On Monday, the entire Sacred Heart community received an email informing them of the report of a sexual assault by a student. When I read it, I cringed, for more than one reason. Sexual assault and rape are some of the most traumatic things an individual will ever have to deal with. It stays with the affected individual for their entire life, and nothing can undo that after the fact. But already I was preparing myself for the ignorant comments I knew I was going to hear as my peers started to discuss what happened.
My perceptions and opinions on rape were fundamentally changed last spring when I took an intro to sociology class. We were assigned a reading dealing with the frequency of rape cases reported in fraternity houses, and had to write a reflection afterwards. My own reflection wasn't anything particularly special; I wrote about how it was generally horrifying and needed to be corrected, but that it didn't really resonate personally with me because I had never been raped and didn't know anyone who had been. I wrote that I didn't feel particularly threatened because I generally don't put myself in "dangerous" situations like that. My professor, who I now admire greatly, came in next class after reading our reflections and was furious at what we'd written. We spent the rest of the class learning about the effects of living in a rape culture that perpetuates victim-blaming.
Girls: think of all the rules you've learned to stay "safe" when you are going out. We've all heard them: stay with your friends. Don't leave your drink unattended. Watch the way you dress. These so-called rules reinforce one message: that women can "protect" themselves from being raped. Thus, if a woman gets raped, it must be because she failed to protect herself adequately.
But who is actually responsible for rape? Rapists.
I am tired of hearing people say it is all or at least "a little bit" of the victim's fault - she shouldn't have been at that party, she shouldn't have been drinking, she shouldn't have been dressed a certain way, she shouldn't have agreed to go home with those two guys. None of that is an excuse for the rapists' decision to take advantage of this girl.
I will never forget what my sociology professor told us: "You cannot get raped until someone rapes you." You can be falling down drunk, you can be naked, you can be in a bad part of town: none of that gets you raped. Rape only occurs when a rapist makes a decision to engage in sexual activity without consent. You can get raped wearing any type of clothing, in any location, and in fact women are mostly likely to get assaulted by someone they know, not a stranger. Individuals who are drunk cannot give their consent.
I am not telling anyone to not take care of themselves. I am not saying that making risky decisions is a good idea. I am not telling anyone to not be as safe as possible. I am saying that nothing can excuse rape. It is illegal, and victim-blaming only misses the true root of the problem. I am only saying this - the only "rule" about preventing sexual assault, the only way it will ever stop, is teaching don't rape.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Reaction to State of the Union
The President's state of the union address is a tradition every year to evaluate the progress that has been made as well as address issues that have yet to be handled. Regardless of a president's political party, it always sets them up for intense scrutiny from opponents as well as a message for their party to rally around. Regular citizens who either support or dislike the president and his policies tune in to hear how the country overall is faring and what they should look for in the future.
On my part, I was impressed with Obama's stance on education. I think that raising the compulsory education age law to 18 is a practice that can only benefit students and society overall. Forcing students to stay in school longer shows that there is no benefit in slacking; raising expectations often leads to raised results in the classroom. Additionally, his focus on teachers was also a good message, at a time when many are convinced that the education system itself is largely broken, and many recently graduated Masters students hoping to teach cannot find jobs anywhere at the moment. Jobs are certainly almost always an important topic in state of the union speeches - people want to hear that job opportunities still exist. When they don't, it is often a major backlash on the president's administration as well as his party as a whole.
Going along with jobs, finance as a whole and particularly taxes also never fail to be the focus of this speech. This is probably especially important this year, with the Republican candidates coming under fire for their questionable tax rates. Obama mentioned that 98 percent of American families make less than $250,ooo dollars a year; that is a powerful percentage. It seems that if one is of the opinion of "for the greater good," tax cuts for the middle class are something that can make a huge difference. However, if it was as easy as it seems, then why has it still failed to become a reality?
What I found lacking in Obama's speech was mention of the LGBTQ community and the progress made thus far in equality. With the upcoming election approaching quickly, I think this might have given Obama a decisive edge with some voters, as it is an issue that has polarized the two parties since the last election.
On my part, I was impressed with Obama's stance on education. I think that raising the compulsory education age law to 18 is a practice that can only benefit students and society overall. Forcing students to stay in school longer shows that there is no benefit in slacking; raising expectations often leads to raised results in the classroom. Additionally, his focus on teachers was also a good message, at a time when many are convinced that the education system itself is largely broken, and many recently graduated Masters students hoping to teach cannot find jobs anywhere at the moment. Jobs are certainly almost always an important topic in state of the union speeches - people want to hear that job opportunities still exist. When they don't, it is often a major backlash on the president's administration as well as his party as a whole.
