immature. This won’t happen in college. Especially at OU, everyone’s
so nice there”. I didn’t think it couldn’t possibly happen to me.
Two weeks into my freshmen year, OUPD sent out a report on a
rape that occurred in the dorm right next to mine. This became a huge topic of discussion
in my learning community class and it was there that I realized that this could
happen to myself or one of my peers. It’s a topic that has continued to make a
huge impact on campus dynamics. There was one act of sexual imposition in 2012
and one act of rape reported in 2013. There were two reports of sexual
imposition and two acts of rape in 2014. That’s more than double the previous
years. During this time the social movement
Fuck Rpe Culture was more recognized
on our campus.
As Boswell and Spades article so clearly spelled it out,
Greek life plays a huge role in the rape culture in college environments. It’s
not fair to say that ever fraternity participates in this behavior but I see
the red flag signs all the time. A fraternities as a whole make statements such
as “We respect women and would never pressure them” but individuals will go
around slut shaming women all the time. The social structure of a fraternity is
extremely strong. A reputation of a female can be faulty spread within minutes.
These should be the red flags to look for when deciding who to become friends
with. As one member of a frat can cause a terrible reputation for the chapter
as a whole, I think it’s important for other to educate them on the seriousness
of the manner. Rape has become too casual of a thing and if I didn’t know so
myself, I would say the article Fraternities and Collegiate Rape Culture
was on statistics from Ohio University.
Unfortunately, OU is indeed a university that suffers from frequent instances of sexual misconduct. But something that I have realized is that OU is privileged. OU supports several activist, feminist, student, and health groups on campus to promote ending sexual violence. OU is packed with people who care and adamantly fight against rape and rape culture. But what about the many universities who DO NOT have these same outlets and resources? Imagine how many survivors go unsupported, blamed, and silent on other campuses. How many administrations actively ignore this issue and support perpetrators? Frankly, OU is not the worst on that list. And many people do not realize that fact, which is extremely sad.
ReplyDeleteLike men who use their privilege to support this issue, OU should serve as an example of a university who also fights for ending sexual misconduct. Not to say that it doesn't already, but OU students have the privilege and power to really make a difference for people everywhere. For example, I am on a committee to reformat "Walk A Mile in Her Shoes" to be more inclusive of all people who might experience some form of sexual misconduct, and that is not limited to being dressed up in stereotypical women's clothing. Now called, "A Mile Together," this event and the students involved in planning and volunteering for it to spread the idea that sexual and power-based personal violence affects EVERYONE, and EVERYONE can help end it. It's not just a "women's issue that some good man help out with" to quote Jackson Katz, but it is everyone's issue. This reformation is revolutionary and the goal is that OU will be the catalyst to reform the movement everywhere. OU has that power to change the problematic event into something great, and that really demonstrates the power of student leadership. By working towards this goal, OU can help other less educated (or even more prestigious and problematic) institutions create a safe space and movement for everyone to end sexual violence. And that is doing A LOT for people all over. So my response to anyone who might say that OU and its administration does not care about ending sexual misconduct is, "If OU doesn't really care, than why does it promote education, resources, safety, and support for student organizations revolving around this issue? Why does it encourage change and progress?" And maybe, just a few of those points will help people think about what kind of privileged and supportive institution they really attend.
I can relate to the thought of what rape was prior to attending college. I never would of imagined one of my peers to be a rapist or even accused of sexual assault. Prior to classes starting my freshman year, we had to take the online courses for alcohol and sexual assault awareness. That is when I found out that most victims of sexual assault know their assaulter. I had always expected the assaulter and the victim to be strangers. Now being on campus I am more aware of the dangers that a sexual assault could happen. The people who are accused of rape or sexual assault often are extremely trusted by their victim.
ReplyDeleteWith that being said, I am not sure how accurate this article is to representing rape culture on college campuses. This article is a sociological case study specifically of fraternities and rape on college campuses. When it comes to the general campus and rape culture the statistics will be off. I think it would be more important to look at the overall campuses statistics rather than fraternities’ statistics to see how wide ranged rape can be. Any party that you go to on a college campus, including OU, has their own dangers. On Ohio University’s campus the number of sexual assaults reported are higher than anyone wants but like Phoenix said, there are several programs and supporters of the programs to help end sexual assault and misconduct cases.
Before coming to Ohio University I never really thought about rape culture. Before freshman year, everyone had to take an alcohol and sexual assault awareness online course. I thought it was a pointless thing for OU to make its students do before classes, but since I’ve been at OU, I’ve realized how informational those courses are. Sexual assault does happen on various campuses just like Ohio University. Not only does rape happen, but other forms of sexual assault happen like unwanted touching and verbal harassment. The courses that were needed to be taken by the students at OU are very informational with the situations that rape is most likely to happen in, and what to do if it every happens to yourself or someone you know.
ReplyDeleteAccording to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, “25% of American women have experienced sexual assault” and “half of those cases involve alcohol consumption by the perpetrator, victim, or both” (NIAAA). It is not uncommon that where there is alcohol, there is a possibility of sexual assault. At Ohio University, more people than just men in fraternities go out and drink. I think that people need think about alcohol consumption and sexual assault more than just targeting one specific category of men.
http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/arh25-1/43-51.htm
What is sad is that rape culture has been able to fly under the radar for so long. Yes we now have programs such as "Fuck Rape Culture" that try to combat against it but we see the effects of this accepted culture already. This goes a long with the "Rape of Mr. Smith" article. The system is set up so that the woman in the rape scenario is the one that has to answer all of the questions. These questions such as ""Did you scream?", "Did you deny him?", or "What were you wearing?" put the woman as the one who becomes responsible for all of the decisions being made by both parties. These are the also the types of questions that are more than likely in the back of women's minds when these unfortunate events occur. Rather than just being able to do whatever it might take to get out of the situation, these women have to think about what others will think and how it will be interpreted when its all said and done. The fact of the matter is, each of these situations are different. There is no black and white, it is a very gray area. What one woman might do to help herself may be completely different to another woman's approach to helping herself.
ReplyDeleteWhat is sad is that rape culture has been able to fly under the radar for so long. Yes we now have programs such as "Fuck Rape Culture" that try to combat against it but we see the effects of this accepted culture already. This goes a long with the "Rape of Mr. Smith" article. The system is set up so that the woman in the rape scenario is the one that has to answer all of the questions. These questions such as ""Did you scream?", "Did you deny him?", or "What were you wearing?" put the woman as the one who becomes responsible for all of the decisions being made by both parties. These are the also the types of questions that are more than likely in the back of women's minds when these unfortunate events occur. Rather than just being able to do whatever it might take to get out of the situation, these women have to think about what others will think and how it will be interpreted when its all said and done. The fact of the matter is, each of these situations are different. There is no black and white, it is a very gray area. What one woman might do to help herself may be completely different to another woman's approach to helping herself.
ReplyDeleteAs a member of the greek community here at OU it saddens me that the word Fraternity is so closely related with the topic of rape. It saddens me even more deeply that some of my peers at ohio university feel this way. I would make the argument that fraternity life promotes group thinking which can be very dangerous when dealing with young impressionable minds but can also be a great benefit for individuals who are having difficulty adjusting to college life. I think there is great power in fraternities and how they effect how young men act but like many things it can be used for good or evil.
ReplyDeleteI think instead of trying to terminate the idea of fraternities they could be used as an effective tool against rape culture. Teaching young men that often have a strong social presence the effects and implications of rape culture could have a very positive effects on college campuses and teach people for life.