_Last Name_ 1 First Name Last Name Instructor’s Name Name of Class 31 October 2014 (Change the date; keep it in this format) Rape Culture on College Campuses and Why it Prevails Rape has become a taboo topic. Sexual assault is sugar coated into something less disturbing and brutal than it actually is. But rape is rape: the act of male or female taking sexual control or dominance over a non­willing participant. It does not matter whether or not people feels comfortable discussing the topic of rape. Uncomfortability does not make a problem disappear. It is possible that rape culture is ignored because no one knows a permanent solution for it. But not talking about it will not fix it. An environment where rape culture prevails is on college campuses. 1 in every 4 college students admit to being raped or sexually assaulted on campus, this number fails to include the thousands of rape victims whose stories are never heard. Rape culture prevails on college campus because only an estimated 35% of these victims’ abusers are dealt with. Of those, only an estimated 20 ­ 30% percent are dealt with severely. Colleges ignore the severity rape culture on campus because it is a problem that is extremely difficult to remedy, but ignoring a problem will not solve it. “Culture is vital to the human species, but some cultural patterns are destructive” (Herman 45). Rape culture occurs when a set of values or beliefs create an environment that is conducive to rape. Rape culture does not refer to an actual place or setting, but to a culture that directly and indirectly surrounds and supports rape.

_Last Name_ 2 Our daughters are taught to be delicate, thoughtful, quiet and sweet. Our sons are raised to be brutal, to never cry, to be a “manly” man. Females grow to realize that they are expected to be dependent upon men­­that the most important day in their lives is there wedding day. There are two different handbooks for raising girls and boys. Parents raise their daughters with the ideal that girls a fragile and their sons with the ideal boys must be tough. This is where rape culture begins. It is extremely difficult for parents to take an honest look at rape culture on campus and decide that they may play a role in it. Joyce McFadden, a journalist who posed the question: is the way from raise your own children contributing into rape culture, makes a remark on the reality of parents influence on it, “Our children are under our influence long before that up alcohol, athletic departments, fraternities, and college culture” (1). Parents approach sexuality differently with each sex: Boys are encouraged to date and have a female companion, while daughters are shoved away when the topic of sexaulity is presented. Daughters are locked in the room, while boys are free to venture. McFadden says that there is a “culture of silence around female sexuality”(4), and while it may be true that parents do this in an “effort to protect their daughters some potential sexual aggression”(2), how does this reflect upon the males of our society, how does this reflect upon our sons? McFadden remarks on the sad state of affairs that this leaves on children: “Many of our daughters come to expect from us a lack of support for their sexual development and most of them go on to develop a sense of shame around it...[W]hen we add the variable of our sons bearing witness to this dynamic, is disturbing nature is magnified" (2). Colleges do not create rapists, more so just provides an environment for them to fermentate. The mob mentality, lack of supervision, unadulterated freedom, and extreme lack of

_Last Name_ 3 consequence that prevail on college campuses, no doubt, contribute to rape culture but it begins in the home. Amongst a few groups of people, when the topic of sexual assault arises, heads turn the other way, eyes look downward, words begin to fumble, and breath is blown in relief when the topic finally changes. More common, amongst others, laughs can be heard from a mile away, denial pours from tounges­­phrases such as, “There’s no such thing as rape.” and “It’s not rape if she likes it.” are uttered in between spurts of laughter and giggles. Rape: a topic that is either too serious to discuss or is not taken seriously enough. The sad part is that the latter is the more common route taken, rape has become normalized into the culture of college campuses. Haley Ramirez, an instructor at Eckerd College, writes about the stance of rape on campus: “Rape seems ubiquitous at this point. It is so entrenched in the culture of a college, it is hard to imagine what, if anything, can be done to prevent such a common occurrence” (8). More often than not, rape is taken as a joke. Students see rape as something that just happens, not something that should be dealt with. They see rape as a natural part of life on campus, it has become the norm. This is why Angie Epifano ended up locked up in a psych ward while he rapist got to graduate with honors (McFadden 3). This is why Anna Smith ended up bent over a pool table as a football player sexually assaulted her from behind with 6 or 7 people watching and some, taking pictures (McFadden 4.) This is why Lena Sclove had to wait three months for the school to even acknowledge her complaint of sexual assault, forced to watch her rapist attend classes with her, see him in the library, the quad, campus center, and the dining hall. (McFadden 4.) This is why so many people keep their rape to themselves after hearing stories of how the campus police told other victims not to report it to the police, that they would handle it internally, or being told that

_Last Name_ 4 he is just not the type of guy, that she must have just been confused, or that she can not be raped after going on a date. Or after being told to just let it go and move on. It is not that colleges do not have reasons for being so dismissive when it comes to rape. No college wants to make a bad name for itself, some of the accused are key figures on campus, and are important to their annual income, and there is also the burden of proof. If a report of rape is not handled quickly and efficiently, as it is often not, the proof lies in only the words of the victim and the accused. It is extremely difficult to fight a case arguing with words alone. So with all the variables against them, colleges simply ignore the severity of rape. It does make it easier to deal with, but ignoring the situation has proven to be the wrong way to handle this situation. Young college women are fed up with being ignored by the administration, and have decided to have their voices heard one way or another. McFadden remarks on how the victims of sexual assault are taking matters into their own hands, “Young women, exhausted and enraged by the lack of around the criminal trauma of sexual assault, have taken matters into their own hands and demanded to be heard through social media and online college networks” (1). Now colleges are under intense scrutiny from victims and empathizers alike and they are being forced to make a change. It is not an easy task to change a culture, “We know from psychology that it’s harder to change ideas and behaviors once they’re formed” (McFadden 1). But several strides have been made in tackling sexual assault on campus and otherwise. One such stride is the new California law, no longer are abusers allowed to say, “Well, she didn’t say no, so i thought she wanted it.” California’s Yes means Yes forces possible abusers to get actual consent before making any

_Last Name_ 5 moves. The law requires college students to make an “affirmative, unambiguous, and conscious decision by each participant to engage in mutually agreed upon sexual activity” (King 1). This is only the beginning, it is going to take years to change the way people view sexual assault and how it is handled. But that does not make it impossible. Rape a brutal disgusting act, and not responding to it only enables it further. Changing things begins with changing the people and that is not easy, but it is worth it if one day a male or female can walk across campus at any time in any state of mind without fear.

_Last Name_ 6 Works Cited Cahn, Jack. "College Rape Must End." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 05 Aug. 2013. Web. 31 Oct. 2014. Herman, Dianne F. "The Rape Culture." Seeing Ourselves: Classic, Contemporary, and Cross­cultural Readings in Sociology. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2001. 45­52. Print. King, Barbara J. "To Fight Campus Rape, Culture Must Change." NPR. NPR, 12 June 2014. Web. 31 Oct. 2014. McFadden, Joyce. "Is the Way We Raise Young Children Contributing to College Rape Culture?" The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 09 Oct. 2014. Web. 30 Oct. 2014. Ramirez, Haley. "Fixing Rape on Campus?" (n.d.): 1­12. Web. Spade, Joan Z. "Fraternities and Collegiate Rape Culture: Why Are Some Fraternities More Dangerous Places for Women." Gender and Society. By A. Aryes Boswell. N.g: Sage Publication, 1996. 133­47. Print.