Going along with jobs, finance as a whole and particularly taxes also never fail to be the focus of this speech. This is probably especially important this year, with the Republican candidates coming under fire for their questionable tax rates. Obama mentioned that 98 percent of American families make less than $250,ooo dollars a year; that is a powerful percentage. It seems that if one is of the opinion of "for the greater good," tax cuts for the middle class are something that can make a huge difference. However, if it was as easy as it seems, then why has it still failed to become a reality?
What I found lacking in Obama's speech was mention of the LGBTQ community and the progress made thus far in equality. With the upcoming election approaching quickly, I think this might have given Obama a decisive edge with some voters, as it is an issue that has polarized the two parties since the last election.
Sh*t people say to feminists
A few weeks ago, a video went viral called "Shit girls say," which resulted in a lot of spin-offs of the same idea. It ended up turned into "Shit ____ say to ____ ," the most popular of which was "Shit white girls say to black girls." A lot of these are really well done - they point out offensive things said to minority groups all the time that many do not even realize are offensive.
The word "feminist" for some reason tends to create surprisingly strong responses. If I tell people "Oh, I'm a feminist," a lot of people basically judge me even if I haven't said anything else, or they don't even know me. The responses in this video are actually so incredibly common, I have heard almost all of them. Feminists probably aren't what you think - I encourage people to find out things for themselves and look past common misconceptions!
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Other Blogs I Enjoy
Some of my favorite blogs that I think address a lot of important issues are:
www.iamateenagefeminist.tumblr.com:
The title is pretty self-explanatory. This blog is run by a very well-spoken feminist who address issues such as gender equality, sexuality, rape culture, abortion, affirmative action, oppressive language, and cultural appropriateion.
www.reasonstobealive.tumblr.com
Also pretty self-explanatory; this blog has helped me a lot since I suffer from depression. It lists a lot of little things that are taken for granted in daily life.
www.letterstoscarlett.tumblr.com
I love the idea of this blog. It was started by two parents for their younger daughter and chronicles their day to day life. Each day has a new picture and description about something in particular that day, for Scarlett to read when she gets older, so she can see how she grew up.
For me, simplicity in a blog is what I like best. I don't like clutter in a format, and anythin that has a lot of tags and allows you to search easily makes it a lot easier to find what you are looking for. As you can see, Tumblr is my first choice for a lot of blogs and part of this is because reader participation is so easy. Any can respond to what's posted by "reblogging" a post onto their own blog and adding commentary. I tend to follow blogs with a more specific purpose, or at least a bigger theme, such as the one I've listed, because I think it's easier to understand the author's opinions.
For my own blog, I'm not sure what direction I'll be going in, but I do like to talk about feminist issues - which are issues that affect everyone, regardless of gender. That being said, I usually have more things to say about issues like sexism, sexuality, and gender. I also am Catholic, so I sometimes surprise people with the opinions I have on certain issues. Mostly I would just like my blog to cause whoever reads it to think a little bit, and maybe start to question why exactly some things that many never notice appear the way they do in society.
www.iamateenagefeminist.tumblr.com:
The title is pretty self-explanatory. This blog is run by a very well-spoken feminist who address issues such as gender equality, sexuality, rape culture, abortion, affirmative action, oppressive language, and cultural appropriateion.
www.reasonstobealive.tumblr.com
Also pretty self-explanatory; this blog has helped me a lot since I suffer from depression. It lists a lot of little things that are taken for granted in daily life.
www.letterstoscarlett.tumblr.com
I love the idea of this blog. It was started by two parents for their younger daughter and chronicles their day to day life. Each day has a new picture and description about something in particular that day, for Scarlett to read when she gets older, so she can see how she grew up.
For me, simplicity in a blog is what I like best. I don't like clutter in a format, and anythin that has a lot of tags and allows you to search easily makes it a lot easier to find what you are looking for. As you can see, Tumblr is my first choice for a lot of blogs and part of this is because reader participation is so easy. Any can respond to what's posted by "reblogging" a post onto their own blog and adding commentary. I tend to follow blogs with a more specific purpose, or at least a bigger theme, such as the one I've listed, because I think it's easier to understand the author's opinions.
For my own blog, I'm not sure what direction I'll be going in, but I do like to talk about feminist issues - which are issues that affect everyone, regardless of gender. That being said, I usually have more things to say about issues like sexism, sexuality, and gender. I also am Catholic, so I sometimes surprise people with the opinions I have on certain issues. Mostly I would just like my blog to cause whoever reads it to think a little bit, and maybe start to question why exactly some things that many never notice appear the way they do in society.
Reaction to "Lions for Lambs"
Though the war in Iraq has officially concluded with the last troops having returned home last month, what happened during the war and its present aftermath remains controversial, to say the least. The movie "Lions for Lambs" produced in 2007 highlights the many pitfalls throughout the war's duration and the harsh criticism it brought upon the American government, leaving many to question what in fact "democracy" truly means. The movie follows three different but interconnected storylines, and it is evident that each character has formed their own opinions on the righteousness of the war and the leadership in America, and as with many Americans still today, those beliefs are often passionate and personal when questioned.
The character that I related too most, and saw a reflection of many of my peers in, was the gifted student left disillusioned by the current state of affairs. Having literally grown up with this war and the threat of terrorism, those children who are now in college have seen so many failed efforts to "beat" the terrorists. But what would really have defined winning? The senator defined it as eradicating the Taliban. For me, I think that hiding behind the image of the dictatorial Taliban became a huge problem in losing popular support at home for the war. Are the Iraqis better off without such a ruler? I definitely think so. But the war failed to address the wide-scope of what a "terrorist" is and essentially never got to the root of the problem. Which is why pulling out was seen as victory enough by the troops lucky enough to leave and come home.
The most problem I had with a character was the senior reporter Janine. She asked well-thought out and well-worded questions, questioned the logic of the senator, and voiced her displeasure and her professional opinion in how she wanted to write the story, which would have made her boss look undeniably unfavorable. However, her boss shoots her down without even attempting to listen to her justifications. Her response is written off as "women's intuition" and her emotions, though valid, are scoffed at, even though she is clearly an experienced reporter. It is clearly a sexist portrayal in that it gives the message that women cannot possibly know or understand a problem better than men - and if she disagrees with them, she is automatically written off as overly-emotional and unaware of "how the world works."
The movie did make me question my own sense of purpose in my life, as I do believe the professor did ask some really intriguing questions about his student's gifts and what he planned to do with them. I could not help but think of all the times in our core classes at Sacred Heart we have attempted to answer the question "What does it mean to live a life of meaning and purpose?" What role does patriotism play in that, and how responsible are we for our country's actions? Though it did raise some profound questions, it did not really stand out to me from any other criticisms of the war through the media, of which there remains an abundance.
The character that I related too most, and saw a reflection of many of my peers in, was the gifted student left disillusioned by the current state of affairs. Having literally grown up with this war and the threat of terrorism, those children who are now in college have seen so many failed efforts to "beat" the terrorists. But what would really have defined winning? The senator defined it as eradicating the Taliban. For me, I think that hiding behind the image of the dictatorial Taliban became a huge problem in losing popular support at home for the war. Are the Iraqis better off without such a ruler? I definitely think so. But the war failed to address the wide-scope of what a "terrorist" is and essentially never got to the root of the problem. Which is why pulling out was seen as victory enough by the troops lucky enough to leave and come home.
The most problem I had with a character was the senior reporter Janine. She asked well-thought out and well-worded questions, questioned the logic of the senator, and voiced her displeasure and her professional opinion in how she wanted to write the story, which would have made her boss look undeniably unfavorable. However, her boss shoots her down without even attempting to listen to her justifications. Her response is written off as "women's intuition" and her emotions, though valid, are scoffed at, even though she is clearly an experienced reporter. It is clearly a sexist portrayal in that it gives the message that women cannot possibly know or understand a problem better than men - and if she disagrees with them, she is automatically written off as overly-emotional and unaware of "how the world works."
The movie did make me question my own sense of purpose in my life, as I do believe the professor did ask some really intriguing questions about his student's gifts and what he planned to do with them. I could not help but think of all the times in our core classes at Sacred Heart we have attempted to answer the question "What does it mean to live a life of meaning and purpose?" What role does patriotism play in that, and how responsible are we for our country's actions? Though it did raise some profound questions, it did not really stand out to me from any other criticisms of the war through the media, of which there remains an abundance.
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